Newby

[jacker]

Hi,
Just a quick introduction. I am very new to sausage and bacon making, basically just got fed up with the rubbish I was getting from the supermarkets, so thought I would give it a go. Just ordered the mincer and sausage maker for my kenwood and once I've figured out what in the way of cures, fillers ect I need I will be up and running. I will start reading the posts but if anyone would care to give me a list of essentials for bacon and sausage making that would be great.

Jacker ( I have 3 jack Russell terriers)

[captain wassname]

Hello and welcome. A location would be useful.

Jim

[jenny_haddow]

Hi, and welcome. I am going to assume you are in the UK, if so, if you click on the sausage making logo at the top of the page, you will find all the ingredients you need to start with. This is what I did, and I haven't bought sausages and bacon for years. Have a look at the recipes section on the forum, all the recipes for a multitude of sausages are there. Similarly, bacon curing, instructions for use come on the packet, it's a good way to start. If you begin like this you should get a good result which will spur you to try something more adventurous. If you are planning stuffing sausages with a Kenwood that's OK, but you may wish you had two pairs of hands. You may want to invest in a dedicated sausage stuffer eventually.

Hope this helps

Jen

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum. Wheels has posted an excellent tutorial about bacon preparation on his blog found here:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/?e=541

[wheels]

Thanks Paul

Welcome to the forum Jacker.

Phil

[jacker]

Thanks all, you are correct I am from the UK, Andover in Hampshire.

[jacker]

So is a manual sausage stuffer better than an electric one then.

[yotmon]

Hi Jacker ( that doesn't sound quite right ) when I started to make my own sausage I used the kenwood chef mincer and attachment, it worked fine for what I was doing but what usually happened was I would force the meat into the mincer whilst the other half tended to the filling end. I wouldn't say it was hard, but it certainly wasn't easy.

Have a look at the post and subsequent attachment I have posted re' the sealant gun from Lidl. It's only £3.99 and is easy to use. You would probably need a funnel to fit it, but it does come with 2 x nozzles for the sealant. As an experiment, I have cut off the very thin end, placed the nozzle in boiling water and then forced the handle of a wooden spoon through it and left it to cool. It now has a 'bore' of around 1/2" which is good enough to get you started until you can find a wider one to fit. It' is only 2.5" long but you will be able to fit on enough casings for a few pounds at a time.

Hope this helps.

Yotmon.

[jacker]

Thanks for the info, I will look in our local lidl tomorrow. One other quick question for a newbie. If I freeze the meat then defrost for making into sausage and bacon can it be refrozen once made. I would imagine I wouldn't be able to freeze the sausage but would I be alright with the bacon because of the curing process.

[yotmon]

I've cured pork that's been in the freezer for a while and its turned out fine, even after refreezing. However if you're using pre-frozen pork you may be ok in using it in sausages when its semi-frozen but the longer its out of the freezer the more time bacteria has the chance to get a hold, especially during this unusual hot spell that we are having. What I would do is just lift enough out to make a batch that you will eat fresh within a day or two. I take it that you won't be adding preservatives to the meat.
Yotmon.

[jacker]

I didn't know you used preservative in sausages, I assume you can and there is a reason for it, but would you in your typical breakfast type sausage.