fatnhappy wrote:twasilewski wrote:I wanted to add a couple of things:
- I got the Kitchenaid grinder attachment, but it didn't come with the stuffing horns. I had to order them seperately, for something like $15 or so. So if you want to use it for both grinding & stuffing, you need to get both, and it's a good beginning option.
- Grinding is fairly quick & easy with the Kitchenaid attachment, compared to the other steps: for me, boning out large cuts of pork & cutting into small pieces & getting the pieces very cold in the freezer can take forever, but grinding for a 5-10lb batch takes 10 minutes or so.
-- Stuffing with the Kitchenaid is messy and a pain in the ass though. You have to slap globs of sticky ground meat & spices mixture onto the shallow Kitchenaid mixer pan, then jam the stuff down the small tube with a provided wooden dowel, which gets all gummy and sticks due to the suction on the sidewalls of the tube. After doing this for a few months to confirm that I liked making my own (once you start tasting your own stuff you will quickly reach the same conclusion), I got a seperate stuffer, and now stuffing went from hardest/longest step to easiest/quickest.
Not only do I agree, I agree wholeheartedly.
Where'd you get the stuffer if I might ask?
BTW Oddley, I know Frankfort NY fairly well. I'm going to try that recipe, with a touch of hot red pepper.
JFIELDS wrote:Thanks for the kind words.
If there is one thing I know, it is that there are always people that know more than me. And when they are generous with their time and knowledge, as people here are, I'd be stupid to ignore them.
That I could make something much tastier than what I can buy in the store on my first try doesn't say as much about my miniscule skills as it does about the woeful state of what is pawned off as an allegedly quality product in the store. It surprises me, yet it really shouldn't. The same thing happens when I homebrew beer. If I have a failure, it still tastes better than most of the commercial stuff out there. Once you actually get good at doing something yourself, it isn't just better, but vastly better.
What has become clear is that I need to learn a whole lot more about meat. I've only talked to the butcher in the grocery store a few times, and it is a big chain store at that. I'll look up a smaller shop (or independent butcher) I can work with to get specific cuts of meat and actually get some education along the way, rather than just a piece of whatever is shrinkwrapped in the case.
Thanks for participating and sharing your knowledge!
Justin
JFIELDS wrote:After some discussion, I ended up making a (mostly) turkey breakfast sausage, instead of the Italian. I'm sure I'll get to that one soon though.
The recipe I used:
Breakfast Sausage
(Modified from Kutas book and scaled to 5 lbs)
1.25 lbs ground pork (Smithfield)
3.75 lbs ground turkey (7% Fat)
2 tb purified non-iodized salt
1 tb ground sage
� tb ground ginger
� tb ground nutmeg
� tb thyme
� tb fresh ground white pepper
� tsp ground savory
2 oz �RP Lean Fat Replacer� (on account of the high turkey content)
12 oz cold water
Collagen casings (breakfast sized)
I'd gotten my stuffer from http://www.sausagemaker.com/. It is the 3-lb stainless model. I'm obviously brand new to this hobby, but I was please by how it worked and cleanup was easy. I like the way the opening on the front is the full diameter, so I can get my hand in to clean.
I didn't really have any problems with the casings or stuffing. I filled them nice and taut and it went pretty fast. I'd read about bursting casings and wondered how (over)full I'd have to stuff them to burst one. So I got a little aggressive on the filling and sure enough, one popped. But it that was the only one.
I did the whole process myself, with the stuffer C-clamped to the kitchen counter. It went really smoothly. I got about 60-some breakfast links from 5 pounds. And the end result was really tasty. Honestly, I don't see myself heading back to the sausage section of the supermarket any time soon. As I'd hoped, the ones I made had a lot more flavor, and I'm looking forward to the variety of things I can make.
Justin
twasilewski wrote:fatnhappy wrote:twasilewski wrote:I wanted to add a couple of things:
- I got the Kitchenaid grinder attachment, but it didn't come with the stuffing horns. I had to order them seperately, for something like $15 or so. So if you want to use it for both grinding & stuffing, you need to get both, and it's a good beginning option.
- Grinding is fairly quick & easy with the Kitchenaid attachment, compared to the other steps: for me, boning out large cuts of pork & cutting into small pieces & getting the pieces very cold in the freezer can take forever, but grinding for a 5-10lb batch takes 10 minutes or so.
-- Stuffing with the Kitchenaid is messy and a pain in the ass though. You have to slap globs of sticky ground meat & spices mixture onto the shallow Kitchenaid mixer pan, then jam the stuff down the small tube with a provided wooden dowel, which gets all gummy and sticks due to the suction on the sidewalls of the tube. After doing this for a few months to confirm that I liked making my own (once you start tasting your own stuff you will quickly reach the same conclusion), I got a seperate stuffer, and now stuffing went from hardest/longest step to easiest/quickest.
Not only do I agree, I agree wholeheartedly.
Where'd you get the stuffer if I might ask?
BTW Oddley, I know Frankfort NY fairly well. I'm going to try that recipe, with a touch of hot red pepper.
To answer fatnhappy, I bought the $60 Grizzly 5-lb vertical stuffer:
http://www.grizzly.com/catalog/2006/main/74
Oddley wrote:I I will be making them as sausage, but when I cook them, I will cook the outside then split them lengthwise and fry the inside to caramelize the meat and toast the fennel seeds, this should make the flavours more complex, as it did with the burger.
You have made me feel quite hungry with your description of the Italian sausage roll. As I can't get over there, you will just have to put one in the post...
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