All Belly ??

[deb]

Does anyone use all pork belly for their sausages? I used a mixture of belly and shoulder when I made my batch but not sure if this was the best mix really. I bought a piece of belly yesterday and am slow-roasting it for dinner tonight (not in the least relevent!!), but whilst I was rubbing in a spice mixture I got to thinking that it didn't seem too fatty and so could probably be used as both the meat and fat content for sausages. Any comment's on this idea welcome.
Thanks.

[aris]

I suppose it depends on the recipe. Different cuts of pork have different flavour, and different fat contents. There is no reason you could not use any cut of pork or any other meat to make a sausage. You will have to either follow the recipe, or experiment yourself to see what works for you.

With regard to slow-roasting some belly - I once cured some belly with bacon cure & brown sugar and black treacle - then slow-roasted that belly in the oven whole - it was FANTASIC. Kind of like a ham, but with that bacon taste.

[Twoscoops]

Deb, I'll be doing the same to a pork belly for me tea tomorrow! Anyway, I use some pork belly in all of my pork-based sausages - about 30% of the total meat content, and from the fatty end of the belly. The rest is lean.

Aris, that sounds like a bacon joint, but streaky. I guess you could do the same to make a 'back' joint (from the loin?). Please list how you did it, and with which cure, and I might order some. Could I do it with Franco's 'guinea pigs wanted for bacon cure' bacon cure? (still unused, as I have no instructions).

[sausagemaker]

Deb

Just go for it & give it a go if the belly is not too fatty it will be OK
Some of the belly pork I have seen recently is leaner than shoulders, and would need fat added.

Regards
Sausagemaker

[aris]

Yes, I used Franco's cure and cured it like I would normal bacon. Instead of slicing it for bacon, I roasted it in the oven.

[Jonty]

Deb,

I've used just belly a couple of times. In both cases it was quite lean so it didn't really need mixing with shoulder or a similar cut. I did add breadcrumbs though. The texture and flavour was great.

Cheers

[deb]

Thanks guys. It seems that it really depends on how lean the belly is so I'll just have to judge for myself at the time.

[aris]

Just curiouis - how much are you guys paying for boneless belly? My butcher has (very) fresh stuff at 3.70 a kilo - while Tesco do 2.79 but it comes out of a vac-pack.

[Twoscoops]

Can't remember to be honest, but I never buy from the supermarket. I know that the pork my two regular butchers use is free range, and that supermarket meat almost certainly will not be.

[Jonty]

Snap,

I can't recall how much I pay, but the butcher I use has a blackboard with the names of the farms which the meat has come from, all are within a 10 mile radius of the shop. I'm much happier to know where my meat comes from and pay a little over the odds for it.

[aris]

Unfortunatley I can't find such butchers around here.

Has anyone used "pork collar"? I suspect this must be a cut of meat from around the neck. How does it do for sausage?

[Twoscoops]

Not sure about sausages, but it is a common bacon joint in Ireland.

[aris]

Mhh, well if it is good enough for bacon, i'm sure it is good enoug hfor sausage The stuff I saw looked a bit lean though - might need to add some back fat.

[sausagemaker]

Hi Aris


The collar is the top part of the shoulder & is very good for sausage but you will need to add some fat as it is normally 90 - 95% lean

Hope this helps

Regards
sausagemaker

[aris]

Yes, i could add some back-fat - but i'm paying 1.99 per kilo for that at the moment - almost as much as the collars would cost!