The ultimate beginners book and other questions...

[mancuniclaret]

Hello fellow sausage fans,

I am very new to the art of sausage making, so new I haven't actually tried it yet! I have recently got hold of a mincing and sausage stuffing attachment for a Kenwood Chef 701 which I inherited from my late Nanna. My girlfriend and I (and most of my friends for that matter) are huge sausage fans and I thought it would be great if we could try making our own.

My first question to you all would be is there a particular book that will give me the information I need?

After a quick search on the web I've located three books for consideration (although I'd be more than happy to consider others at your recommendation). These are;

Home Sausage Making, Susan Mahnke Peery and Charles G. Reavis
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/158017471X/ref%3Dpd%5Fecs%5Fb%5Fkh%5Fa/203-4989005-4552761

Bruce Aidell's Complete Sausage Book: Recipes from America's Premier Sausage Maker
Bruce Aidells, Denis Kelly
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1580081592/qid%3D1126097470/sr%3D8-1/ref%3Dsr%5F8%5Fxs%5Fap%5Fi1%5Fxgl/203-4989005-4552761

and

Sausage-making Cookbook
Jerry Predika
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0811716937/qid%3D1142520020/sr%3D1-2/ref%3Dsr%5F1%5F3%5F2/203-4989005-4552761

After reading a lot of this forum I can't see anything that says there is a definative book and suspect its going to be a case of trial and error anyway! Any help would be much appreciated - and thanks for including a 'beginners' section on the website - I've already been practicing making 'virtual links' if you'll pardon the pun!

Looking forward to mkaing my fist sausages,

Al

[mosler]

Hi Al,

I have only read through one of those and it is Aidell's book. And in my opinion it's not a good choice for a beginer's 'how to' guide. In fact I take issue with a fair bit of what he offers as guidance in general, esp. the parts about smoking sausages. I do grant that he has some amount of vision for his recipes and it can be a useful reference when you're looking for something new to try. But I would always use the ingredients list as a guide and then ignore everything else he says about how to put it all together.

My advice to getting yourself started? Pick a simple recipe which you can use without stuffing into casings. Here in the US a pork breakfast sausage and a basic Italian sausage are two which can be enjoyed 'loose'. You can find this recipe online or take a notepad to the bookstore with you and copy it down from a book you like. This is a chance to focus on the mincing and mixing stages.

When you're comfortable with that (likely after your 1st batch) add the stuffing step and make a few links.

None of this is terribly difficult and it's not like baked goods where small errors in measurement along the way can have a large influence on the finished product. You'll be surprised at how quickly you get a feel for it. And if you run into the problems of poor texture, burst casings etc. (like I did) they are useful learning tools and you can always eat your mistakes.

So hunt around for some basic info and jump right in!

[Paul Kribs]

Al

Take a peek at the sausagemaking section on my website.. Click the WWW on the bottom of this post..

Regards, Paul Kribs

[georgebaker]

Hi mancuniclaret
I'm in North Manchester and was given a 700 Kenwood slicer attachment for my 901 chef so woulds swap it for anything (sausage) useful if you'r game.


If mancuniclaret is not interested anyone else want it? It seems to be "old" new stock no sign of real use, swap anything useful even advice

George

[Lance Yeoh]

I have the HOME SAUSAGE MAKING book you mentioned.
In my honest opinion, it's not a very good book as it does not give you tips on how to make a good sausage. I does however, give you general ideas on how to get around to making your 1st few batches. I'll dare say that the tips and advise I've got from this forum is many times better than what you can get in the book. Just my opinion....

[mancuniclaret]

Thanks everyone!

My mincing attachment has now arrived although I'm due to move house next week so I'll have to wait to give it a go. Whilst on the subject, is there a best way to steralise equipment? (I'll add a new thread on this over in the beginners section so don't reply here). (Scratch that - I just found one in the chatter section!!).

Mosler - that sounds like a great idea to get me going, I'll give it a go.

Paul - Brilliant website, added to my favourites and will print and read through your instructions with great care. Love the sounds on the site by the way (is the "pucker up" quote from Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid?!).

George - to be honest I don't really need a slicer as tend to do most of that by hand...the 701 is in a cupboard and lifting that old iron lump out just to slice things doesn't seem worth the effort! If I were you I'd stick it on ebay...there are attachments going for anything upto �20! Thanks anyway.

Lance - I'm getting the impression that I'm as well to take advice from this formu as much as any book. Using Pauls website I think I'll be able to go ahead without the books and maybe look at them again in the future just to get some inspiration fro recipes.

Once again, thanks to those of you that took time to reply. The sun is out here today and it won't be long before I can crank up the BBQ too!

[Paul Kribs]

Al

Glad the tutorials were of use to you. They were based on the kind of thing I was trying to find when I first started this great hobby. They are meant to be basic enough to encourage beginners to gain the confidence to take the plunge. The sausage making tutorial was made using the ingredients to suit MY preferences, obviously you can alter these to suit yourself.
I don't know where the 'pucker' wav came from, I found it some few years ago when trawling the www, same with all the sounds.

As regards books, (original topic).. I have just recieved one from my son as a birthday gift, and found it good reading. It is called 'Charcuterie' by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn, and it's 2005 so pretty much up to date. It outlines recipes for salt curing, smoked food, sausages, dry-cured food, pates and terrines, the confit technique and also recipes for some sauces and condiments to accompany the charcuterie.
The only problem I have found with this book is that being American authors, the curing recipes refer to 'pink salt', which is the nitrite cure and is also refered to by names with which I am not familiar.. tinted cure mix, or TCM, DC Curing Salt, Insta Cure #1. They say they are all the same with 93.75% salt and 6.25% nitrite.. And the Nitrate cure is known as DC Curing Salt #2 and Insta Cure #2. I will eventually get around to finding out if these are exactly the same as Prague #1 and Prague #2 that Franco sells, so that I can use a few of the recipes contained in the book. Other than that, a very enjoyable book.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[mosler]

Paul,

Just wanted to mention that I've always understood Prague Powder 1 and 2 to be the exact same as InstaCure 1 and 2, being the nitrite and nitrate cures as you mentioned.

And all the other terms that book uses (pink salt,tinted cure mix, DC Curing Salt) are forgein to me as well. Pink salt seems a terrible choice which could confuse more than it clarifies.

[Paul Kribs]

mosler

Thanks for that, I will endeavour to clarify it further though. I agree with you regarding the refernce to 'pink salt', as both prague #1 and prague #2 are pink salts, although to be fair the authors have explained that the pink salt in the recipes is nitrite salt. The dry cured meat recipes also plainly state Insta Cure #2 or DC Curing Salt #2.

Regards, Paul Kribs