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Too denser sausage

PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 8:24 pm
by debbie
I wonder if you can help.

I rear my own pigs (Berkshires and Berkshire x's) for home consumption and love making sausages. I just don't seem to be able to get the texture right.

I use a kenwood for stuffing natural sheeps casings, use no filler at all and my own seasoning and flavourings. The meat is course minced and fairly lean.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Debbie

firm sausage

PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 8:45 pm
by Franco
Debbie,
welcome to the forum... If you are getting a sausage that is too firm I would suggest using 10% rusk or fine breadcrumbs. You could also try and mince the meat a little finer. What ratio of fat to lean do you use in your sausages? I find that 75% meat 25% fat works best.

Franco

PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 9:43 pm
by aris
Debbie - you don't say what's wrong with your texture.

Too denser sausage

PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2004 10:17 pm
by debbie
Thanks Franco

I use a normal butchers coursness of mince using mostly shoulder and the thick end of belly plus any off cuts. Its pretty lean. I don't add any filler nor fat so I am obviously making quite a few mistakes.

Hi Aris. The flavour is great its just the texture is too tightly packed. Not tough just.......dense. Not too sure how to discribe it. When you cook them absolutely nothing leaches out.

Will be ordering some of your rusk Franco in time for when the next pigs go at the end of November. :)

Thanks for the advice

PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:07 am
by aris
I'd suggest adding some fat - perhaps more coarsly ground than the rest of the meat. This should render down during cooking, make the sausage moister, and less dense.

The rusk is another option too - though the rusk will absorb alot of the fat during cooking.

Too denser sausage

PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:19 pm
by debbie
So, if i add more fat I will end up with a leaner more healthy sausage on the basis that a lot of the fat will leach out as apposed to if i add rusk as well as more fat more of the fat will be retained?

Will do some experimenting next time and try both methods.


Thanks for all the help.

Debbie

PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:01 pm
by aris
Well, not all the fat will leech out - but it will make for a tasier and moister sausage. I personally don't believe in this malarkey about saturated fat being bad for you.

too denser sausage

PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:55 pm
by debbie
no, i don't either. I think processed fat is far worse for you than any saturated fat could ever be. Trouble is, if you were my size, you would have to consider any fat! However, having said that, taste will get preference every time :)

PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 5:44 pm
by _Darkstream_
Well, I envy you two. I used to think and eat like that, but now I am on a permanent diet and a time limit.

Adding more fat will improve flavour and texture, or so the experts say, and a bit of rusk/breadcrumb should soften it. But adding more fat does not make it leaner or less full of saturated fats, with the associated risks.

I am begining my own experiments in trying to create a tasty, low fat sausage with the right texture. So far they have been "dry".

I will let you know if I have any real succes.


Image

too denser sausage

PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:25 pm
by debbie
Thats exactly the problem I am having Darkstream. Will try some rusk first and see what happens. My pork is very lean. Would be interested to hear how you get on.

On the subject of diet we are trying to cut out all additives, refined and processed food from our diet. If we don't rear the meat ourselves or buy from a farmer we know we dont eat it. We never have shop bought bread etc etc. everything is cooked from scratch. Am healthy and fit (blood sugar, colestrial, blood pressure etc came back fine) but still over weight :cry: Still am working on it though.

Is your diet realy restrictive?

PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:26 pm
by aris
Darkstream,

Don't believe what you read about saturated fats. They are only harmful when eaten in combination of refined carbohydrates. A chap called Barry Groves has written a fair bit on this - http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/

Fat in Sausages

PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:06 am
by Parson Snows
The problem lies in your pork. You need AT LEAST 20-25% fat unless you are using a fat replacer or Dairy Whey (80%). Be grateful that this figure is down from the 50% fat content in the days of old. Any less than 20% fat will just get you dry, crumbly sausages. It stands to reason if there wasn�t much fat (moisture) in the first place and then you cook them you�re going to end up with less moisture and therefore a drier sausage. Regardless of how good your spice mix is, the sausage will be unpalatable. It is not the addition of rusk (pinhead size recommended) or dried/stale breadcrumbs that make the sausage feel lighter/softer (referred to as the bite) it is the fact that through the addition of one of these any fat that is cooked out of the meat is being soaked up retaining it and its moisture. If you are using bread instead of rusk I would recommend that you lightly toast it or grate into crumbs and lightly bake it. The reason for this is that typically due to modern baking techniques not all of the yeast used in the commercial bread making is destroyed and could cause your sausage to sour. Rusk is generally yeast less and therefore not a problem.

