Journey Begins - Sausage Making (?)

[Sausage_Man]

Hi All
Nice to be apart of this forum and looking forward to learning from you'll.

Firstly, before i continue further, I am a total beginner at Sausage Making. I've never ever made sausages before but i have tasted a fair amount of store bought sausages, some good, some bad and some just despicable to even mention.

None the less, i decided to embark on a mission to make my own sausage that i can call the best in my opinion.

I have just obtained a Mincer with a sausage filler attachment and I'm half way there to start. I have also sourced some Sheep Casings and I will be using lamb as my meat source.

I have one teeny weeny problem. Most of the recipes call for Pork Fat and i understand the need for it as it adds juiciness to the sausage however I'm not allowed to eat pork at all - what's the next best alternative?

I was thinking of adding some oil or maybe margarine that's hard and mince it with the lamb to create a bit of juiciness - would this work?
With regards to the lamb, is there any specific cut of lamb I should be using or will anything go?

Look forward to hearing from you guys
Regards
S

[Oddwookiee]

Don't add oil, it messes with proportions and textures in your sausage. You can try beef fat as a second-best- try talking to you local butcher and ask for fat off the chuck or crossrib. Barring that, I've experimented with chicken fat, but it's devilishly hard to get a decent amount. You may also try a vegetable shortening, something solid at room temperature. I can't make any recommendations with that as I've no experience with it.

As for meat, if it's a young lamb cut doesn't make much difference. Using all leg will make for a leaner sausage, but a mix of shoulder & leg would work out just fine.

[captain wassname]

Hello and welcome A location would help with fat alternatives.
It is possible to make good sausage with no additional fat.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... at+sausage

Jim

[onewheeler]

Start with lamb merguez. No pork, no need for added fat. In fact I use supermarket lamb mince. A good recipe here: http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Merguez.pdf - use Spanish smoked pimenton picante for the paprika.

Where in the world are you?

Martin/

(and welcome!)

[wheels]

Welcome to the forum

There's quite a few 'no pork' recipes on forum member Tristar's blog:

http://nungkysman.wordpress.com/category/sausage/


Phil

[Sausage_Man]

Thanks you all for the fantastic replies. I'll be sure to experiment with the given advice.

By the way, I am from South Africa.

Take Care
Regards
S

[sundodger]

Rather than use young Lamb - Would Mutton work for you? I can get Mutton easily here & use it a fair bit in cooking as I have developed a liking for the stronger flavour, it also has a lot more fat. Not tried it myself yet in sausages, as like yourself, I am fairly new to the game, but will give it a go in the near future.

[crustyo44]

Hi S,
I have made Spicy Csabai sausages with all beef ingredients for a good friend of mine.
He can't eat pork for religious believes so I used collagen casing firsdt but now have puchased sheep casings.
Matter of fact, I even used beef fat in the sausages and contrary to popular believe they turned out very nice.
Some pork sausage recipes can be adapted successfully with other meats.
I you like this recipe just message me.
Good Luck,
Jan.

[Sausage_Man]

Hi Guys

Been a hectic couple weeks to get going with my Sausage Making.
Never the less, I've manage to find another company that sells sausage casings but now they posed me with another mind boggling question - what size casing do i need?

They will be supplying me Sheep Casings and mentioned that 28mm is the common size but i would think that the size would need to coincide with the size of my filler attachment?

Could you guys give me some direction as to the correct size i should get as well as how do i go about measuring my sausage filler attachment so i get the correct size?
By the way, my grinder and filler is an attachment for my Kenwood Mixer and it's really old - got handed down to me - so not sure of it's model number or any info about the grinder attachment and sausage filler.

Attached is a picture of the filler attachment and I'm not sure if I am measuring it correctly but I'm sure you guys will be able to guide me.

Thanks a mill
Regards
SM

[Sausage_Man]

Sorry guys but for some reason the picture for the previous post didn't take so I've linked it below


Measurement is in mm



Sorry for the poor quality - had to take it with my phone

[wheels]

You'll find a comprehensive guide to casings and stuffing tube sizes here:

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/SausageD ... sTubes.pdf

HTH

Phil

[Sausage_Man]

Hi Wheels

Thanks a million for this.
It never occurred to me before looking at the chart that my tube is actually tapered so if my understanding is correct, the diameter of the end of my tube that was measured (As shown in the picture on my previous post) is 19mm but when i turn the ruler the other way it measures in at 21mm so the end of my tube is slightly oval in shape and not perfectly round.

Never the less, according to the chart you pointed out, a 19mm tapered tube uses either a 24 -26mm casing so i guess a 28mm casing will not work?

Sorry, this is all really silly questions but I'm just struggling to wrap my head around all these measurement.

Look forward to hearing from you
Thanks
Regards
SM

[wheels]

The tube should be OK for a 28mm casing - it will just be a case of 'holding the casing back' to ensure that it's well filled.

Phil

[Sausage_Man]

Thanks guys for all the help so far but now comes the real proof in the pudding.

I have picked up my Sausage Casings finally - was expecting this huge box that i would need to carry over my head - i was shocked when the guy handed it to me in a small plastic packet

Never the less, he did say I should get about 30KG+ out from there so I'm happy.

Now that i have the main component of Sausages apart from the meat and spices, I need to find a good recipe. Now I know there are tons out there but maybe if i can tell you guys what's my preference someone can recommend 1 to me.

I'm looking for a sausage that is Spicy and Hot - where you can taste the different spices in it - i will put it on a bbq so no need for any liquid smoke to add smokiness, the bbq will do that all on its own. Can anyone recommend anything.

1 last question, what part of the sheep do you recommend is best for making sausages? Bear in mind i wont be using any pork or pork fat.

Thanks
Regards
SM

[NCPaul]

Lamb shoulder should give you a good balance of meat to fat. Though I haven't made any, I would consider merguez.