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I am finally starting to take my sausage making seriously ( ) and I need some advice. So I have fianlly registered.

Basically I have 2 questions:

1. I have made sausages recently and they have had great flavor, but have been a little dry. I am using Pork shoulder and belly. I have read that the inclusion of Rusk may help maintain the moisture more. Is this true?

2. I am intending to make sausages for my daughter's birthday this weekend and it is too late to get hold of any rusk. Nowhere locally sells it. So I can either make it according to a recipe that I have found here, or I could..and here is the mad idea... use Farley's Rusk. The question is, has anyone ever tried the latter in an emergency or am I completely mad and barking up the wrong tree?

You could use Farley's if you wanted, but you'd be better off using either dried crumbed bread or (my favorite emergency rusk) Ryvita pulsed in a food processor (or put in a bag and whacked with a rolling pin). Farley's have lots of sugar and other additives that you would taste in the finished banger, and some of the flavours might clash.

So, you're not that mad, really......ahem.

Best if you cannot get rusk is to use water biscuits crushed in the blitzer
or cream crackers may be too sweet but it will save you putting in some dextrose.

Nothing wrong with a stale loaf in slices in the oven on low for 15 mins. they always used to use stale bread before the advent of rusk.


;

In the absence of rusk, I would definitely opt for dried breadcrumb.

Regards, Paul Kribs

Even though I'm still fairly new at this sausage making malarky, I have recently switched from Rusk to Rolled Oats and to be honest I notice very little difference. It means I can use more organic ingredients as organic rolled oats are a lot easier to come by (and cheaper) than organic rusk. I would say that the oats absord slightly less than the same anount of rusk but as I only use about 5-8% in the final mix they seem fine, and you should be able to get rolled oats from any supermarket.

Cheers

WOW.. I was not expecting such quick and useful feedback. Thank you all very much...now which solution do I go for?

Hi Jacobj,

Welcom to the forum!

Another solution to dryness is to work your forcemeat in the mixer for a few minutes before stuffing, I used to have exactly the same problem you are describing, although not using pork. I have started to work the forcemeat for approximately 4 minutes in a mixer with a K beater, doing it manually with a wooden spoon or even by hand will work as well but takes more effort.

What seems to happen is that the salt we add to our sausages makes some of the protein in the meat water soluble, and this is them mixed through the forcemeat to form a binding matrix which traps the fats and liquids. Since I started to do this my sausages have changed completely, they are not dry and mealy and they don't lose any fat during cooking! This causing me problems the first time I cooked sausages made with this new technique ( for me anyway) as in the past I have not had to add any fat and just cooked the sausages in what is rendered from them. Of course this means that the sausages have a firmer texture and that is not to everybodies taste, if this is so for you, you may be better to stick to rusk, breadcrumbs, oats, mustard powder, tapioca flour etc, for a binder as they leave you with a softer feel.

I have in the past, used own brand cream crackers as a substitute for rusk as I cannot buy rusk here in Indonesia. This worked just fine.

Best Regards,
Richard

jacobj wrote:I am finally starting to take my sausage making seriously ( ) and I need some advice. So I have fianlly registered.

Basically I have 2 questions:

1. I have made sausages recently and they have had great flavor, but have been a little dry. I am using Pork shoulder and belly. I have read that the inclusion of Rusk may help maintain the moisture more. Is this true?

2. I am intending to make sausages for my daughter's birthday this weekend and it is too late to get hold of any rusk. Nowhere locally sells it. So I can either make it according to a recipe that I have found here, or I could..and here is the mad idea... use Farley's Rusk. The question is, has anyone ever tried the latter in an emergency or am I completely mad and barking up the wrong tree?

Point 1
If your sausage is too dry it could be caused by the rusk not having sufficient water. I know many on this forum only use 1.5 water to 1 rusk but rusk is manufactured to take at least twice its weight in water, so look at this first.
Secondly look also at the meat you are using they may be too lean, you need fat for succulence.

Point 2
Yes your mad. Do not use farleys rusk try using stale bread, breadcrumb as already mentioned or tear up pieces of bread & soak in water for 10 minutes then squeeze dry (this is how they used to do it, and no I do not remember it I am far too young)
The other things to use as already mentioned are cream cracker type prod cuts & oats or water biscuits.

Hope this helps
Regards
Sausagemaker

Paul Kribs wrote:In the absence of rusk, I would definitely opt for dried breadcrumb.

Regards, Paul Kribs

Actually without fiddling about with breadcrumb drying and grinding. What do you reckon on using pin head oatmeal from the corn merchants. It's cheap enough for a bagful and should do the job. We used to use it after boiling fresh swill and adding a couple of shovelfuls to make a mash. This was used for feeding our hens.
I think it should be OK in sausages.

pokerpete

I've not used oatmeal other than in commercial haggis mixes, and it is a prominent ingredient in scotch pies, so see no reason why it could not be used as sausage filler. Both haggis and scotch pies tend to have a more mealy (is that a word) texture, would this be directly attributable to the oatmeal? If so, it would give the sausage a different texture. All down to personal preference really, but would do no harm to try.

@ jacobj

Do you not have a butcher nearby? They are generally friendly people and will freely advise you once you explain your predicament.. and it would do no harm to ask to purchase some rusk from them.

Regards, Paul Kribs

I've used oatmeal, no problem at all. I just blized it in the food processor first.

Anyone tried weetabix?

Dave

aris wrote:I've used oatmeal, no problem at all. I just blized it in the food processor first.

The pinhead oatmeal to which I am referring does not need blitzing because it has the same texture and size as rusk.

Yep I have to agree. Unless there is a reason for not using pin head rusk, this is the answer. Personaly I would not use anything else. It is cheap, not noticable in the end product and is easy to use.

Cheers WW

welsh wizard wrote:Yep I have to agree. Unless there is a reason for not using pin head rusk, this is the answer. Personaly I would not use anything else. It is cheap, not noticable in the end product and is easy to use.

Cheers WW

The only reason for not using it is its bland colour, compared with pink rusk. Hey who cares? I can turn the stuff into any colour you fancy.