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I've been making different kinds of fresh and smoked sausages for a year now and still can't find that perfect balance of "bite", moisture, shrinkage control, and casing rupture.

I've tried 50% SP, 80% SP, commercial bread crumbs and Parson Snows' rusk recipe (the lattest). This lattest attempt has given the best results with one catch, the links burst when cooked (either pan fried or grilled; slow cooked or seared). Can a combination SP and Rusk control this bursting? On another note, my smoked sausages tend to be be crumbly (I use � cup 80% SP (about 45 grm) per 5# Meat and 2 cups of liquid). How can I reduce this softness without reducing the liquid content?

[u][b]Non-Bursting Country Breakfast Sausage (Mild):[/b][/u]

5 # 70% lean pork
2 cups cold water
2 Tbsp salt
3/4 tsp Black pepper
� tsp cayenne
1 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp sage
� tsp ginger
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp MSG
1� Tbsp Soy Protein Concentrate

"It shrinks quite a bit an has a bit of Soy flavor"


[u][b]Bursting Breakfast Sausage (Spicy):[/b][/u]

5 # 70% lean pork
2 cups Cold Water
2 Tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp sage
� tsp ginger
3/4 tsp mace
3/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp Dextrose
2 tsp MSG
1 cup Rusk (120 grm)


"It browns beautifully, juicy, tasty, but it bursts"


Thanks,

David

Have you tried not using the soy? I just use ordinary wholemeal bread, dried and powdered, and not had any problems with bursting (loads of trouble with dry, shrunken, nasty tasting bangers with tough skins , but no splits in the pan.) Just a thought.

Yep. The links that burst are the ones without the Soy, only rusk.

I started with a third of the fat content I now put in and half the water and they shrank, dried and toughened as you mention. Now they're juicy, moist, tasty, aromatic but all over the place like an exploded grenade.

David

I use 1 heaped tablespoon of roughly chopped porridge oats per pound of meat. This works much better than breadcrumbs and doesn't seem to affect the flavour of the sausage.

Elaine

Epicurohn wrote:I've been making different kinds of fresh and smoked sausages for a year now and still can't find that perfect balance of "bite", moisture, shrinkage control, and casing rupture.

I've tried 50% SP, 80% SP, commercial bread crumbs and Parson Snows' rusk recipe (the lattest). This lattest attempt has given the best results with one catch, the links burst when cooked (either pan fried or grilled; slow cooked or seared). Can a combination SP and Rusk control this bursting? On another note, my smoked sausages tend to be be crumbly (I use � cup 80% SP (about 45 grm) per 5# Meat and 2 cups of liquid). How can I reduce this softness without reducing the liquid content?

Non-Bursting Country Breakfast Sausage (Mild):

5 # 70% lean pork
2 cups cold water
2 Tbsp salt
3/4 tsp Black pepper
� tsp cayenne
1 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp sage
� tsp ginger
2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp thyme
2 tsp MSG
1� Tbsp Soy Protein Concentrate

"It shrinks quite a bit an has a bit of Soy flavor"


Bursting Breakfast Sausage (Spicy):

5 # 70% lean pork
2 cups Cold Water
2 Tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp sage
� tsp ginger
3/4 tsp mace
3/4 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp thyme
1 tsp Dextrose
2 tsp MSG
1 cup Rusk (120 grm)


"It browns beautifully, juicy, tasty, but it bursts"


Thanks,

David

Bursting sausage is usually caused by water not being bound into the meat.
You need to mix you meat longer to make this happen, a good test would be just before stuffing if you can squeeze out water then it is going to burst.
at a rule of thumb use the following
Rusk - 2 parts water to 1 part rusk
Soy 50-% 3 parts water 1 part soy
Soy 80% 4 parts water 1 part soy

Hope this helps
Regards
Sausagemaker

Does less mixing give you a looser textured sausage rather than a dense one?

Hi Aris

Yes it does

Regards
Sausagemaker

Interesting - i prefer a looser texture. What else can be done to ensure a loose texture?

Doesn't the salt interract with the meat proteins too? Would adding the salt last before stuffing make any difference? What about liquid - does this affect the texture?

Thanks.

Hi Aris

Both salt & liquid affects texture
The salt helps release the protein in the meat, which in turn allows for the water to be absorbed. the protein can now start to bind the pieces of meat back together with the added water, the longer you mix at this stage the tighter the texture
If you add the salt last then water will not be taken up as well by the meat & when cooking it will cause splitting and may also see excessive amounts of water being release into the pan.
The best way for a loose texture would be not to mix as much as normal - use a larger size plate on the mincer & to cut down the water content in the mix but cut down any dry rusk or other fillers also or it will end up being too dry.

Hope this helps
Regards
Sausagemaker