And now for something completely different...

[yotmon]

Heston Blumenthal making the 'Perfect' sausage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsLGjtX512M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNXBu6NDzSM

[DiggingDogFarm]

That's blocked on YouTube here in America....here it is on Vimeo.....
http://vimeo.com/33101183

[Tasso]

I enjoyed watching that video. What did you British sausage makers think of it?

Now I want to learn how to make bangers. I have questions about some of the ingredients, though.

Rusk - I've never seen that here in Texas. What is it? Can I make it? If so, how? If not, does anyone know of a source for good quality rusk here in the States?

Golden syrup - Again, I'm not familiar with that. What is it made from? What is a close substitute for it? I have a couple of grades of maple syrup, light and dark corn syrup, ribbon cane syrup, and dark molasses. All but the light corn syrup, which has no color at all, are darker than his golden syrup.

He made some toast-infused water from "British bread". Is that just a normal white bread, or is there anything special about it?

I'll have to see if I can source Middle White or a similar heritage breed of pig here. I think I can get Tamworth, but to be honest, I'm not sure I want to spring for high dollar heritage pork on my first try. He said he chose meat from the leg. I take it he means the fresh ham. I'll probably cheap out and use pork shoulder from Costco. Will that be acceptable?

Is emulsifying the already ground meat in a food processor typical of the process for making bangers?

He lightly smoked the fat (back fat?) over an open fire before emulsifying it and adding it to the meat. Is that typical, or was he just doing his own thing there?

Any other tips that he didn't cover?

[yotmon]

Hi Tasso, glad you enjoyed the video. Heston is a bit 'way-out' when it comes to cooking. He enjoys the science part of what he cooks and tries to explain to us what is actually happening to the food when cooked and why it is happening.

Rusk is basically a bread made without yeast being present. It relies on raising agents to give it lift. Years ago it was realised that yeast left in stale bread could cause the sausage to spoil, giving it a short shelf life, so yeastless bread (rusk) was developed. There is a recipe on here to allow you to make your own, I've used it several times with success.

Goldon syrup is basically boiled down sugar, probably similar to your corn syrup but I'll let others who have experience with both products to verify this. Don't use the dark molasses as this would be too strong in flavour and colour.

The 'British bread' referred to is a mass produced white loaf, sold pre-sliced. I would suggest that any white bread could be used. Again, HB was after adding a certain 'flavour' to the sausage by using this process. Its certainly something I have never done, but having said that, it may add a unique flavour to the sausage.

Any part of the pig can be used for bangers, British butchers would always use up their trimmings in sausage, so your Costco shoulder would be ideal as long as the fat ratio is okay.

Re emulsifying, I'm not aware of its necessity other than to disguise cheap parts used by the big mass producing companies who allegedly throw in the dreaded 'lips and arseholes' of the pig which they obviously wouldn't want identifying ! A lot of sausages presently being sold in the UK seem to focus more on visible 'meatiness' using as much as 98% in some cases.

Iv'e never heard of anyone smoking their backfat before putting in sausage but HB is all about experimenting with flavours - it's what he is famous for. It's something that could be tried I suppose.
It doesn't seem to be a hard recipe to follow, albeit a tad time consuming with all the procedures but you have to realise that his restaurant has 3 Michelin stars and he's ranked in the top 5 chefs in the world so he should know his stuff. Whether it's to everyone's taste is another matter.

Yotmon.

[wheels]

As Yotman says, there's a rusk recipe here:

viewtopic.php?t=339&highlight=rusk+economy

I find it easier to cook it at a lower temperature for a bit longer. I find it easiest to grind it in a food processor whilst it's still warm.

If I was starting to make UK style sausage, I'd start with one of the recipes on here:

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=9131

Oddley's are always reliable.

HTH

Phil

[Tasso]

Thank you yotmon and wheels for all the great info and links. I think I will take the simpler approach for my first attempt rather than try to recreate HB's version.

I searched for an alternative to golden syrup, and I found that Steen's Pure Cane Syrup is of the same type as golden syrup, such as Lyle's. I have a can of Steen's in the pantry, so that is what I'll use. Steen's is about the only syrup we ever ate when I was growing up in south Louisiana, and it's widely available here in Texas.

Wheels, was this the recipe from Oddley you were referring to?

