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spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Sun Jan 10, 2016 8:22 pm
by naymo
Hello everyone,

I have ventured into making sausages for me and my family and came across this forum which looks full of superb advice.
I have an electronic grinder/stuffer and although I have perfected the taste of the home made sausages the shape and texture of them is to be questioned. The stuffing of them is nothing other than a nightmare as I cannot keep the continuity of pushing the meat into the stuffer and shaping the casings, I have read that a manual upright stuffer will help me here. The other thing is the texture of them. Now I use 3 1/2 pound of shoulder/belly with good fat content 2oz ready made seasoning and 1/2lb of ready made Rusk along with 1/2lb icy water, but when they are cooked a-they are very soft and b- the texture is somewhat soft and crumbly with a gritty aftertaste. I have read a lot about mixing and mixing to start a myosin process is this my answer as I hand mix the mixture until it is sticky or am I missing something else? Could adding a bit more fat be the answer? I like my sausages meaty and solid so when you cut into them they don't fall apart and you end up having to use a spoon!
Any feedback appreciated.

Re: spongy, soft sauages

PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:48 am
by DanMcG
I think you answered your own question. You need a dedicated stuffer. I'm guessing that all the work trying to get the farce through the grinder while stuffing is smearing the fat which gives you that soft and crumbly texture.

Re: spongy, soft sauages

PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:19 pm
by NCPaul
Welcome to the forum. :D You might consider using a bit less rusk and water. How fine are you grinding the meat? Like Dan said, a stuffer will help both the sausage and the sausage maker.

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 7:04 pm
by naymo
On my last batch I ground the meat on a coarse plate then mixed in my Rusk, flavourings and water, put the mix through the coarse plate again, mixed it by hand and then put the mix through the plate again into the casing. On the next batch I may try one coarse grind and try the wider plate for stuffing.

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:15 am
by Oddbod
I'm only just starting but from what I've read here & elsewhere, it looks like you have too much rusk & accompanying water in the mix.

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Sun Jan 17, 2016 6:45 pm
by wheels
I'm not sure that I agree about the level of rusk/water. It depends on the style of sausage you're making. The rusk & water in Naymo's sausage are both around 11%. This level of rusk is perfectly normal in a UK sausage. Typically, for this amount of rusk, the water content would be higher.
My Thurlaston sausage has a similar meat and rusk content and can't, in any way, be described as soft and spongy when made properly.
I think that it's about the method - either under or over mixing, smearing when stuffing, or possibly too much fat? What cuts of meat did you use?

Phil

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Tue Jan 19, 2016 8:00 pm
by divani
Maybe chilling everything would also help?

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:56 pm
by This Little Piggy
Yep, I think there's no one solution, but lots of things you can try until you get just the texture you want. Keeping the meat and fat very cold (just slightly frozen) prevents the "smearing" Dan mentioned, and having a piston-style stuffer rather than an auger-type will also help avoid overworking and overheating the sausage mix. I understand that rusk is traditional, but as a filler it will interfere with the binding of the meat proteins and thus make your sausage less "meaty and solid." Not necessarily a problem, as there are things you can do to extract more protein from the meat mix, as well as things you can add to it to strengthen the bind.

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:59 pm
by This Little Piggy
It may be more information than you want! but here's the link to an article I wrote on the meat protein that works to bind a sausage mix together:

http://thesaltcuredpig.com/Porkopedia/i ... tle=Myosin

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 5:49 pm
by wheels
That's a great article TLP, thanks for posting the link.

Phil

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 6:21 pm
by This Little Piggy
Do have to say that, with all this talk of how to treat spongy, soft sausages, I feel a little bit like I stumbled into an erectile dysfunction support group!

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Thu Jan 21, 2016 9:17 pm
by wheels
Yep, I't anyone's guess what Dr Spock would make of all this sausage talk!

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:29 am
by ped
Quite illogical ;)

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 7:30 am
by ped
Oh no that was Mr Spock :)

Re: spongy, soft sausages

PostPosted: Fri Jan 22, 2016 2:56 pm
by wheels
:lol: :lol: :lol: