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Hello everyone
My son has allergies to egg and dairy products plus a kidney condition that requires him to have a low-salt diet. He ADORES sausages and I used to get him chicken and vegetable ones but they changed the recipe to include a seasoning with milk powder so that's a no-go now .

My local butcher has said he would make up some for us if we brought in the ingredients ourselves and he would just add the meat. He will make up 5kgs as a minimum.

I have no clue as to what flavourings to include and quantites for a 5kg minimum. All I know is that I want it to be low salt (<600mgs salt per 100grams serving), have a good amount of veges and be tasty of course! My boy prefers chicken and doesn't like chili (he's only 3) but flavourings such as garlic and other spices are fine.

Any suggestions from you experienced sausage-makers?
Thank you
Kind regards
Ren

Hi Ren,
If I may throw in my 2 cents worth, I might be of help. Because salt is not used as a preservative in any “fresh” sausage (made without preservatives for consumption within 3 days or must be frozen), it only requires a minimum amount of salt for flavor and to help modify proteins so they hold more water. For this reason, most recipes for “fresh sausage” initially containing only about 1.5 - 2% salt. This amount may be almost entirely eliminated safely if health concerns require it. Note that this elimination of salt is in “fresh” sausage only. Not so, in dry and semi-dry cured sausages where a whopping 3 - 3.5 % salt must be added to help destroy any possible trichinae and discourage the growth of other unwanted organisms, help serve as a binding agent, and assist in the preservation of the meat. It is most important not to modify the salt content specified in recipes used for air-dried sausages although some major producers have decreased the amount by a third in some applications.
Obviously, your son will be somewhat limited to reduced-salt, “fresh” type sausages as modern science has not come up with an alternative preservative. I also happen to be lactose intolerant and must resort to the use of soy protein concentrate in sausage. No big deal - I’d rather have soy protein than milk powder anyway - and so would any heart surgeon.
How about telling us where you are located. There are members here from all around the world and perhaps they could come up with a few recipes for some of your local favorites. I am willing to bet you will hear from many sausagemakers who will help by including their favorite recipes so that you just have to print them out and hand them to your butcher. Here is a great recipe for a simple yet tasty English “banger” with less salt but plenty of good sage flavor. This sausage is made 70% lean, 30% fat and ground through a ¼” plate. The original recipe specified an incredible 4.5 tablespoons salt for 10 lbs. sausage. However, as no salt binder or preservative is required, and only an optional minimal amount of salt is necessary for taste, I cannot see why any salt at all would have to be used - especially if a little garlic was added to the sausage. The ranch breakfast sausage was cased in 35 m.m. hog casings for big ol’ ranch hands. It might be smart to have your butcher use 22 m.m. (about ¾” diameter) collagen casings for a smaller boy. What is his name?

Ranch Breakfast Sausages
(English “banger” recipe with reduced salt)

10 lbs. fat pork butts
2 teaspns. ground white pepper
1 teaspn. ground ginger
1 teaspn. sage
1 teaspn. mace
salt * (see note)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 cups ice water
32-35 m.m. hog casings (or 22 m.m. collagen casings)

My best wishes for you and your son.
Chuckwagon

Chuckwagon
Your two cents is greatly received and so informative! Thank you so much for your input. It gives me a fantastic starting point.

To answer your question, I'm located in Melbourne, Australia.

So happy to hear that salt is not really required in fresh sausages. My boy loves cured meats as well but again, lactose or a milk-derivative is used quite widely here in commerically prepared ones. I do give him ham and other cured meats (that don't have dairy) but they are 'sometimes' foods, not every day. When he's relapsing from his condition, we can't give him any of that but when he is well - as he is now - he can have them in moderation.
Ta
Ren

Hi Ren You could try this and use half the salt

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Mor ... hicken.pdf
Hope this will help.

Jim

Can you tell us a little more about the one he adores that you are trying to replace? Can you describe it? What vegetables are in it? What were the seasonings like before they changed the formula? Did anything stand out, like garlic or something else?

Ren wrote:(<600mgs salt per 100grams serving)

Welcome to the forum.

My maths isn't too good today - so that's 0.6% salt maximum?

Phil

Hi the link below contains many recipes with seasonings if you assume the seasoning is to be used at 2.5% of the recipe then the salt must be no more that 24% in the seasoning pack to give 0.6% finish
When looking at the seasoning recipes replace the difference between the original salt & 24% with rice flour or some other filler.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=3986

If you find a recipe you like the sound of PM me & I will work out the recipe for a 5Kg batch to fit in with your needs.
Hope this helps

Richard

Jim
That Moroccan recipe looks lovely. I would have to omit the nuts and apricots (my son has a possble nut allergy & there's sulphur dioxide in most apricots which is not good for his asthma) but rest of the ingredients are fine. I'd love to add some veges to the mix too - perhaps some carrot, capsicum, celery. What other veges would suit do you think?

Vagreys
The ones we used to buy had heaps of garlic in them (my fridge used to stink when I had the sausages in there ) and the veges I could identify were carrot, red capsicum and perhaps celery. Pretty sure there was fresh parsley too. Seasoning-wise, my palate is not that great so I'd say salt, pepper and of course the garlic. The main thing I noticed about them was that they were SUPER moist, even if overcooked.

Phil
Yep, 0.6% salt maximum

Richard
Wow, what a list! I will have a good look at it tonight and PM you if I need some extra help with quantities. Thank you so much for this offer.

This is such a great forum - I'm so happy with all of the replies I've received with so much knowledge. You are all so kind and me-thinks my little boy will be enjoying some beautiful sausages in the not so distant future . The added bonus is he can eat as many as he likes too and not worry about salt (he is on steroids at the moment so his appetite is massive).

Hey Ren, This group has several members in Australia and every one of them drives on the wrong side of the road! - alas, all of them have supergoodgenes all the way through. What is your boys name? Maybe you could also post his picture. You're among friends here.
Best wishes, Chuckwagon

Hi Ren
If you halve the salt and lose the apricot and nuts you can use 8.5% of veg.If you want more veg then reduce the chicken and skin in proporion to one another i.e. both by the same percentage and make up with veg.No reason why you cant use the veggies you suggested plus courgettes and maybe sun dried toms.

Jim

How about something based on this one:

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=3924

Replace as much of the spinach as you want, and all the feta, with veg, and reduce the salt to 0.6%. Watch out for celery though as that's high in natural salt.

Phil

Oops I forgot the obvious,mushroom

Jim

After all of your wonderful advice, I chose to go with Jim's 'Morrocan Chicken' suggestion and am so glad I did. I just made up a test 'pattie' batch (after Jim ever so kindly sent me the recipe for a 5kg batch) for lunch and they were devoured in record time by my family !

They were ever so moist and the red onion and honey gave it a gorgeous sweetness. I added some mixed dried herbs which was nice too and I think I can reduce the salt even more to perhaps 0.3-0.4% without losing any flavour which is a bonus.

So a huge thanks to you all and in particular Jim for his helpful tips and brain power when it came to working out the right amounts .