www.sausagemaking.org

I tried this recipe yesterday. It's my own variation of Len Poli's recipe here http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Cho ... uguese.pdf. I threw some wild boar into it, too. I don't hunt but I found some fresh boar meat in the supermarket to a good price. The fillet was a piece I found deep in the freezer; date expired long ago... I will air-dry the sausages. No smoke.

500 g lean wild boar meat
500 g belly, trimmed
300 g pork fillet
300 g back fat

Half of the belly and half of the fat was ground finely. The rest of the belly and fat and all of the meat was cut with a knife into irregular pieces, ½-1 cm. Mixed with the following seasoning:

48 g Maldon sea salt (including cure)
9 g dextrose
1½ tbsp sweet paprika
1 tsp black pepper, finely crushed
1 tsp Cayenne pepper
1½ clove garlic
2 tbsp Port wine
1 tbsp Piri-Piri sauce (bottled)
1/4 tsp MSG
Lactic acid fermentation starter (yoghurt)

Refrigerated overnight and stuffed hard into hog casings (ca 35 mm). Poked any air pockets and sprayed with a mould solution. I'm aware that mould is atypical for chouriço, but I've had some problems before with unwanted mould, so I inoculate for safety. I might remove it later.

This picture is right after stuffing (the darker areas are wild boar pieces). They are now ready for fermentation. I will report back as the sausages develop.



PS One funny coincidence was that when I weighed the meat only (to calculate the salt), the scale read 1,579 grams. After stuffing I had to weigh the sausages to be able to monitor weight loss. 1,579 grams! I thought the scale had broke. This means that what was left in the stuffer weighed exactly as much as the seasoning, casings and strings.

Those look good. Please post another picture when they are finished.

Wow! grisell those sure look good. I will be making some chourico sausage soon. Portuguese sausages are the best!

Thanks guys! I'll keep you updated as the process goes by.

With wild boar have you any concerns with trichinosis?

The meat comes from a respectable company and the Law demands inspection. So, no.

My life is full of parasites anyway.

Reason I ask is I have an unlimited supply of wild hogs but they say they COULD have trich. So far I've only used them for fresh sausages that I know will be cooked good but I'm thinking of just freezing the meat and giving it a go. Know what you mean about parasites. Probably should have tried the freezer method on my X. She never was the same after the house landed on her sister.

Jogeephus wrote:Reason I ask is I have an unlimited supply of wild hogs but they say they COULD have trich. So far I've only used them for fresh sausages that I know will be cooked good but I'm thinking of just freezing the meat and giving it a go. Know what you mean about parasites. Probably should have tried the freezer method on my X. She never was the same after the house landed on her sister.

Yes, Trichinae are a problem with wild boars. Not even freezing is completely safe. There are strains of Trichinae that survive freezing. That's the only way for them to survive in cold climates since their replication often relies on their host's carcass being consumed by a scavenger. The creepy thing about Trichinosis is that there is still no remedy, it's incurable.

My meat comes from this farm http://www.sjunkarod.com/ (in Swedish) and their meat is thoroughly inspected, so I think I'll get on.

It must be possible in the US too, to send samples of the meat to a veterinarian who can check for Trichinae.

So, after 60 hours of fermentation at 20 C and >95% RH, they will now be moved to the drying chamber. The weight loss is only 0.7% because of the high humidity. The drying chamber is 12 C and 75% RH, with a gentle air flow, assuring a slow drying process.

Those are looking wonderful. What kind of time frame are you looking at before you expect them to be on your fork?

BTW - do you find the wild boar to have a higher fat percentage. Reason I ask when I catch and pen them they seem to fatten rather quickly but put on more fat than flesh. They are good though.

Thanks! I don't know about the time. I'd guess 2-3 weeks, maybe more.

No, on the contrary. Wild boar seems much leaner than domestic pigs, but I'm by no means any expert on this.

It seems logical that wild boar should be leaner because of the amount of exercise they get having to find their own food.

Update: It's not ready yet, but of course I couldn't keep my fingers off them. Anyway, a little too soft in the middle and not spicy enough - sort of medium hot. I like food either mild or nuclear hot, so I don't know about that... I will try them on a couple of friends.

Update in a week or so.

Anyway, here is a picture: