Stornoway Black Pudding
Posted: Mon Feb 18, 2013 3:41 amI read a statement about how good the Stornoway Black Pudding is, and decided to look it up. Found details in the PGI, and wondered if, as we've discussed about other sausage PGI descriptions, it approaches the real thing? It gives plenty of information to approximate the style.
Stornoway Black Pudding PGI wrote:4.2 Description: Stornoway Black Puddings are a black pudding unique to Stornoway, the capital of the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. They have a rich, deep reddish-brown to deep brown colour when raw, varying according to individual local recipes.
While, according to tradition and heritage, there is some individual variation in the recipes used, the following ingredients are used in the production of Stornoway Black Pudding:No other seasonings are permitted and Stornoway Black Puddings must be free from artificial colours, flavours, bulking agents and preservatives.
- Beef suet
- Oatmeal
- Onion
- Sheep or cow or pig’s blood
- Water – where dried blood is used
- Salt
- Pepper
- Skins or casings
In their original form, they are produced as ‘52mm -72mm diameter cylindrical “sausage-shaped” puddings, varying in length from 150mm - 500mm and in weight from 0.5kg to 1.36kg, encased in skin. They may, however, be produced in other sizes and shapes to suit different customer requirements, e.g. a loop, or in slices.
They are moist and firm in texture, with discernable, yet small, fat particulates. The Scottish oatmeal used in Stornoway Black Puddings is responsible for its good, rough texture. Stornoway Black Puddings may be cooked in, or out of the skin, they maintain their shape well throughout the cooking process. Once cooked, they appear almost black and break apart very easily when cut, yet do not significantly crumble. The meaty flavour is moist, rich, full, savoury, well seasoned - but not spicy - with a non-greasy, pleasant mouth and clean after taste feel.
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4.5 Method of production: The following ingredients only, must be used in the manufacture of Stornoway Black Puddings:
Beef suet, oatmeal, onion, blood (with the addition of water where dried blood is used), salt, and pepper,. While, according to tradition and heritage, there is some individual variation in the recipes used, the percentages of ingredients used in a Stornoway Black Pudding must fall within the following ranges:Many of the producers receive the beef suet in its raw form with all the unwanted connective tissue. The suet is prepared by scraping the suet from the connective tissue, cleaning it and then chopping/cutting into pieces of 15-20cm. The prepared suet is then cut into consistently sized fine pieces of approximately 1-5 millimetres using a machine called a bowl cutter. This is a highly skilled process judged by eye and expertise of the butcher.
- Beef suet - minimum 37% to a maximum of 50%
- Oatmeal – minimum 16% to a maximum of 20%
- Onion - minimum15% to a maximum of18%
- Sheep, Cow or Pigs Blood - minimum12% to a maximum of 26%
- Salt - minimum 0.6% to a maximum of 2%
- Pepper - minimum 0.4% to a maximum of 2%
- Skins either synthetic or natural Diameter - 52mm - 72 mm, Length - 150 mm - 500 mm
Pig, cow or sheep blood is used in the fresh, chilled, or dried state, the blood from only one type of animal is used for each batch. Blood is purchased from a meat wholesaler who source directly from the abattoirs where the blood is collected when the animal is killed. Where dried blood is used, water is added to rehydrate the blood; this method is used when large volumes of pudding are required as it is not possible to transport such volumes of liquid blood.
The dry ingredients are mixed first, either by hand, or machine before water is added and mixed. All ingredients are very carefully weighed throughout the process, to ensure consistency of product, which is a thick porridge-like consistency, which can still be stirred but with some effort. Some of the recipes vary from to require fine chopped ingredients, others require a coarser chop, which gives rise to the slight variations in visual appearance and texture depending on the producers individual recipe.
The mixture is then transferred to a sausage filler machine which feeds the mixture into the sausage casings. The sausages are filled by manually placing the sausage skin onto the machine nozzle. Regulating the flow of meat is also carried out manually. The ends are then either hand-tied with string, or clipped by machine.
The puddings are then boiled or steamed for up to 2.5 hours at temperatures between 86°C - 70°C. Once cooked, each pudding is hung individually on a rack, to cool gradually to an ambient temperature of 12°C, this can take between 2.5 - 4 hours. They are then placed in a chiller and stored at a temperature of 2°C.
Stornoway Black Puddings have a shelf-life of approximately one month. They are sold over the counter in the producers’ own shops, in their skins, as full size puddings, three-quarter, half-size, in loops, or in slices. They are also packaged and shipped by post or courier, to individual and trade customers all over the UK.
