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Hi,

I have been making sausages for a few weeks now and I noticed that they can be quiet dry in texture. I do add around 1 cup of water for around 2lb of meat. Is there anything else I can do?

Hi Damien.Any chance of a full recipe.Most likely lack of fat or a mixing problem or maybe temperature.

Jim

captain wassname wrote:Hi Damien.Any chance of a full recipe.Most likely lack of fat or a mixing problem or maybe temperature.

Jim

Its

2.5lb Pork Shoulder - Fat is trimmed slightly but not completely removed
2tbsp Paprika
1tbsp Nutmeg
1tbsp Mustard Powder
1tbsp White Pepper Ground
1tbsp Coriander Dried
3tbsp Salt
1 Cup Water

I made this earlier this evening in the UK and did a test sausage after making and also found with some I made at the weekend they were dry. Almost seems an effort to chew.

damienhogan wrote:

captain wassname wrote:Hi Damien.Any chance of a full recipe.Most likely lack of fat or a mixing problem or maybe temperature.

Jim

Its

2.5lb Pork Shoulder - Fat is trimmed slightly but not completely removed
2tbsp Paprika
1tbsp Nutmeg
1tbsp Mustard Powder
1tbsp White Pepper Ground
1tbsp Coriander Dried
3tbsp Salt
1 Cup Water

I made this earlier this evening in the UK and did a test sausage after making and also found with some I made at the weekend they were dry. Almost seems an effort to chew.

At first glance i was suprised at the levels of salt, nutmeg and white pepper is such a small amount of meat.
Secondly never remove the fat from shoulder it is essential to the mixture esp if not sing rusk. You could add 50g of rice powder lightly toasted then milled in a coffee grinder
Firstly though reduce salt from 60g to 30g. (tblsp =20g)
reduce whitre pepper from 20g to 5g
nutmeg to 3g
mustard to 5g
paprika? if sweet leave if smoked half
addition of light muscovado sugar at a level of 20g
only add water for consistancy not volume

just a few ideas

Greyham wrote:

damienhogan wrote:

captain wassname wrote:Hi Damien.Any chance of a full recipe.Most likely lack of fat or a mixing problem or maybe temperature.

Jim

Its

2.5lb Pork Shoulder - Fat is trimmed slightly but not completely removed
2tbsp Paprika
1tbsp Nutmeg
1tbsp Mustard Powder
1tbsp White Pepper Ground
1tbsp Coriander Dried
3tbsp Salt
1 Cup Water

I made this earlier this evening in the UK and did a test sausage after making and also found with some I made at the weekend they were dry. Almost seems an effort to chew.

At first glance i was suprised at the levels of salt, nutmeg and white pepper is such a small amount of meat.
Secondly never remove the fat from shoulder it is essential to the mixture esp if not sing rusk. You could add 50g of rice powder lightly toasted then milled in a coffee grinder
Firstly though reduce salt from 60g to 30g. (tblsp =20g)
reduce whitre pepper from 20g to 5g
nutmeg to 3g
mustard to 5g
paprika? if sweet leave if smoked half
addition of light muscovado sugar at a level of 20g
only add water for consistancy not volume

just a few ideas

Thank you for your advise and I will give it ago in my next batch. I will use more fat for sure as I want to shy away from using Rusk.

Another tip is to mix the meat/salt/spices etc until it changes consistency and goes 'sort of' sticky. It'll change from being minced pork and spices to being sausagemeat.

The technical explanation for this, is that the salt reacts with the meat and produces myosin; it is this that differentiates sausagemeat from ground pork.

HTH

Phil

wheels wrote:Another tip is to mix the meat/salt/spices etc until it changes consistency and goes 'sort of' sticky. It'll change from being minced pork and spices to being sausagemeat.

The technical explanation for this, is that the salt reacts with the meat and produces myosin; it is this that differentiates sausagemeat from ground pork.

HTH

Phil

Interesting. I did last night for the first time put it in a mixer I have and mixed all the ingredients together and i did notice the difference in texture. I wonder if it could be the cooking methods maybe? I just fry them with a little oil.

The default seems to be that unless the recipe states otherwise most fresh sausage (i.e. not dry cured and hung) should be about 25-30% fat. If you're not sure it doesn't hurt to chunk your meat and fat separately before grinding and compare quantities. It's easier to add more fat before mixing than try to evenly distribute it after frying up a sample.