Skin on or off

[aris]

Spuddy - about 18 months ago you posted a recipe for brined, and boiled pork skin. You described it as Italian street food. Care to post the recipe again?

[Spuddy]

Interesting, the original post is no longer there for some reason.
Basically the skin is brined in a basic ham brine then boiled until tender. While still warm it is sliced and sprinkled with lemon juice, black pepper and (if necessary) a little salt.
Eat with your fingers!

[aris]

How long do you brine it for?

[Paul Kribs]

I've just been looking at Len Poli's recipe for Italian Farmhouse Sausage and pig skin is utilised as an ingredient. He recommends boiling it for 5 minutes and then freezing it and passing it through a fine plate.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Spuddy]

How long do you brine it for?

If it's thin 24 hours or so. It's not really important as it's not for preservation but for the flavour so as long as it's gone "hammy" it's fine.
It's just their way of using up the bits of skin leftover after processing the pig. They would also have brined and boiled heads (which were carved up and served the same way) and trotters on the stalls as well.

[Spuddy]

I've just been looking at Len Poli's recipe for Italian Farmhouse Sausage and pig skin is utilised as an ingredient. He recommends boiling it for 5 minutes and then freezing it and passing it through a fine plate.

Regards, Paul Kribs

I don't know if anyone can confirm but I'm sure I read somewhere that in the industry the boiled, softened skin is blitzed up into a paste and used as a binder/filler.

[sausagemaker]

Hi Spuddy

Yes you are right in that the industry blitz the rind & use it in the manufacture, although not many cook it any longer as the machinery today can handle it uncooked.
It is used as part of the meat content & not as a filler. By law you are allowed to use the percentage of it as it would be on the animal.
A lot of manufactures now use dried rind as this is an easy way of handling it although not a fan of it myself I prefer to use the fresh rind.

Hope this helps
Regards
Sausagemaker

[Spuddy]

Sausagemaker

It's used in the more economy type sausages isn't it?
Only I'm sure I've detected it in "Chip Shop" type Jumbo sausages in the past (not that I'd eat them now). There's something about the texture that I remember that makes me think of it. It's not unpleasant in fact if anything it seems to make the sausage seem more meaty and solid.

Am I right?

[sausagemaker]

Hi Spuddy

Yes it is mainly used in the economy end of the sausage market & has the tendency to firm up the sausage through the release of gelatine that is associated with it.

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Paul Kribs]

I think that if I were to use it I would boil it until soft, about 1 hour before grinding it when it is soft. I have no objection to using the rind at all, but would like it to be gelatinous rather than small harder bits. I suppose I could put it in the food processer, but would rather do without using it rather than the extra hassle involved. Very interesting discussion though.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[othmar]

Pork skin in sausages was mainly used because of its high content of natural gelatin which works well as a binder. Gelatin also can be extracted from bones but for obvious reasons take more labour to work into sausages.
Today the industry used other binders, but personaly I rather prefere the natural binder from pork skin which is blitzed to a fine emulsion and lightly salted.
The reason why it is used mostly in the "cheaper" sausage line, is because it is cheaper than its chemical alternatieve. Cheaper, yes but also purly natural.