Countryside & Small Stock Journal - Sausage making etc.

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Countryside & Small Stock Journal - Sausage making etc.

Postby Parson Snows » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:19 am

I hope that you find the following article of some use

Making sausage.(the boiling, curing and smoking of ham, as well as the preparation of sausage)
Countryside & Small Stock Journal; 9/1/1999; Salsbury, D.L.


Search for more information on HighBeam Research for Meat Curing.
If you butcher your own meat, sausage-making is an essential skill. But it can be rewarding even if you have to buy meat!
In the long list of people who have made COUNTRYSIDE SO valuable over the years, "Doc" Salsbury ranks near the top. Virtually all of the sausage recipes in this issue came from him. The neatest thing about him, in my opinion, is that he has fun doing what he does!
His writings might make you hungry for sausage. But more importantly, they ought to whet your appetite for trying new things... and enjoying the experience.
There is an old saying that "In springtime, a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love." The sequel to that is "In the autumn, us older guys' thoughts turn to ham curing and sausage making!"
Ham and bacon are "cured" meats, in that the protein is chemically altered by the use of nitrates/nitrites and a salt/sugar mixture. Without these basic ingredients there would be no "cure," and subsequently no "ham" or "bacon" flavor. The chemistry and necessity for the curing ingredients was presented in a previous article (75/1:39), so we will proceed straight away with the interesting stuff!
The nitrates (Prague powder) accomplish two essential things: they effect the actual "cure," and they retard the bacterial growth responsible for spoilage. The salt also aids in retarding bacterial growth by reducing the water content of the meat. The sugar (sugar, honey, molasses, etc.) reduces the harshness of the salt, imparts flavors, and also aids in dehydration and bacterial control.
Commercial "curing salts" are often available in supermarkets with instructions and recipes on the package. These contain the proper ratios of salt and nitrates, and some contain sugar.
Ham, per se, is the cured hind leg of a hog. However, excellent "ham" can be made from the shoulders and loins, as well as lamb or goat legs and the dark turkey meat.
The various recipes for ham production could literally run into the thousands, if one took into consideration all the variables of the curing mixture, curing times, ethnic styles, and smoking techniques. The book Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Rytek Kutas contains complete instructions and curing recipes for many styles of hams ranging from the "standard" ham to Italian prosciutti to "country" dried hams. You will not find a more complete text on meat curing and sausage making in the English language.
Getting started
The "pickle" is a solution or mixture of the curing ingredients that convert plain pork into ham. The pickle or cure can be pumped into the meat by injection, artery infusion, soaking and/or dry packing (as in "country" hams).
Artery pumping of pickle into ham is the most efficient method of distributing the cure uniformly and quickly through the meat, because you use the natural arterial system as the pipeline. No part of the ham is missed, not even the bone marrow, if you pump the cure. If you butcher your own, you want to leave the artery long and cut it off before the fork where the two branches enter the ham. (Illustrated instructions can be found in the book mentioned above.)
Spray pumping or injection of the pickle solution into the ham can be accomplished with a "ham pump" if the arteries have been severed. The ham (or meat) pump is a large metal syringe with a long steel needle designed for this purpose. When pumping the ham, pump about 12% of the ham's weight along the bone, around the joints, and vertically into the thicker lean portions of the ham (or shoulder).
After pumping, the ham is submersed in the pickle solution until the cure is complete.
Brining is the soaking of the hams in the pickle solution. Do not attempt to cure a ham by brining (soaking) alone. The length of time required for the cure to penetrate the meat by soaking alone will allow spoilage to occur along the bone.
Brine tester
The amount (concentration) of salt that is required to cure a piece of meat is clearly spelled out. The formulas in Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing give the exact amount of salt and other ingredients necessary to cure a given piece of meat.
However, there are many other home recipes handed down through the years that require the use of a brine tester to measure the specific concentration of salt solution. The brine tester is simply a hydrometer (more specifically, a salometer) that measures the specific gravity of the solution and gives a reading in degrees.
Basic "boiled" ham recipe
Note: This formula is so simple it's difficult for some people to believe. "Boiled" or "canned" ham is the most popular ham sold in the U. S. today. Almost all European countries export a boiled ham to the U. S. packed in cans, fibrous casings, or stockinettes. They are most popular at Christmas and Easter as sliced boneless ham.
Although it is impossible to duplicate the canned variety at home, a boiled ham can be made in several different styles at home rather easily. After curing and boning, it can be cut into smaller chunks, dusted with plain gelatin powder, and stuffed into 6" or 8" diameter casings. The gelatin will help to bind the meat together so the ham doesn't fall apart when cut.
Or, if you wish, boil it bone-in or bone it and smokehouse cook it in a stockinette.
The following recipe is enough for about 25 lbs. of ham:
2 gallons ice water
1 lb. 12 oz. granulated salt
5 oz. granulated sugar, brown
sugar or honey
5 oz. Prague powder #1 (this is the cure)
All ingredients are dissolved in cold water. Make sure the ham is chilled to the same temperature. Weigh the amount of pickle you will be using to pump the ham to 10% of its weight. Pump the brine into the ham and submerge it into the leftover brine to cure for five days.
Remove from brine, rinse and cook in 160-165 degree water (or smokehouse) until the internal temperature reaches 152 degrees.
Remove ham and place in cold water for an hour or two until internal temperature is reduced. Place in cooler.
It can be served as early as the next day.
Smoked hams
This is a very basic recipe. There are thousands of recipes for smoked hams that substitute varying amounts of sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses for the dextrose, as well as adding other spices.
Ingredients for 25 lbs.:

