Famous Dutch smoked sausage from HEMA

[Hoggy]

Hi guys & gals....Hoggy is back after being away for almost 1.5 years.....

I am going to give the " Dutch Hema Rookworst " a try....it's a very famous smoked sausage sold by a large Dutch Retailer. I live in Canada for more than 10 years now, but even thinking about it, brings back the water in my mouth.....


After moving last year to the outskirts of Montreal, I am very limited in my possibilities, as I have only a ( very large ) balcony ( it is really cold here right now...), and I have to start from scratch with my equipment. I will go temporarily for some simple solutions, until I have moved to a bigger place, which will take another year I guess.

I bought ( 20 $ used ) a very simple Little Chief smoker, I know it cannot provide a good temperature outside, but I will make a wooden box around it, that will help a lot I hope. I also bought today the ProQ Cold Smoke Generator, both together will give me the opportunity for hot- and cold smoking.

This brings me to my questions :
* I have a few recipes for the sausages, but I have my doubts about them, so before to start, I would like to ask for additional ones....anyone ?
* And if so....how did you do it ? ( casings, smoke time, smoke dust, etc...etc )
* anyone know a good smoke dust supplier here in Canada ?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions, and I will show the results with pictures and comments on the forum.

[Zulululu]

Welcome back Hoggy, here is a link http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... t=rookwors

[Hoggy]

Hello Zulululu

Thanks for your reply, I have seen and read the topic you mentioned, but as there is no positive feedback on those recipes, I assume they do not provide the " real thing ".

This sausage is very famous in the Netherlands and opinions you can compare with Pepsi and Cola, and is sold ONLY at HEMA, a big retail store for clothes and small appliances etc. and for a long time nobody knew even where these sausages were made.

Some time ago an employer from Unox came out with the story that the Hema sausage IS MADE at Unox, a big Dutch sausage maker with their own mark of sausage, he did this because he was not satisfied about salary negotiations. So this would mean that the Pepsi-version AND Cola-version are made in the same location, but they have different taste.

It is for sure a , what we would call, a cooked sausage, and I have added some pics below.

On the left below : this is how it looks when you buy it cold, you only need to heat it up for 15 minutes in almost boiling water.
In the middle : heated up in water, clearly you can see that the sausage has taken water, it almost wants to burst out of the casing. In fact, if you would put a needle in it, the moisture would go a few feet !
On the right below :, here you see the texture, it looks a bit like a hotdog, a little bit more course and a little pink color.

[Zulululu]

Hi Hoggy,
I did do a test with the OH's brother in law the only thing he said was that it needed a bit more smoke.Glad you posted the picture they said that the Unox sausage had a fine texture.You can get the Unox ones here at a price.
I think best is to try the recipe and tweak it to your taste, am also willing to take a another look at it let me know.

[Hoggy]

Thanks Zulululu,
I will try your recipe, next week, as I am still waiting for the ProQ and thermometer. Probably I am going to smoke 24 hours or so. You cannot buy them here in Canada, we had a " Dutch shop " in Montreal, but with the mad cow disease a few years ago, they had to close the store. My daughter comes to visit me every year and brings a few, but at the customs, they ALWAYS pick her out of the line, it is not allowed to import meat, also not vacuumed.

As it looks now, I am very happy with the end-result of my HOGIS ( Hoggy's Inside Smoker ), I will be able to smoke 24/7 if I want, without having to go outside. ( it is - 15 in the day...) I have my office at home, it is ideal... If you didn't see it, the link is HERE
http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=7547&sid=6b284cf52a4b917c70b1253c59a3b7f4

[Zulululu]

Hi Hoggy,
I made a metric version of a recipe from Culinairezaken with some small tweaks, so it is actually Culinairzaken's recipe. But am looking foreward to the outcome of your sausages, and your opinion on the flavour profile.

[Hoggy]

Here is the surprising result of my first trial to replicate the famous Hema rookworst. From now on it won't be trials any more, as the result is PERFECT !



Results:
The meat structure is " spot on ", other trials always ended with a dry, ground-beef structure, this one I made a bit coarser, as I like a bit coarser.
The taste is right as I remember, as I hoped for....
The typical " bite " is exactly the same, including the " knak ",also juicy like the original one.
The color is a bit less brown on the outside, perhaps it has something to do with the casings, I used hog casings, but was advised to use sheep casings. I smoked for 36 hours with apple.
The sausage does not " swell " as much as the original, when warmed up in water, but still is juicy on the inside, the pictures show it all.

So how did I achieve this result at my first trial ?

I have to be honest with you all.....I had some help from an " inside " guy. Some weeks ago I met a retired Dutch person in Montreal, and I told him I was experimenting with my new smoker, and that the ultimate goal was to replicate Dutch frikandellen and rookworst. To my big surprise, he told me that he had knowledge about the ingredient recipes of both......my first question was if he wanted something more to drink......
When I started to push for answers he told me he could not tell me, as he wanted to stay loyal to the company he had worked for in the past, but he was willing to provide me the mix for both, and I could get more after that if I wanted. At first I thought.....this cannot be true...then I though he wanted to make money, but it can't be that, as he does not ask much for the mix.
I did the Dutch frikandellen last week, and they were perfect as well, I had to wait for my sausage-stuffer to do the rookworst, it came in 2 days ago, and the result is in the pictures....I sure hope he has a healthy eating habit, as I have to depend on him, I don't know the formula, it is all done only take meat and water....and his mix.
I can sell some mix to interested persons, you need to pm me for that, it is not my intention to run a commercial site on this.

Isn't it a small world.....

Hoggy