First Sausages

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First Sausages

Postby Helen2 » Thu Mar 28, 2013 10:44 pm

Hi, I made my first sausages tonight and to put if mildly they were not a success. Where did I go wrong?
They were rather dry despite using very fatty pork and the Hog Casings I used shrank to nothing during cooking and the whold sausage split in half. Any help appreciated.
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Re: First Sausages

Postby wheels » Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:07 pm

If you can post the recipe and method you used, it will help members to advise.

Phil :D :D
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Re: First Sausages

Postby Helen2 » Thu Mar 28, 2013 11:24 pm

The recipe was 2lb pork 50/50 pork belly and shoulder of pork with 5 ounces of bread crumbs a tablespoon of mixed herbs, salt and pepper and a generous splash of water. Would the contents of the sausage affect the casing? I lost the mixture I sent off for so this was just thrown together really. The taste was ok but the appearance left a lot to be desired.
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Re: First Sausages

Postby onewheeler » Fri Mar 29, 2013 11:02 am

Several things that could have gone wrong:

Did you use enough salt? Use 1% - 1.5% by weight (10 - 15 g for your quantity of meat). Salt is essential to develop the proteins that hold the sausage together and keep it moist.

Was the meat really cold throughout the mixing process?

Did you mix sufficiently? Tickling it with a spoon isn't enough. Get your hands in and knead it for a couple of minutes. This develops the myosin needed to give a good bind. The meat will become sticky at which point it's ready for stuffing. You should have really cold hands at the end of it if the meat is cold enough!

Frying on too fierce a heat causes splitting of cases.

Martin/
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Re: First Sausages

Postby wheels » Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:00 pm

I agree, and with 5oz of breadcrumbs I'd add more than a 'generous splash' of water - around ¼ pint would be about right.

You can download an excellent guide to making sausage, written by forum member Sausagemaker, here:

http://www.lartigiano.co.uk/Documents/SausageMaking.pdf

HTH

Phil
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Re: First Sausages

Postby bwalt822 » Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:53 pm

50/50 of shoulder and belly seems like a lot of fat. For my fresh sausage i use 85% pork shoulder, 15% pork fat. It always comes out super juicy. Its possible you rendered a lot of fat out when cooking which lead to the shriveled look.
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