My First Ever Homemade Sausages

[bobsbeer]

Well I finally got all my bits and bobs together for sausage making. And today seemed as good a day as any, so I dove in feet first. As I'm in Cumbria the first home made sausage had to be a Cumberland. So after chopping and mincing and soaking, the end result at least looked like sausages. I guess the real test will be the eating and that comes later for tea. OH is busy as I speak making onion gravy and mash. Can't wait.

So this was my recipe:
Pork Shoulder 1kg/Pork belly 350g 80%
Rusk 140g
Spice mix 50g
Ale 140ml
Total 1650g
2m hog casing

Here are a few pics:

First rough mince


Mixing the other stuff


Trying to find the end


And here they come


The finished sausages


Vac packed ready for the freezer, packed in 4's


I'll post a pic once cooked :grin

[bobsbeer]

And the cooked sausages. Tasted good but a bit heavy on the sage for me. I used Weschenfelder cumberland mix. But OH loved em so a success. Even the dog enjoyed the small bit I gave her so thumbs up to home sausage making.

[Kim]

I also tried this for the first time yesterday! Your's look better! In fact that finished plate looks delicious!

[wheels]

They look great.

What is this about sage in Cumberland sausages?

I don't recall the ones I had years ago tasting of sage - they were more spicy and peppery, not herby at all.

I'm working on a Cumberland recipe at present; I'm amazed by the number of other recipes I've seen that have lots of sage in them; some have so much that it'd be hard to find where 'Cumberland' ends and a 'Lincolnshire' starts!

Phil

[yotmon]

Hi Bob, very good effort considering they were your first try. Once you get into it, you'll be making up your own spice mix to find what suits your palate, even matching a variety with one of you favourite home brews

Wheels - re' the Sage, I always thought the reason for the spiciness of the 'Cumberland' was due to the fact that Whitehaven was the main port for the importation of spices from around the world. probably a good way to advertise their products.

Yotmon.

[captain wassname]

The Cumberland sausage association allow sage and also state that the sausage must be made in Cumbria.
Whitehaven was indeed the centre of the spice trade and there were many German miners working in the mines of the lake district who used spices in their sausage.Whitehaven was in the south of the county of Cumberland and its likely that Cumberland sausage never saw sage.
I spoke to a member of the association and he said that sage was used mostly in the south of Cumbria which includes what was Wextmoreland,parts of lancashire and bits of the north Riding.
Cumberland sausage is never linked.

Jim

[wheels]

It's amusing as the president of the Cumberland Sausage Association, Peter Gott, farms and has a shop between Kendal and Kirby Lonsdale, now part of Cumbria, but like a fair bit of the Lake District, historically and culturally, Westmorland.

I've heard this explanation about the sage before on a TV interview with Peter Gott: none in the North of Cumbria (Which is the old County of Cumberland), but used in the South (The old County of Westmorland and part of Lancashire).

Mum's old school-friends include Pam and Wilf Dale who owned Dales Butchers in Kirby Lonsdale; Wilf didn't sell sausage (he only sold what he reared on his own land!), but his successor, who still trades under the Dales name, does. He certainly adds sage:

With 85% meat content the Cumberland is the meatiest sausage we make. Traditionally flavoured with sage, they are the perfect accompaniment to mash...

...but Pam reckons, they should spicy, rather than herby...

...which gets me precisely nowhere!

What also surprises me is that ginger isn't on the permitted list of ingredients. It was obviously imported through Whitehaven and is used in other local delicacies.

Was it never added to the sausages?

Phil

[BriCan]

What also surprises me is that ginger isn't on the permitted list of ingredients. It was obviously imported through Whitehaven and is used in other local delicacies.

Was it never added to the sausages?

The one I have from collage was Salt, pepper, nutmeg, mace and coriander - sage was an 'after' thought

[wheels]

...and your college was within spitting distance.

Thanks.

Phil

[BriCan]

Salt and pepper I cannot remember (will look up) but I do recall that nutmeg, mace and coriander was at 1/3rd each --- if thats any help

[wheels]

Thanks Robert.

Phil

[saucisson]

Mum's old school-friends include Pam and Wilf Dale who owned Dales Butchers in Kirby Lonsdale

ooh, we went shopping there last summer

[wheels]

Were the sausage any good?

Phil

[Sam Newman]

Looks great! Made me laugh reading about finding the end of the casings. I have trouble with that too. I'm sure some of the professional sausage makers may have a trick or two?