Breadcrumb Vs Rusk

[welsh wizard]

I understand that breadcrumbs have yeast and Rusk does not but

1) Why is rusk so expensive?
2) How long can sausages be left that are made with breadcrumbs before the yeast starts to marr the flavour?
3) Does rusk like babys rusk do the same thing?

Answers on a post card!

Cheers WW

[Spuddy]

1) Why is rusk so expensive?
No reason, it shouldn't be. Maybe the manufacturers have seen us coming!!

2) How long can sausages be left that are made with breadcrumbs before the yeast starts to marr the flavour?
Longer than you'd think, the problem can be more of an issue if there are sugars in your mix. Our local butcher still uses breadcrumbs in his range of award winning sausages.

3) Does rusk like babys rusk do the same thing?
Na wneith. No. Nope. Definitely not. No way Jos�. Not on your nellie. Yuk! Eeek!

[sausagemaker]

Rusk is more expensive due to the fact that this is made specifically for the job & the water & residual moisture is controlled.
Bread crumb is made from stale loafs that would have otherwise been thrown out it will have more water in them and as we all know water is the cheapest ingredient you can get.

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Spuddy]

Bread crumb is made from stale loafs that would have otherwise been thrown out

That had crossed my mind, you see the aforementioned butcher is actually a "Farm Shop" with a bakery attached too so he's probably using breadcrumbs as a way to use up the unsold bread.
Just good business sense then rather than adhering to old fashioned methods?

So if bread loses a third of its weight (roughly) when dried out completely then price wise there's not a great deal in it maybe. Rusk in the www.sausagemaking.org shop is around �1.60 a kilo in the larger quantities. I work out that to be about the equivalent of two dried medium loaves.

[Yorkie_Porkie]

Spuddy,

It all depends on where you get your Rsuk from in the end I imagine.
I pay between �13.99 (for pinhead) and �15.95 (for medium) for a 25KG sack so work out what that costs you kilo ! (55 - 63p !)

YP

[Spuddy]

Thanks YP
There you go then WW.
That's cheaper than bread!!

Never use the stuff myself though, or bread. I prefer my bread wrapped around the outside of the sausage

[Yorkie_Porkie]

Your welcome Spuddy,

WW as an addition to my previous post, given a ratio of 6.5% rusk based on an 80% meat sausage, the rusk costs me appx 0.0357 - 0.0404p per kilo of sausages made !



YP

[_Darkstream_]

You can use breadcrumbs if you are going to eat the sausages immediately. Otherwise, two weeks in the freezer is maximum. They will have started to ferment, have little holes in them like an Aero bar, and taste a bit sour.

Make your own rusk. Recipe below:



RUSK

2 oz white bread flour and 2 oz wholewheat (or 4 oz white if you are not on complex carbohydrate diet).

Plus 1 teaspoon baking powder.

2 teaspoons of sugar (or sugar and Splenda mixed 50-50)

pinch of salt

1 oz (or less) of butter, or equivalent in olive oil tasteless, according to dietary needs.

Some semi skinned milk to mix.

METHOD

Seive dry ingredients, rub in/add fat and mix.
Add sugar and some milk to make a firm dough.
Compress the dough well, and roll out at least � inch thick.
Put on ungreased baking sheet and bake for not less than 5 mins at 450 F, or until light golden brown.
Remove, split the rusk, through the center to get two circles.

Place on trays cut side UP and bake for 10 mins at 375F, to dry them out.

Cool.

They may then be broken up into small lumps which you can weigh and then grind for your recipes.

They may look ugly, but they will do the job.

[welsh wizard]

Brilliant and thanks one and all - gee whizz Yorkie Porkie �13 - �16 for 25ks of rusk seems real cheap! Must find me some of that.

Cheers WW

[sausagemaker]

Hi WW

Try the link below
http://www.scobiesdirect.com/Products.a ... dCat=13200

Regards
Sausagemaker

[welsh wizard]

OK many thanks for the link Sausagemaker, please can someone tell me the difference between pin head and the others and how long does rusk keep for and what is the best way to keep it?

Questions questions Cheers WW

[sausagemaker]

Keep it dry will last for 12 months
Pinhead is the smallest rusk most often used by sausage makers, medium is sometimes used in lorne sausage or as an inter coater when battering product

Hope this helps
Regards
Sausagemaker

[welsh wizard]

Doooooh I have just moved the space bar over a little and now know the difference between the rusk. However the second two questions remain.

[Spuddy]

@ Sausagemaker
I love you!!!
Seriously that is a VERY exciting site for me (and I'm sure a lot of others). Just the sort of supplier I've been looking for; fibrous salami casings, foil boards, netting, I could go on and on.
Thanks.

[Yorkie_Porkie]

Scobies is the site I mainly use for 90% of my stuff, casings, rusk, mixes, salt petre the works, and it usually arrives next working day too. The costs are very good. I also get my EPS trays from them, in fact just about everything from my latest butchers knife to huge rolls of clingfilm...

Just as long as you are making the quantities to use the stuff before sell by date !

YP