A Couple of Old Recipes - Will They Work?

[Wal Footrot]

I haven't had the time to make the Ham and Chicken myself so I passed these onto a mate of mine who is a butcher and likes to experiment. He saw no issue with any of the ingredients and I've given him the cornflour and spices so he can make these up for me. What I've asked him to do is put these into hog casings and I'll poach these myself. His shop has a bowl cutter so the emulsion should be good. If they work they'll taste good both cooked and cold.

I'll report back when they are done.

[wheels]

I know nothing of cornmeal in sausage, but if it behaves like cornflour I don't see a particular problem it will be a sausage with roughly 70% meat 14% filler and 14% water. They're by no means excessive amounts of water/filler compared to some British Bangers!

The recipe says that the pork's mildly pickled - It would need to be a bit more than what I'd class as mildly pickled to give an adequate level in the sausage. So it may need a bit of salt adding.

I guess it may be a bit Polony like if the cornmeal acts like a normal filler.

Phil

[Wal Footrot]

I know nothing of cornmeal in sausage, but if it behaves like cornflour I don't see a particular problem it will be a sausage with roughly 70% meat 14% filler and 14% water. They're by no means excessive amounts of water/filler compared to some British Bangers!

The recipe says that the pork's mildly pickled - It would need to be a bit more than what I'd class as mildly pickled to give an adequate level in the sausage. So it may need a bit of salt adding.

I guess it may be a bit Polony like if the cornmeal acts like a normal filler.

Phil

My butcher dropped into the pub today with about 7kgs of the H&C stuffed into hog casings which had been made about 3 hours prior. He had a bit of mixture left over which he had in a plastic bag. When I got home the sausages went into the fridge to 'bloom' and I made the mixture into patties which I cooked in a frypan. They taste superb - the pepper and ginger come out and the nutmeg sweetens the pickled pork.

On Saturday I'll poach them and see what happens. At this point I'd probably double the ginger but change very little else. As this recipe was for something designed to be eaten cold and I'm taking the leftover patties to work tomorrow it will be interesting taste wise. All in all I'm very happy with the result.

[tristar]

Did you use cornmeal or cornflour?

Any chance of some pictures to see the texture and moisture retention?

[Wal Footrot]

Did you use cornmeal or cornflour?

Any chance of some pictures to see the texture and moisture retention?

Yes, I used the cornflour - no problems

[tristar]

Nice looking links Wal, I hope they taste as good as they look! Keep us updated!

[wheels]

They're some mighty fine looking sausage Wal.

Phil

[Wal Footrot]

OK, the good and the bad.

The good - they taste brilliant!!!

The bad - they didn't bind very well and are are rather crumbly. They're not dry, just crumbly but mouth feel is important for me with a sausage. When I fried some of the left over mixture they were OK but after poaching them this was the result.

I can only put it down to the cornflour and conferring with the butcher who made these for me this is probably the case. The cornflour may have been atypo. He suggests using ordinary meal next time. You may have other ideas.

So, I'll go back to him with an improved recipe and see what happens.

[Wal Footrot]

OK, I've revived the recipe to use ordinary flour/meal instead of cornflour. I'm not quite sure how much water to add so your opinion on both quantities of both the meal and the water are important. I'm using a total of 5 kgs of meat.

3 Kgs of Pickled Pork (Mildly salted pork in original recipe)
1 kg of lean beef
1 kg of smoked bacon
1 Kg flour (or similar meal)
1 L of water (or to suit)
30 gms of white pepper
15 grams of nutmeg
5 gms of mace
5 gms of ginger.

If I used rusk what quantities would you use?

Thanks for your advice.

[captain wassname]

if the water is ok then 500 gms rusk.

Jim

[BriCan]

I tossed this around for over three hours last night while working on nutrition labels for work.

My calculation for the Rusk (for my taste) was 210 gm, my reason for this is because I wish to taste the meat and spices and not the bread. It’s just like having three heaping teaspoons of sugar in coffee then go cold turkey (no sugar) for a week then add the sugar as per normal 99.9% of the people (I am one of them) find they cannot take the sugar. I am the same way with sausage, each and every time I come home and try sausage and it’s like having a mouth full of bread.

The water was up in the air as not knowing a key factor. How much water is in the Pickled pork??

but then what do I know

[Wal Footrot]

I've been doing a bit of research. What I want is a good combination of binding and emulsification and I'd also like to retain as much of the moisture of the meat as possible. In this light could I do away with the meal and use either dry milk powder or soy protein instead?

I've had good results using meal but wonder if there is another way of doing this and both soy and DMP popped up as alternatives. What do people think about this compared to using either rusk or meal?

[DanMcG]

I use dried milk in a lot of my sausage recipes, usually around 50g to 5 pounds (2.27kg). as far as water goes I just add it as needed, but I should start writing it down.

[wheels]

The question I'd like to ask, and any advice I would give is somewhat dependent on it, is what type of sausage are you after?

Do you want a sausage that is loose textured, or a firm textured sausage, or something in-between.

The filler you use will determine the outcome. As far as I can see, there are two 'potential' superb sausages from this recipe, but the fillers will determine the outcome - firm or soft, both may be excellent with care.

Phil

[Wal Footrot]

The question I'd like to ask, and any advice I would give is somewhat dependent on it, is what type of sausage are you after?

Do you want a sausage that is loose textured, or a firm textured sausage, or something in-between.

The filler you use will determine the outcome. As far as I can see, there are two 'potential' superb sausages from this recipe, but the fillers will determine the outcome - firm or soft, both may be excellent with care.

Phil

Hello Phil, this is a great question and I'm delighted that you've asked it.

I'd like a firmer texture. I'll poach what is produced and I want be able to eat it either hot or cold. My yard stick for a good saveloy is one that tastes good either hot or cold and is quite firm in both cases while still retaining moisture and flavour.