www.sausagemaking.org

Is there a general formula/rule of thumb for making sausages?
For example, is there a % of salt, breadcrumbs, dextrose, water, total spice mix, etc?
Thanks.

There is a book titled Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Stanley and Adam Marianski that has a table for different spices on page 195, could you get that book? For salt, the usual usage is 1.8-2.0 %. For dextrose it can be 0-2 %. For breadcrumbs, I would try not to use more than 10%. Water is usually added at an equal percentage to the breadcrumbs. There are plenty of exceptions to these amounts and you will only know when and how to adjust a recipe by gaining experience in making a range of different sausages and in having good technique. There are unique sausages from nearly every country so an easy formula is not likely to fit for all of them. If you get some books with sausage recipes or analyze the recipes on this site, you can prove this to yourself.

I concur with NCPaul - get a copy of the Marianski book and read through it (it's actually quite interesting). There are general rules of thumb that vary widely based on the type of sausage (savory vs sweet vs spicy, fresh vs smoked, emulsified vs coarse, etc). Similar to other cooking, part of the fun of making sausage is adjusting the recipes to what YOU think tastes best.
Typically spices are limited to 2% of the meat weight. The only strict formulas are for safety (Nitrite/Nitrate).

If you need help making sausage, there's a beginners' guide here:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3986

HTH

Phil

Thanks for the tip guys but I very highly doubt that I will find that book here in Mexico but I will have a look around for it. Thanks Wheels.

You can get the book, and many others, from Amazon Mexico, here.

Len Poli also offers some good info on sausage making. here's the link.
http://lpoli.50webs.com/page0001.htm

Ok thanks.