Sausage Making for beginners

[asilverfish]

I've decided to try to make my own sausages but I've been unable to find a recipe for lamb or beef sausages - I don't eat pork. I'm new to the site so have probably missed out a bleeding obvious link, but if anyone has any great recipes please let me know. edit: I found the recipe bit of the forum but have been unable to find anything that is 100% beef with no pork content. Also, I assume it's not too difficult to pull together my own seasonings rather than buying them? From what I can see they are all normal herbs and spices rather than anything particularly special. Can you set me right if I've got this wrong.

One other quick question: what is the difference between salami and sausage just that salami is cured/smoked?

many thanks

[Paul Kribs]

Welcome asilverfish,

I am also relatively new to sausage making but have made some lamb ones, which turned out very nicely. Even after freezing they are superb.

The intention was to make a lamb sausage with the subtle taste of both rosemary and mint without over-powering the lamb. I did evaluate quite a few recipes on the web to see how much of certain ingredients are used in different mixes, just to get a general idea. I will give the recipe here.

I used a whole leg of lamb and the top half of a shoulder, the fatty part up by the neck.
This yielded 5 lbs 3 ozs of meat and fat.
I added 3 heaped teaspoons of crushed dried rosemary,
4 heaped teaspoons of dried mint,
1 flat teaspoon of dried sage,
1 flat teaspoon of dried thyme,
2 heaped teaspoons of crushed mixed peppercorns,
2 tablespoons of salt,
1/2 a teaspoon of powdered mace,
12 ozs of rusk.
I added cold water to bring the mix a bit looser, about 1 1/4 pints.

I was advised by Oddley that my rusk content was slightly too high at 14% and should have been somewhere between 5% - 10%, with the rusk to water content being 1 part rusk to 1 1/2 parts water. However I would add that they have turned out very well despite having an extra bit of rusk. The mint flavour is more prominent than the rosemary and compliments the lamb well, which was how I wanted it.. more by luck than judgement I must add.

Obviously they turned out to be rather expensive sausages by using a leg of lamb along with the half shoulder, but I eat them in the knowledge that I can thoroughly enjoy them cos there's no bone or cartilage to surprise me because I boned it carefully myself.

Haven't tried making a beef sausage yet but will do in the very near future. I don't know if you could get away with not using any pork product as you need fat in the mix. There are people much more experienced than me on this forum and no doubt they will advise you accordingly.

Regards Paul Kribs

[asilverfish]

Thanks for that.

One other quick question on getting going, I want to get the standard manual mincer & filler, if I buy the one for �29.95 does that have all the equipment I need to start making? The only reason I don't want to buy the starter kit is that I want to make my own seasonings and rusks.
thanks

[sausagemaker]

Hi asilverfish

Please find the link below, it contains Beef, Lamb & Pork recipes including seasoning mixes.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ight=devro

Hope this helps

regards
sausagemaker

[Oddley]

Welcome to the forum asilverfish.

I think that beef especially has a stronger texture and flavour than pork. So to get that sausage texture slightly more filler seems to be in order. If not I think you will end up with a beef burger in a skin. As I have never made a exclusively beef sausage this is complete conjecture.

Saying that I have made a good spice mix to go with beef try it in a bit of sausage mix and see what you think.

[hunterman]

Hi sausagemaker
This might be a stupid question but you said

Hog casings
Hog casings are best to start with as they are easier to work with than the delicate sheep casings and produce a good thick sausage.

These casings should be soaked in water for at least 2 hours prior to using.

These are supplied in a moist salt solution. Use what you need and once resealed in the Ziploc bag provided, casings can be stored for months in the fridge.

So do you mean soak all the casings in water and keep what you don�t use in fridge? Or soak what you need and keep the rest in the salt solution in fridge.
If that makes sense you read better than I write LOL

[sausagemaker]

Hi Hunterman

Firstly
There's no such thing as a stupid question only a stupid answer.