5 quarts ice water
1 lb. salt
5 oz. powdered dextrose
5 oz. Prague powder #1 (no substitutions
in this)
Dissolve ingredients in cold water. Inject/cure by one of the following methods:
Dry cure method (artery pumping): Artery pump ham at 10% of its green weight. After pumping, rub in 2-3 lbs. of the above dry mixture for each 50 lbs. of ham. Be sure that you have mixed the ingredients thoroughly to avoid "burned" spots on the surface. Wash excess salt from surface with water and brush. Do not soak. Place in stockinette for smoking.
Stitch pumping method: Pump to 10% by weight as above. Make sure to pump around the shank and all the bones. Submerge in pickle and store in cooler for 5-7 days. Place in stockinette for smoking.
Smoking
Hang hams in smokehouse preheated to 120 [degrees] and hold at this temperature for 12 hours with draft wide open. Increase temperature to 140 [degrees], close draft one-half, and introduce smoke. Smoke for eight hours. Close all drafts and increase temperature to 165 [degrees] until internal temperature of the ham is 142 [degrees]. For a fully cooked ham, hold until the internal temperature reaches 152-155 degrees.
Curing bacon
For all practical purposes, curing bacon is identical to curing ham. Again, there must be thousands of recipes, and the one presented here is "basic," without embellishments or Grandpa's "seven secret herbs and spices." The following is for 25 lbs:
5 quarts ice water
7 oz. powdered dextrose
3 oz. Prague powder #1
1 lb. salt
Dissolve all ingredients and pump the bellies at 8% of their green weight. Place into a container that has a drain to allow excess pickle to drain out, skin side down, one on top of the other, and cure for 4-5 days in the cooler before smoking.
Wash with a hot water shower and brush. Do not soak. Place in smokehouse preheated to 135 [degrees]. With dampers wide open, start smoking. When surface of bacon is partially dry, close dampers to 1/4 and hold at 135 [degrees] until 127-128 degree internal temperature is obtained. Reduce smokehouse temperature to 90-110 degrees and smoke until desired color is obtained.
The following ham, bacon, and cured meat recipes (plus many others) can be found in Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing. Yes, you can make all of these on the homestead!
Italian-style ham
Honey cured bacon
Schinkenspeck (ham-bacon)
Dry box bacon cure
Canadian style bacon
Pea meal bacon
Beef bacon
Pastrami
Corned beef
Cured and smoked beef tongue
Peppered beef rounds
Slonina Paprykowana (Polish style
paprika salt pork)
Salt pork
Capicola
Dried beef
Country ham
Prosciutti
Smithfield ham
Making the sausage
After removing the hams, bacon, chops and shoulders, what's left is often made into sausage. Again, there are thousands of variations of pork sausage, the most notable being the familiar "breakfast" sausage. More accurately it should be called "sage sausage" to differentiate it from other pork sausages such as kielbasa, chorizo, Italian, English bangers, etc.
The fresh pork "breakfast" (sage) sausage is the most versatile and easiest to modify to suit one's personal tastes by varying the amount of sage and pepper. (There are over 500 commercially available spice blends for "breakfast" sausage alone, if you want to buy them in 50 lb. drums.)
The following is, again, a basic recipe from which to start. The fat content of the pork should be approximately 10-20 percent, but not more than 30 percent.
10 lbs. ground pork (trimmings
and/or shoulder)
5 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon ground white pepper
(or black pepper or more
or less to taste)
2 tablespoons rubbed sage
1 tablespoon nutmeg (many recipes
leave this out)
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon ground hot red pep
per (optional)
1 tablespoon ginger
1 pint ice water
2 tablespoons Prague powder #1
(Optional. The Prague powder will acid a bit of "cure" and tweak the flavor toward the cured pork side somewhat, but it is not necessary for a fresh sausage. If you plan to smoke them it is mandatory!)
Grind all meat through a 3/16" grinder plate. Dissolve spices, salt (and cure, if used) in the ice water. Place in a large mixing bowl (or dishpan), add meat, and mix thoroughly.
Sausage can be stuffed into 28-30mm hog casings, 24mm lamb casings (for breakfast links) or formed into patties.
Refrigerate or freeze until use.
Brown & serve sausage
To the above recipe, add two cups of soy protein concentrate and the Prague powder. Stuff into 22-24 mm lamb casings. Heat in a 160 [degrees] smokehouse (with or without smoke) until the internal temperature reaches 142 [degrees]. Remove and chill in cold water immediately. Keep refrigerated, or freeze if not eaten within 5-7 days.
Pickled pig's feet
After curing the hams and bacons, cutting up the chops and shoulders, making the sausage, some would say the best part of the hog is still left: the feet and shanks. I couldn't argue much with this, as I am a pickled pig's feet addict! As I recall, my grandfather called them sauer schweinefleisch. The following is my personal recipe, but at the risk of sounding repetitious, there are hundreds of variations.
4-6 pig's feet
1 tablespoon whole black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Salt
Cider vinegar (dark)
Add peppercorns and bay leaves to enough water to cover. Simmer for 3-4 hours or until bones can be easily removed. You can remove the bones if you like, but I prefer them bone-in.
Remove the meat from the broth and cool both in refrigerator until the fat solidifies on the broth. Remove the fat layer from the broth. Pack meat into quart jars.
Make a mixture of 2/3 broth and 1/3 vinegar or 1/2 broth and 1/2 vinegar if you like them a little more tart. Add I teaspoon salt to each jar of meat. Heat vinegar and broth mixture and cover meat.
Seal jars and refrigerate 5-7 clays before eating.
If you like them "smoky," add 1/2 tsp. liquid smoke to each jar.
If you like them white and pretty like the commercial variety, you can substitute gelatin for the broth and use white vinegar, but you lose some of the flavor this way. I still prefer the genuine country style.

