Kentucky Style Pork Sausage Recipe

[Parson Snows]

This recipe is taken from Chapter 1, Bruce Aidell�s Complete Sausage Book

Kentucky-style Pork Sausage

If you are using a food processor, cut the meat and fat into 3/4 �inch cubes to get reasonably consistent chopping. Process in very small batches of 1 by pound or less by using the pulse switch or turning off and on until the desired consistency is reached. Do not over process the meat. For 3 to 4 pounds of sausage you will probably need to process 3 or 4 batches, depending on the size of your food processor. Mini food processors or blenders should not be used to make sausage

2 lb. pork butt
1 lb. pork back fat
1 Tblspn. kosher salt
2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. ground sage (optional)
1 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup cold water
medium hog casings (optional)

Grind the pork and fat together (through a 1/4-inch plate), mix the meat, fat, spices, herbs and water together, kneading and squeezing until all the ingredients are well blended. For links, stuff the sausage into medium hog casings, and tie at 5-inch intervals. Like most fresh sausage, if wrapped tightly, this will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days, in the freezer 2 months.

Shape the meat into one large roll, 2-inches in diameter, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, slice the sausage into 1/2-inch patties and fry them in a skillet until brown.

Hope that you find this of some use to you

Kind regards

Parson Snows

[Bob]

This recipe is taken from Chapter 1, Bruce Aidell�s Complete Sausage Book

Kentucky-style Pork Sausage

2 lb. pork butt
1 lb. pork back fat

I have made this sausage and I can recommend it. But I use my 40% fat mix instead of the ~50% mix in the recipe above. I am using the figure of 20% the residual fat of "visual lean" trimmed pork butt.

In the recipe above the pork butt isn't trimmed, so the fat content is even higher - I have read that untrimmed pork butt is about 30% fat. Therefore the recipe indicates slightly over 50% fat. My 40% recipe works, so why load up on more fat than is needed?

I can also recommend Aidell�s recipe for Andouille. Red Beans and Rice with Andouille is a Monday lunch tradition along the Gulf Coast, especially in Louisiana.

[deb]

I have a question about the Kosher Salt if you don't mind Parson.

What is the difference between this and Sea Salt? Is it to do with the size of the crystals? I only ask because I have never seen Kosher Salt and have therefor no idea what it is or looks like. As this recipe uses salt by volume rather than weight the size of the salt crystals is of significance, I think, as far as I can see the larger the crystals the less weight of salt is used. Maybe because of the volume used it will not be of too much significance, my knowledge is lacking.

Thanks.

[Franco]

Kosher can be substituted with a salt with no anticaking agent, fine sea salt is usually substituted for kosher salt in Britiish recipes.

[Bob]

I have a question about the Kosher Salt if you don't mind Parson.

What is the difference between this and Sea Salt? Is it to do with the size of the crystals? I only ask because I have never seen Kosher Salt and have therefor no idea what it is or looks like. As this recipe uses salt by volume rather than weight the size of the salt crystals is of significance, I think, as far as I can see the larger the crystals the less weight of salt is used. Maybe because of the volume used it will not be of too much significance, my knowledge is lacking.

Thanks.

I am not Parson but I do use Kosher salt.

It is readily available and preferred to regular salt for fine recipes. It is a course grained salt. The grains are about the size of beach sand - or hand-ground black pepper.

You should always adjust the salt to your tastes in which case the volume discrepency is not important. I use 1 t. per pound of meat when I am not using a curing salt like Morton's Tender Quick (which I also use 1 t. per lb meat).

The TV cooks like it because they can grab a pinch easily with 2 fingers.

[deb]

Thanks Franco and Bob. All becomes clear now.

[Parson Snows]

deb

Different types of salt are created during the refining process. Some varieties include additives that make them flow freely through salt shakers, and others have added iodine, which can prevent hypothyroidism. Most are ground into very fine grains, but a few types are left in a more natural form made of large, rocky crystals. Fine-grained salts include table salt, iodized salt, pickling salt, and popcorn salt. Rock salt and kosher salt are coarse-grained. Sea salt can be found in both fine and coarse forms. While all of these taste, well, salty, the degree of saltiness and the precise flavor can vary.
Kosher salt usually has no additives, and it has big crystals with large surface areas.




This size and shape allows it to absorb more moisture than other forms of salt, and this makes kosher salt excellent for curing meats. That is essentially where the name comes from. The salt itself is not kosher, meaning it doesn't conform to Jewish food laws, but this salt is used to make meat kosher. The Jewish holy book, the Torah, prohibits consumption of any blood, which is why kosher meat must be slaughtered and prepared in a specific manner. A common way of removing the final traces of blood from meat is to soak and salt it.


Hope that this is of some use to you

Kind regards

Parson Snows

[deb]

Thanks Parson. I found your explaination of Kosher Salt in regard to the Jewish food law most interesting.