Only soak what you need the rest may be kept in the fridge for later use.
Sorry for any confusion caused

Regards
Sausagemaker

[Victor]

Well I got my kit today and some extra mix packs. Got 4 kg of pork belly and... Im at a loss what to do!

[welsh wizard]

Hi Victor

Hope I can help.

Firstly soak your casings for a minimum of 2 hours - not all of them just enough to do the job.

Then start by taking the rind off the pork belly

Next mince down the meat and then weigh it - if I were using belly I would not add any extra fat as I would have enough in that cut of meat.

Weigh out the desired amount of mix from your packets. If using Francos mix I tend to go on the higher side say 40g per Kg - then add mix to water, I use approx 1/4 a pint per kg, and mix well into the minced pork. I dont know if you are adding rusk to your mix but if so add it before mixing and then add the required amount of water.

Then stuff the mix into the casings.

Take the casings out of the water and wash through
thread them over the desired stuffer nozzle
dont tie a knot in the end of the casing until the meat mixture starts to fill the casing as this will allow any air to escape out of the hole and not build up in the casing (you wil see what I mean)

Chers WW

[Victor]

Well I managed to make my first batch, much like WW suggested.

I found my casings were too small for the stuffer but I had also some hog gut which I used. Im still mot sure I used enough water, should it be 10% by volume??? I used just under 2kg pork but 200ml water sounded a lot so I used less. I found the meat didnt go into the cases very well, so maybe it was a bit dry. I also ended up with a hole all the way through the sausages. Still for a 1st attempt they were on. I used the Garlic and herb mix from Sausagemaking.org.

[welsh wizard]

HI Victor

Did you use any rusk or breadcrumb in the mix?

When I first started making sausages I used to get a whold in the middle of my sausages and this is mainly down to two things:

1) mix too dry, which you have already stated

2) incorrect filling, which is somthing you will pick up with practice.

OOI how did you find the garlic and herb mix?

Keep on keeping on..........WW

[Paul Kribs]

Victor

When I make my sausages with the sausagemaking.org mixes, I use approx 10% rusk and add water at 10% by weight and see how the mix feels. I mix it all by hand for at least 5 minutes and then leave it for about 15minutes. I generally end up adding more water until the mix feels right. I get the mix to a sticky consistencey.
You have identified the problem of the hole down the centre by stating that you think your mix was too dry. On the FW mincer (or any other for that matter) there is a spacer into which the wormscrew fits centrally. When stuffing, the mix has to pass through this spacer and it divides the mix into segements as it does so. If your mix is on the dry side the segements will not re-attach inside the casing. This is why you need a wetter, sticky, softer mix. After you have stuffed the casings it is generally regarded as good practise to loosely grip the sausage with your hand and work down the complete length to (a) expel any trapped air, and (b) unify the thickness. This would also help in sticking the segements back together and eliminating the hole through the centre... provided the mix is 'sticky' enough. This problem is non-existant with a dedicated stuffer whereby you can make a drier mix.
It all sounds a bit long winded but it's not really. Then it is just a case of linking them and hanging them in the fridge overnight to 'bloom'.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Victor]

Thanks for all the replies and tips. I now have to go and make some more (for practice of course!)

WW, the Garlic and herb taste very nice. I used 60g to 2kg meat, which was in the mid range of the suggested amount. Next time I will try a bit more, say 70g.

Victor

[Paul Kribs]

Victor

The spice mixes are suggested to be used at 20g to 40g per kg of meat. I like the stronger flavour and normally use it at 50g per kg. I find this is a good limit otherwise you tend to lose the flavour of the meat. All down to personal taste.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[potts]

I am going to learn about this sausage making,I have read lots of the forum info,I think your never to old to learn, thankyou for all the info I have read. As a great grandmother who loves to cook, I am sure I will love this new adventure. I am glad there are plenty of forum users with lots of good advice thankyou all potts