COPYRIGHT 1999 Countryside Publications Ltd.

kind regards

Parson Snows
Heavenly Father Bless us
And keep us all alive
There's ten around the table
And food enough for five... Amen
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Postby Oddley » Tue Jan 25, 2005 9:54 am

I know you don't get many replies on these long articles Parson, So I thought I would tell you what I think of them. Being that I am I suppose a bit sad I really enjoy reading them. Cheers.
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Long Articles

Postby Parson Snows » Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:06 am

Regarding the posting of relatively long/informative documents etc
Oddley wrote
I thought I would tell you what I think of them. Being that I am I suppose a bit sad I really enjoy reading them. Cheers.

Thanks for the response. If it's been found useful or helps one person with something, then it served it's purpose.
I actually have in the region of thousands of these, obviously some of the older ones are not electronic versions.

kind regards

Parson Snows
Heavenly Father Bless us
And keep us all alive
There's ten around the table
And food enough for five... Amen
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Parson Snows
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Posts: 760
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:46 pm
Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Postby Diann » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:02 am

Well, I find it all very interesting and have printed it out for future reference.

Diann
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Helps one OK

Postby Parson Snows » Tue Jan 25, 2005 11:28 am

Like I said before if it helps one person, so be it.

kind regards

Parson Snows
Heavenly Father Bless us
And keep us all alive
There's ten around the table
And food enough for five... Amen
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Parson Snows
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Posts: 760
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2004 12:46 pm
Location: Bangkok, Thailand


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