Beef sausage recipe

[gnol]

Hi all,
I am a total newbie to sausage making and just got my sausage maker last week.
Since my other half does not like pork (yet) I was wondering wether someone has a good beef sausage recipe I can make for my first batch.
Many thanks
gnol

[Paul Kribs]

gnol

I have not made a totally beef sausage as I use pork fat instead of beef fat, but see no reason why beef fat/suet could not be used.

As for a recipe, it would depend on what kind of flavour you are looking for. Savoury taste or sweet taste, strong flavour or mild.. You can adjust any recipe to suit yourself, it is worth experimenting and adding ingredients to suit your preference. Once you reach a recipe you like, write it down. If you do a search on this forum for 'beef' sausage you will probably find quite a few.

For a basic savoury beef sausage try:

2 kilos of minced beef (skirt)
400 grms of minced pork backfat
1/2 teaspoon of ground mace
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of dried sage
I teaspoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of salt
1 cup of rusk or dry breadcrumb
1 1/2 cups of water

combine all the ingredients and mix well. Form a small pattie and fry to establish your personal taste. Adjust the seasoning to suit and then try some again. Stuff into casings of you choice and link into sausages. leave in the fridge overnight for the flavours to meld (bloom).
These can be grilled, baked in the oven, fried of cooked on the BBQ. These are best cooked on a medium heat for about 20 minutes.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[gnol]

Thanks for the suggestion Paul.
In my haste to try my new sausage maker I ended up making the recipe on this site.
http://recipes.egullet.org/recipes/r137 ... 924a7b899d.
I doubled up on the ingredients and left the smoked pepper out.
I also used sheep casings and put chilli in half of it.
Came out ok but a bit too much onion taste for my liking. Its a big batch of pork sausages next time.
One thing I did notice is that when it came to stuffing the mix was coming out much slower than when mincing.
Is this normal? I have noticed a lot of recipes call for water. Does this thin out the consistencey and make stuffing easier?

Cheers
gnol

[Paul Kribs]

gnol

It will come out a fair bit slower because you are using sheep casings which are a smaller diameter. If you want it too come out a bit faster then add a little bit more liquid. I normally do this by 'feel', you will know when the mix is right for stuffing. As long as you had no problems with the casings bursting I would stay with the slower rate.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[aussieinor]

Yesterday we made this sausage and was not happy when we tried them today.

Today we cooked them and noticed there was a lot of water in the sausages. I could see it boiling away. I had to poke them with the knife to let out all the water.

They were terrible to eat. They tasted similar to a meatball and I used the same ratio of beef however I used a pork belly and not just fat. Obviously not enough fat and couldn't mix well enough for everything to bind and the water to be absorbed.

Not having phosphates in it I think made it less bindable also.

Next time I think I'll use beef and fat only, not the beef and pork belly. Maybe I didn't mix it long enough either.

My first go at beef sausages, do I need to mix it longer? I know I need more fat as beef doesn't have as much fat in it.....

User error

Loved the flavour though

[welsh wizard]

Hi,

I make a simple beef sausage for a local pub which sems to go down well. Here we go

To each KG of beef (fat ratio approx 30 / 70)

20g salt
2g pepper
1.5 tsp horseradish powder (or try Wasabi paste 1 tsp per kg or 2/3 jar of hot horseradish sauce)
1 tsp thyme
8 - 10% rusk
8 - 10% water

Please note the horseradish sauce will not come through as much as the paste or powder - for example if you open a jar of horseradish sauce and leave the top off, the next day the taste is very much diminished.

Cheers WW

[Wal Footrot]

Here's my recipe which is very similar to a number of others on this site

1 Kg Beef 25/75 fat to meat (minimum)
100 gms breadcrumbs (a bit less for rusk)
150 mls of iced water (no more)

seasoning
60 gms of salt (or less)
10 gms white pepper
10 gms black pepper
2gms nutmeg
2gms mace
2 gms of ginger

Mix dry ingredients together, then add water until mixture is slightly sticky. You might even be able to go to 200 mls but I wouldn't as water should be no more than 15%. 12% is good I've found - 120 mls.

I place this in the freezer until the freezing process is just about to begin. 2-3 hours should do this

I then put it about 200 gms at a time into a food processor (to create an emulsion). You don't have to do this so you should remince through a smaller blade instead.

Stuff into Hogs.

This sausage has a sweet taste thanks to the mace, and nutmeg but a good bite because of the pepper. If you want it less/more sweet adjust the mace and nutmeg. Ditto the pepper for the peppery bite.

This is the first beef sausage that I've made that has had the texture, moistness and taste that I like. In the past, one of those criteria has always been missing. Despite wanting a lower fat sausage, with beef you have no choice but to rely on fat to get those three. I'm going to experiment with the use of gelatine/agar to see if I can get a lower fat sausage this way.

[aussieinor]

Wal,

I just posted this long drawn out message freaking out with the idea of 25 % beef and 75% fat.

Then re-read your message and noticed it was the other way around...phew!

Just used to things being put meat first then fat

The fat that you use, is it pork back fat or is it beef fat? Just curious as I'm reworking a beef sausage tomorrow and went out and bought pork back fat to use instead of beef.

If I'm making a beef sausage, what percentage of backfat would you recommend?

I'll also be using around 5% of breadcrumbs and 5% of meat weight in phosphates.

Cheers

[wheels]

Phew. Thank the Lord for that! I thought I was going barmy!

Phil

[saucisson]

Dave

[aussieinor]

Paul Kribs,

Does the fat that you have included in the recipe consists of beef fat or pork fat?

If I use pork fat, would I use the same amount as what you have listed here for the 400 grams?

Thanks

[Wal Footrot]

Not a good post on my part - yes, it could read 75% fat but you guys have guessed it right that I meant it the other way.

At the moment I'm not using pork back fat, just the fat that's in the beef. I get my butcher to mince it for me and he does a great job

I would also think that the pork back fat would be a better option but haven't tried it yet. I might ask my butcher to do this and he'll be really obliging. He's fascinated with what I've achieved so far with my saveloys and is happy to help me experiment. What a great butcher to have on your side.

[Paul Kribs]

aussieinor

I have amended the recipe to plainly state pork backfat, which is what I use. I have tried with beef fat but it didn't seem to bind as well and the sausage came out grainy..

You say your first batch was watery. This may have been due to the amount of natural water already in the meat, although it shouldn't make too much difference. I generally use the water bit by bit and mix until it feels right.. kind of sticky.
Did you use breadcrumb??? If not, that amount of water would turn the mix into 'mush'. Also, the breadcrumbs go in the mix and get mixed in before any liquid is added.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[aussieinor]

Thanks for that Paul.

Well, I just made up another batch using the remainder of the beef that I had left over from the previous batch.

I fried up a small sample and in all honesty, tastes fantastic. Now I'm excited to see how the sausages taste tomorrow after blooming overnight.

This is the small batch that I ended up making today.

800g Beef Briskett (Very lean)
160g Pork Back fat
1/4 tsp Mace
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp Sage (ground)
1/2 tsp Black pepper (Course ground)
1/2 tbs Salt
50g stale breadcrumbs
50g ice water
5g Phosphate


Will be interesting to see how they turn out.

[aussieinor]

Well, cooked up the sausages today and was really pleased.

The consistency was perfect and flavours very nice. Next time will reduce the fat just slightly as it did seem overly fatty but all in all, a very very nice sausage.

I'll be having these on the menu for many a day to come.

Thanks for the recipe Paul.