Sausages bursting on BBQ

[vinner]

Epicurijohn makes a great point about balance. One issue I encountered early on with both pork and poultry sausages made with fruit was the use of fruit juice.... cidar, peach nectar, watever. Whilst blooming in the fridge overnight, I tended to lose a lot of the liquid. I countered this by starting with a lot.... say, 2 liters for 10 kilos of sausage.... then boiling the liquid down to just a condensed, syrupy half cup or so. Of course, it has to be cooled before being well mixed with the fruit, seasonings and meat.

[Q]

I'm so grateful for all of the helpful hints/tips and the like. Thanks everyone - it's very much appreciated!

[Scoop]

I've just made my first batch of sausages and cooked them on the BBQ with no problems. All I can say is that before cooking they looked very under stuffed and just a bit sad really, but as they warmed up they started to swell up and by the end of the cooking time they looked just like big fat sausages!!!
To everyones suprise they tasted fantastic and I've now been nicknamed "Sizzle"
Wife and daughter are on the "Weightwatchers" diet so any mention of adding pork fat to the meat is very frowned upon. We ended up buying Lean Pork Shoulder from Tescos and following the recipes that come on the packs of sausage seasoning ordered off this site. They may not be quite the authentic thing but there was no fat dripping into the BBQ causing flare ups and the very lightest smear of grease was left on the plates afterwards.
Thanks for all the tips off this site - it's been fascinating reading and now I'm looking at making cheese, bacon and chorizos and seriously thinking about getting a smoker. If only I had more time!!

[Vernon Smith]

Hi Scoop,
Hi "Q" or should I say "Dame Judy Dench"
How have you been getting along over the past few weeks? When I first made sausages I was frantic because I too had problems. My posts entitled "Bursting sausages" should still be on the forum if you care to read them. You will see the overwhelming support I received from the more experienced members. (Nice to see Welsh Wizard is still alive and kicking). Do you use collagen of natural casings? I have only used natural hog casings and having now made many hundred kg of fresh sausages I think I have the problems solved. I make sure the meat is very loosely packed in the skin and ALWAYS poach for 10 minutes before frying or chucking on the bbq. Might not be necessary but I prefer belt and braces. Mass produced small goods are all emulsified, stabilised, pasteurised and all sorts of other "ised's" to prevent the problems that we home sausage-makers encounter but I believe the natural ingredients that we use make the effort well worth while. Sorry the weather back home has been so dreadful thus far this summer. Makes me feel quite smug here in the S. Pacific rearing my own pigs, making my own sausage, bacon, ham, etc.

Let me know if you get into any other cured meats or smoking. I would be pleased to help if needed. Equipment here is non-existent so I have acquired a lot of "shoestring" experience that you might find useful.
All the best
Vernon

[Q]

Hi Vernon. Dame Judi?! I won't tell my wife I have a new nickname - she'll never let me forget it! My surname's 'Kew' so 'Q' is just me being lazy....hadn't thought of the other connotation!

Going well thanks - although not exactly been BBQ weather lately as you say. Almost considered converting the BBQ into a makeshift 'ark' for the kids' guinea pigs. I am rather envious of your location and your quality meat supply!!

Got adventurous a couple of weeks ago and made a Lancashire sausage with black pudding...went down well with she-who-must-be-obeyed, who comes from just outside Manchester. Have a batch saved for the charcoal treatment when the sun shines. Will certainly poach first though and check out your previous postings!

Always used natural casings - when I decided I was going to make my own sausages, wanted to make sure I avoided all of the 'iseds' and 'E1234s'. Well worth the effort indeed. Will venture into the smoking at some point (toying with the idea of a small 'bin' with a little chimney - saw Keith Floyd do it once!) so will definitely give you a shout.

Cheers!

