Journey Begins - Sausage Making (?)

[Sausage_Man]

Hi All

I am planning on trying my first batch of sausages this weekend (hopefully this time i really get down to it - been planning this for a while now)
None the less, I thought I'd run you thorough the process as I understand it and would greatly appreciate it if you find I am doing something wrong, please feel free to correct me. I will be making fresh sausage that will be bbq'd over coals.

I will be using the recipe found here http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Merguez.pdf
Just a few questions I have regarding the above recipe
a) It asks for Dried Onion. I'm not too sure where to get this - could i take normal onion and dry it my self and if so, how?
b) I'm not sure what is meant by granulated garlic - could someone explain?

Now, down to the procedure I will be following
1) I will first start off by soaking my Sausage Casings in warm water.
2) I will be using Lamb Only - diced into 1" cubes and then placed into the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill and firm up the meat for easy mincing.
3) The instructions on the site above calls for the minced meat to be mixed with salt and refrigerated.
4) Grind Onions, Pepper Corns, Corriander seed and Oregano in Pepper Mill to a fine powder then add to the rest of the ingredients and then all of that to the meat then mix well.
At this point, I am going to deviate a little - in the guide mentioned on this site and found here http://www.lartigiano.co.uk/Documents/SausageMaking.pdf it says once the spices + water is mixed with the meat, put it through the mincer using the fine blade - i will be doing this additional step at this point.
5) I will now remove the sausage casings from the water it is soaking in, then wash off any excess salt and then run water through the casing to clean it out.
6) I will then attach the casing onto my stuffer tube (I remember reading somewhere that i would need to oil the tube a little to help the casing slide on, is this necessary and helpful?)
7) As Sausage fills tube, link into required length.

I hope i have covered everything in the process mentioned above - please feel free to offer any advice.

1 last request, can you suggest a nice video of sausage making in progress from the time the mincing is done till the filling. It would just boost my confidence a little more if i can see how it's done and whether it's as i picture it to be.

Thanks
Regards
SM

[Oddwookiee]

Dried onion ca be found (in the US) in any grocery store in the spice aisle.

Sorry if this gets overly detailed, I'm operating on the assumption you've never stuffed sausage before. No offense intended.

Casings: get a gallon pitcher or huge bowl and have your casings absolutely swimming in warm water. More is better, you cannot in any way over-water them at this stage. In fact, give your casing a bath in a gallon, swish them around to get the salt off, dump the water and give them a fresh gallon to soak in while you're doing your meat work. I never pre-flush salt pack casings, it's not necessary at this stage. Just get them soaked and loose. When you go to stuff, get another container (I use a 4 quart / 4 liter tub with 3 qt/L of water in it for a full hank of casings. I know quart and liter are not the same, but close enough for government work) put the casings in and fill it with warm water and add a couple tablespoons of baking soda to the water. The alkali will lubricate the casings, make any knots slip out and make stuffing easier. Pre-flushing happens the moment before stuffing- grab a casing, stick your index and middle into the opening to spread it out and dunk it in and out of the water, scooping the water into the casing, then start sliding the casing onto your horn while holding the casing between a couple fingers of the other hand to keep the water from pooling in the section on the stuffer horn. The section of water filled casing will be opened up and lubricated by the soda water and will slide onto the horn with no effort at all. When you get to the other end of the casing but before the water splooshes onto your table, just drop the end back into the tub of casings, let it expel the water and you're all set.

This way is a little wetter then some other methods so a lipped table is handy, but it is almost completely hassle free. The biggest problem I've ever had is with a knot in the casing when I first start working the hank apart. If you stuff somewhere that a little water on the floor isn't an issue, or have a way to keep a few drips from making a mess, you're golden.