Kind regards

Parson Snows

PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 8:01 pm
by Shaun
Mr Snows
I see you like myself are an advocate of rusk. Do you by any chance know how this is made? and also why it differs from bread crumbs within the saugage making process?

Rusk

PostPosted: Fri Nov 12, 2004 9:06 pm
by Franco
Rusk differs from breadcrumbs in that it uses a raising agent instead of yeast.

Franco

Bread vs Rusk

PostPosted: Sat Nov 13, 2004 8:59 am
by Parson Snows
I personally do not have a preference to either, they both have their uses. For commercial sausage making they are both used. Musk�s Newmarket Sausages use bread as do Dickinson & Morris, and Stroff�s Specialty Sausages. O�Hagan�s use rolled oats. Franco is right in as much that bread uses yeast and rusk is made with raising agents, however, their are other differences. The main one being the amount of water/liquid that they absorb.

Sausage and Small Goods Production � Frank Gerrard (1955 edition)
�The absorption figure will depend to some extent on the staleness of the bread, but 1 lb of stale bread should be permitted to absorb 1-1 � lbs of water, and bread so treated will have a moisture content approaching that of lean meat�

Basically a pound of bread a pint (Imperial) of water, as a rule of thumb.
My modified bread recipe follows

U.K. Traditional Bread
Based on Eliza Acton�s �Excellent Suffolk Bread� from �The English Bread Book� Published in 1857

Ingredients
100 ml +150 ml Warm water (blood heat)
100 ml warm Milk (blood heat)
1 heaped tspn dried yeast
1 heaped tspn brown sugar
500 g Bread Flour/strong flour
1 tspn salt
15 ml (1 Tblspn) Salad Oil

Method
� Sprinkle yeast over 100 ml of warm water whisk in sugar and allow to stand for 15 minutes or until frothy.
� Put flour and salt into food processor and mix.
� Stir in warm milk and salad oil into yeast mixture.
� With food processor running slowly pour yeast mixture into flour/salt mixture.
� With the Food processor on �Setting 2� for 15 seconds add remaining water as necessary. (all flour is slightly different).
� Shape dough into ball and allow to prove in a covered bowl for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
� Punch dough down and shape into loaf (swiss roll style, placing seam on the bottom).
� Place into lightly greased 4 �� x 8 �� loaf pan.
� Let rise until almost doubled in bulk (30 to 45 minutes) or longer if colder.
� Preheat oven to 450 �F and bake for 10 minutes then reduce heat to 400 �F and bake for a further 10 minutes.
� Remove from loaf tin then place in oven upside down for 5 minutes more to dry out and brown off bottom.
� Allow to stand for 15 minutes on a wire rack.

Test Case 17th June 2004
When freshly baked : 785 g
Dried Weight : 760 g

As I have mentioned before if bread is being used I would recommended lightly toasting it or lightly baking it to make sure that all of the yeast has been destroyed. Otherwise you could end up with your sausages souring.

For rusk if price is not too important an absorption figure of 1 � lbs of water per lb of rusk should be aimed at however, a ratio of 2:1 is frequently employed.

Recipe for an economy rusk follows

Rusk (Economy)

Ingredients
� 1 lb (450 g) plain/all purpose flour or bread flour/strong flour
� ⅛ tspn (pinch) of salt
� 5 tspns (25 ml) DOUBLE ACTING baking powder (see note below)
� 6 � - 8 � fl oz (185 -250 ml) potable water

Note: 1 tspn (5 ml) baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) and
2 � tspns (11� ml) cream of tartar may be substituted for the baking powder.

Method
� Preheat oven to 450 �F (230 �C)
� Sieve the flour, salt and DOUBLE ACTION baking powder together.
� DO NOT ADD ALL OF THE WATER but just enough to make a smooth, pliable dough (all flours vary)
� Roll out lightly to approximately �� (12 mm) thick then place on a lightly greased tray
� Place in oven on the middle shelf and bake for 10 minutes at 450 �F (230 �C)
� Remove from the oven and using the tines of a fork split in half along its thickness
� Place back on tray with the opened faces upwards
� Return to oven
� Reduce the heat to 375 �F (190 �C) and bake for a further 10 minutes.
� Remove from oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.
� When cool using the large holes of a grater reduce to ⅛� (3 mm) particles.
� Store in airtight container and use as required.


Hope that this is of some use to you
Kind Regards

Parson Snows