Basic Sausage Recipe by Oddley viewtopic.php?f=1&t=152&p=861

[wheels]

No, it wasn't that one in particular. I don't know what that one's like.

For a very herby sausage, you could go with this Lincolnshire one (The basic recipe's Phil Groths adapted by Sausagemaker - rather than Oddley, although it's often called Oddley's Favourite!), or for a spicy/herby one, his Polly Perkin's Cumberland. His Gloucester also gets very good reviews.

For a mild sausage, I'll do a bit of self promotion and suggest two of mine: my Thurlaston or Cambridge (external links).

HTH

Phil

[quietwatersfarm]

can I just add my confirmation that 'toast water' and 'smoked fat' are absolutely worth the trouble.

I do big batches of toast flavoured water and freeze in 250ml lumps and I hand dice and heavily oak smoke back fat (rather than hold over a fire).

Both add a tremendous amount of flavour if you are 'in search of perfection' imo

[quietwatersfarm]

and btw Phils 'cambridge' by way of Maynard D is a cracker as is just about everything I have made that came via Oddley (although I pull back the salt in general just a little but each to his own!).

I dont know what happened to Oddley but he is a sausage genius on these boards!!

[wheels]

and btw Phils 'cambridge' by way of Maynard D

Maynard was certainly one of the references used, but the seasoning actually owes more to my 1938 copy of Finney's "Handy Guide for Pork Butchers" and a recipe supplied by Brican from Hammet and Nevell's "A Handbook on Meat and Text Book for Butchers".

Maynard's seasoning ingredients, and usage, are so similar to Finney's that he must surely have used it as a reference? As Finney was a butcher's ingredient supplier, I assume that his books, which date back to 1905, used recipes from a variety of sources, presumably his customers. You'll note that I acknowledge the use of Finney's recipe in the first paragraph of my blog post.

Here's a breakdown:




An interesting fact is that there were 2,500lbs of Palethorpe's 'Royal Cambridge sausages', aboard the Titanic when she sailed on her maiden voyage. How similar any of the ones above are to those is anyone's guess.

Phil

[Tasso]

Wheels, thanks for those recommendations. The spicy seasonings in Oddley's Polly Perkins Cumberland sausage appeal to me; I'm going to add that to my list for the future. But since I'm also going to be making some spicy Chaurice and a milder, very herby and oniony Cajun Green Onion Sausage at the same time, I'm leaning heavily towards your Thurlaston sausage. I'll have to fudge the "herb mix", but the comments by others on your blog will help. It'll be good to have a milder sausage with a rounder flavor profile.

quietwatersfarm, thank you for the confirmation on the value of making the toast water and smoking the fat. When I find a banger recipe with added back fat that I like, I'll try splitting a batch and using the toast water and smoked fat in a portion of it so I can compare and understand the difference.

[NCPaul]

Another vote for the Thurlaston sausage recipe, great for breakfast. You can make it into patties as well.

[yotmon]

and btw Phils 'cambridge' by way of Maynard D

Maynard was certainly one of the references used, but the seasoning actually owes more to my 1938 copy of Finney's "Handy Guide for Pork Butchers" and a recipe supplied by Brican from Hammet and Nevell's "A Handbook on Meat and Text Book for Butchers".

Maynard's seasoning ingredients, and usage, are so similar to Finney's that he must surely have used it as a reference? As Finney was a butcher's ingredient supplier, I assume that his books, which date back to 1905, used recipes from a variety of sources, presumably his customers. You'll note that I acknowledge the use of Finney's recipe in the first paragraph of my blog post.

Phil

Hi Phil, Found a recipe for Cambridge sausage in Douglas's encyclopedia published in 1901. The seasoning is printed in lb's and ounces so I've broken them down to units of one ounce.

Salt (144), Ground white pepper (96), Rubbed sage (8), cayenne (0.5), Nutmeg (8), Mace (8).
The white pepper seems a lot more than in the recipes you quote.

The full recipe is 12lb of lean pork, 6lb fat pork or pure fat, 3lb scalded rice, 2lb sausage meal, 2oz food preservative (dry antiseptic), 10 oz seasoning.

Ste.

[wheels]

Thanks Yotman,

I'll add it to the rest.

I still find bizarre that the Country's best selling sausage can just disappear without a trace.

Phil

[Snags]

Thanks for the video love the complex simplicity.