Also, casings do not stink when wet. If your casings stink, do not use them. When flushed they may have a tiny odor, which is normal, but should not be unpleasant. I've read of people recommending adding lemon juice to the water and I strongly recommend against it. If the casings smell bad enough to need a odor mask, you have bigger problems. You want the casing bath to be alkali not acidic. On top of that, acid of any kind denatures proteins; there is absolutely no reason to deliberately weaken the jacket (even slightly) of your sausage, possibly making a weak spot or further weakening an existing thin spot where it can tear and drop your meat on the floor of the smokehouse. If they have an odor you disagree with, get back to the sink and change the water they sit in a couple more times. Nine times out of ten that will solve the problem without adding more possible points of failure to your process.

[onewheeler]

I've done the Len Poli recipe (or close to it) many times. If you can't get dried onion or garlic, half a white onion per kilo of meat and about three cloves of garlic are fine. Chop the onion and the garlic coarsley and whizz them in a blender. Reduce the quantity of water to compensate - about 100 ml per kilo is plenty (the harissa has liquid in it), but I find that lamb does need some liquid to help it go through the stuffer, especially if using sheep casings. I wouldn't bother with a second mince, but that might depend on the size of your grinder plate (6 mm is fine).

Don't try to link as you go, stuff the full length of casing and then link afterwards. There is a casing calculator somewhere on the forum which will help you judge how much to soak. Add a bit for accidents!

Martin/

[Sausage_Man]

Thank you Oddwookiee and Onewheeler - much appreciated for the advice.

I hope i ain't sounding like a broken instrument but just to repeat the process again with the addition of you'll s advice - the more i repeat it the more i can visualize it. By the way, I have just finished making my Harrissa paste and it smells HOOOOOOTT (Yummeeee)

Here Goes
1) Submerge Casings into warm water completely so it begins to swim around. RInse off as much salt as possible and then replace water.
2) I will be using Lamb Only - diced into 1" cubes and then placed into the freezer for about 15 minutes to chill and firm up the meat for easy mincing. My mincing blade will first be a large holed blade.
3) The instructions on the site above calls for the minced meat to be mixed with salt and refrigerated.
4) Grind Pepper Corns, Corriander seed and Oregano in Pepper Mill to a fine powder then add to the rest of the ingredients and then all of that to the meat then mix well.
I will be using fresh onion instead of dried and add it to the above mixture.
5) At this stage, I will mix the above spices with ice cold water. (I've read that keeping all the ingredients cold helps everything bind easily - is this true). Once Mixture begins to tighten a little and ingredients disperse properly, I will pass this entire mixture through the mincer again using the fine holed blade then hand mix to tighten mixture.
6) Prepare another container with water and a few Tablespoons of Baking Soda then remove Casings from it's water bath and add to the Baking Soda Bath.While casing is soaking, i will insert 2 finger into the one end of the casing to stretch it open and scoop water into the casings then start to put casing onto Sausage Filler Pipe (Horn). As the casing starts to shorten along the way and once most of it is fitted onto the horn, i will let out whatever water is left at the end of the casing then tie a knot onto the casing and get ready for filling.
7) Fill entire casing with Sausage then link when done.

I hope I have covered the process entirely but I do expect some hiccups along the way - hopefully not too serious where it becomes a disaster.

Keep you guys posted
Thanks
SM

[NCPaul]

You left out a step - have fun.

[captain wassname]

I would add the spices to the sausage mix rather than the water,just in case the mixture starts to get to the requires consistency before all the water is added.Best of luck.

Jim

[Sausage_Man]

Hi All

I finally took the plunge and dived right into my first time sausage making experience.
It was indeed a good learning experience that will open up further as i go along.

Below is the sequence of events. I had a few challenges but I'm confident with time I will overcome this.