[welsh wizard]

Hi Vernon

Wels Wizard is alive and swimming, as well as kicking and trying to keep my tail above water

Cheers WW

[Scoop]

Hi Vernon

Sausage making is going great although it is very small scale - roughly a kg every week. We take them camping and cook them on the barbeque. We are getting some very envious looks from our friends who would love to try them but get put off by the thought of the natural casings.
We bought the FW 2684 mincer through this site and it came with some collagen casings so I have offered to make some sausages for friends if they supply their own meat.
The favourite recipe at the moment is chorizo and that is all that my daughter and wife want me to make. The recipes call for mincing the meat twice and then stuffing but I have found that mincing once and then stuffing through the mincer still "over minces" everything (for my taste).
Luckily I found my manual stuffer the other day (we put that away many years ago when we couldn't find any casings) so I will try the next lot minced once, mixed with the flavours and rusk and then stuffed and see if that gives me a better texture.
I'm also looking forward to inventing my own recipes - for some reason I fancy putting a load of sultanas in with the meat. We're also thinking of adding onions, sweetcorn, peppers, etc. to the basic recipes. That is one of the beauties of making your own sausages - you can have whatever you want.
Have just finished curing my first batch of bacon - I was expecting it all to be rather difficult and long winded but it was so easy. Need to slice it up tonight and I can't wait to try cooking it at the weekend - I don't think my friends will be anything like as squeamish when it comes to trying my bacon.

[Q]

Quick update for all.

Made some more pork, apple, cider and Caerphilly cheese sausages (natural hog casings) but this time reduced a bottle of good cider so it was syrupy and around 20% of its original volume. Some garlic, black pepper, a touch of mushroom ketchup and sage the only other additions.

Made sure I didn't over-fill the cases and allowed to rest overnight.

Poached sous-vide, starting in cold water, upping the temperature to 180f and keeping it as close to that as I could for 10 minutes. Drained and left for a good 30 minutes, then rinsed in cool water.

Took them over to my father, who was having a BBQ later that afternoon and they went down an absolute storm. Not a hint of bursting, they were as moist as you like and I told everyone it was down to you guys on the forum!

Thanks heaps and enjoy the summer...or has it gone already?!

[Vernon Smith]

Dame Judi,
I think you've cracked it old girl! Congrats... I suggest you look at the recent activity under the topic "Dry Cured Bacon" I think the next step would be for you to seriously consider buying your pork cheaper than retail prices. I am sure there are huge savings to be made. If you get seriously into sausage and bacon making you won't ever want commercial varieties again. A smoker will increase your scope immensely then you might feel brave enough to try some home made ham.

[Q]

Thanks for the encouragement Vernon (and everyone else), much appreciated. Will check out the dry-cured bacon topic - looks very much like my next step.

Definitely looking to move into smoker territory too, assuming she-who-must-be-obeyed lets me of course!

You mention sourcing pork cheaper than retail - any ideas how best to go about that? Appreciate you are based in sunnier climes (with a ready supply!) - maybe you know of someone that might be able to help?

It's true what you say. I used to be a man who picked up some of the allegedly 'finest/select' sausages at every supermarket trip. Have not purchased a single snorker since I started making them myself. I'm absolutely certain it'll be the same with bacon and ham....and anything else I get brave enough to try!

All the best

Simon

[Vernon Smith]

Simon,
Nice to read yr last posting. If you check the Dry Cured Bacon topic you will see an exchange between some members who have been discussing cheaper pork and even joint venture pig rearing through a farm facility.
Might be worth a look see and a few PM's to those involved. Keep me posted please.

Vernon

[welsh wizard]

Hi Q

Ref cheaper pork, have a look in the phone book for your local abattoir, give them a ring and ask how much is.......

YOu will find they dont need to sell you tons of the stuff but you may have to comitt to a whole loin for instance which is what I use for bacon curing. The prices will be far cheaper, and quite possibly the quality will be good.

You will have to pick it up but that will be a small price to pay.

The two abattoirs around here both sell to the private individual so I guess it may be the same elsewhere.

Sorry totally off topic I know............I will behave now