www.sausagemaking.org

Just re-joined after a few years, first time i didnt really get into making any sausages, i did buy a vertical stuffer and i have recently bought a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchen aid mixer, the grinder got me thinking about sausages again and how much i miss the British banger,( im a Brit living in the USA)

I made some Bacon a few years ago, maple, it turned out well but my wife didnt like it so i havnt made any more.

In my pantry i have some pink salt, no not the Himalayan kind, the curing kind, kind of remember #2 cure but im not sure, should i toss it?

Anyway i have been reading about the Polly Perkins Cumberland Style Sausage which has so many great reviews and looks easy enough im going to have a go at it, just ordered the casings from Ebay so i have a few days to gather the other ingredients.

Im sure i will have lots of questions but im sure you guys can answer any i have

Welcome back Fusion, and good luck with your Cumberland.
As far as your cure mix goes, if you're not sure what it is and the bag isn't labeled I'd toss it, why take the chance.
Dan

When in doubt, your health and safety aren't worth saving a few dollars, just toss that, buy new and keep things labeled.
Pink curing salt is almost always cure #1.

Yea i tossed it, thanks guys

So i have everything i need to make the Polly Perkins Cumberland Style Sausage except phosphate, been looking but cant find it here in the US, after some research i think (now thats dangerous) i have 3 options, 1 leave it out, 2 use some soy sauce, 3 use milk powder

Not sure which way to go, any suggestions?

My daughter is coming from UK for a visit end of Oct, she has a list and the phosphate is on it but would love to make this sausage before then.

Decided to wait for the phosphate before i make my first sausages, in the mean time i found on an old memory stick a recipe i have used before to make bacon. It gives amounts for 1 pound of pork belly, when i trimmed and skinned mine it weighed 1.7 pounds so i multiplied all the ingredients by 1.7, was i right to do that?

Link to the recipe
http://amazingribs.com/recipes/porknogr ... ratch.html

I made the simple Bacon this time, twice before i made the Maple and didnt much care for it

The trimmed Belly


In the cure


Although i intend to make some "simple" sausage first, couldnt resist this on Craigslist for $80, got it for $70
It can chill wine until its needed for anything else

Yes Fusion, all you need to do is increase the entire recipe by the correct ratio for the larger piece of fresh pork belly.
I found that it's nice to wait to trim them square until after curing - the odd shaped bits that get cut off can be used in baked beans and are some of the best parts

Made my first sausage ever last 2 days, Smoked tomato, basil and mozzarella. Recipe is in the recipe thread.
Cant believe how good these taste, fried up a small patty before stuffing, i hear they will be even better after a night in the fridge, oh boy

Most difficult part for me, threading the casing onto the stuffing tube

That looks to be a fine effort. Working with casing gets better with practice; be sure to give them a thorough soak first.

Thank you Paul

So today i removed the Bacon from the ref, gave it a quick rinse patted it dry-ish with paper towels and its now in my smoker getting a cold smoke, the last few times i made bacon i hot smoked it, i can still do this if i need to. Could someone tell me do i need to bring it up to a certain temp? for example the recipe i used for the wet cure said to hot smoke until a internal temp of 165F. If i cold smoke it for 24 hrs how do i treat it after that? or is it done, thanks in advance for your help

To cold smoke I like to do it at about 60F for three cycles of smoking for 8-10 hours followed by resting in the fridge until the next day. The bacon can then be dried a bit more before slicing, packaging and freezing. It is a raw product technically but I'm sure you plan a good fry up.

NCPaul wrote:To cold smoke I like to do it at about 60F for three cycles of smoking for 8-10 hours followed by resting in the fridge until the next day. The bacon can then be dried a bit more before slicing, packaging and freezing. It is a raw product technically but I'm sure you plan a good fry up.

Many thanks for your quick response, that sounds like a good plan though im at about 70F today, when you say dried a bit more after smoking, how? Sorry for the noob questions

You can cold smoke overnight if the temps are better. I dry on a stainless rack in the bottom of the fridge for a couple of days.

Ok will do that thank you, i did 8 hrs in the smoker today, put it in the ref on a rack, looked in about 10 mins later and oh boy, smokey smell, good the wife was at work, its now in the wine cooler i bought for later more experience sausage making use, though the lowest temp it will go to seems to be 39F which i hope is low enough. It will be back in the smoker tomorrow.
Oh and its looking and smelling amazing