1) Cubed meat and placed in freezer for 15 minutes.
2) Measured out all spices and kept ready.
3) Measured Sausage Casings and placed into container of warm water.
4) Removed meat from freezer - Ground using large holed plate and mixed in salt only and then put into fridge.
5) Replenished sausage casing with fresh warm water.
6) After i was satisfied all salt was removed from casing, I used another container with Warm Water mixed with about a TBSP of Bicarb Soda (AKA Baking Soda)
7) I then removed meat from fridge, mixed in spices and water then put through grinder again using file holed plate - mixed meat well to combine all spices.
I then grabbed my Sausage Tube (Horn) and started to thread the casing over the horn and this is where the challenge started. I managed to open the casing using my finger and using the brilliant idea Oddwookiee gave me i scooped some water into the casing and started to thread the casing around the horn. Once i got the start, it just wouldn't thread as easily as I've seen in some videos. I tried but it kept holding back even to the point where i submerged the horn into the water and that helped a little but still was struggling. I eventually got to a point where i gave up but whatever amount i did thread was actually enough as i used a very small amount of mean for my first try.
9) Once i had it threaded on, i switched on my machine and started filling - i found 2 small holes in the casing probably due to some force i used to thread but it wasn't bad that filling was falling out it.

The final sausage looked pretty OK. As for taste, well i cant say much - that will be later today as i left it in the fridge to develop some flavour. Look wise, it was looking a bit dull - would have liked a more deep red colour like shown here http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Merguez.pdf

If you have any advice on how to improve overall but especially with threading the casing, it would be greatly appreciated. By the way, i have a steel stuffing tube (horn) that's tapered down.

I'll let you guys know later how the taste it
Take Care
Regards
SM

[crustyo44]

Sausage casings are easier to work with if they are soaked in water with some Bi-Carb.
Easier to thread onto the stuffing tube, less knots and they slip off real easy when stuffing.
Good Luck,'
Jan.

[Dogfish]

Honestly, best way to make sausages is just to make them. If they've got bad texture, which is the usual mistake, break them into pasta sauce and do it again. Keep the meat cold and just keep making sausages until it works for you. If your machine isn't strong enough or the blade sharp enough, make sure you trim the meat really well. There's a beef recipe (Aidell's Romanian) in the recipe section that's very good smoked. Merguez is really good, too. Just don't overthink it. Grab a beer and make the snawsage and eat it and if it's funky...make more.

Of everything I've learned, it really comes down to this: balance the salt and keep the grind clean and plenty of fat in the mix, and it'll be good. If it tastes like ground beef, you haven't mixed it with enough salt. If it tastes like sawdust, you have let the meat get too warm or you haven't trimmed the meat and it's smeared. If it sticks in your throat like powder, there isn't enough fat in it. But none of it's life threatening.

And read through the information on the site, cause there's tons of it.

[hotgoblin]

just made 4kg of mutton merguez today its well worth making

[Sausage_Man]

Hi All

I am so happy to announce my most recent success.
So after trying the recipe i posted earlier in this thread, i was quite impressed that it wasn't bad at all but it needed something more - it was a little bit too much Cumin in the flavor which was overpowering everything else.

So, we have a company called Crown National which sells all of these spices and I popped by there to see if they have sausage spice and the sales guy suggested a hot sausage spice that he was sure we were gonna love so we grabbed a bag and ran a test and he was definitely not mistaken - we loved every bit of it but quite surprising it was very very close to the recipe i initially tried - this spice also has an overpowering taste of cumin in it but you also get the hint of other ingredients which makes it blend really well.

Anyways, we had guests over - lots of them - like 100+ and we decided what better time to test the sausage than at a bbq so i got the wife involved and we make 10KG's of sausages - hard work i must say especially when you have a stuffing horn like mine - it didn't make things easier but as we worked with more and more we found how to adjust our method and made things work eventually.

We bbq'd it over hot coals and then served and all we got all night were rave comments - people just couldn't believe we made them - thanks a mill to a lot of you guys for the encouragement and tips.

I'm so looking forward to trying more and more recipes - my own recipes so i don't have to rely on someone commercial company for theirs

Any other recipe suggestion for hot spicy fresh sausage is more than welcome

Until we stuff again
Ciao
SM