Spicy Pork and Oats

[Wu]

Hi
I have been reading this forum for some time now... So first of all thanks to all you posters. I have learned much here.

I am still emerging from the 'Nah, not quite' stage of sausage making.

One of the things I have been working hard on is getting the texture of my sausages under better control.

I have tried 10% (of meat weight) wholemeal breadcrumbs and the sausages are a little too firm for my liking. I don't want to use additives like lactose).

So a couple of days ago I tried rolled oats and the crumbly texture was just what I wanted.

Here is my recipe which grew out of a Cumberland Sausage recipe...

I am keen to have any views / advice / comments from you folk.

TIA

1kg fatty shoulder pork - substitute some belly pork if the shoulder is lean)
5g black pepper (for spicy - reduce to 2g for normal)
12g salt
5g Black Mustard
3 Bay leaves
2g Nutmeg
4g Dried Marjoram
6g Sage
2 Cloves
1g Spanish Sweet Paprika
100g Rolled Oats
(50g Bread Crumbs - optional)
1 Cup / 150ml Water

All herbs are good quality dried herbs - not stale supermarket stuff.

[wheels]

Hi Wu.

Your recipe looks well crafted to me. Meat, salt, spice, crumb and water look well balanced but the 'whole spices' seem excessive - 3 Bay leaves in 1kg? Are they ground?

Am I missing something?

Phil

[vagreys]

To each his own. That looks like a LOT of seasoning for a kg of meat (e.g., 3 grams of dried marjoram makes a very strong marjoram sausage, and 6 grams of rubbed sage is intense), but if you like your end product, that's all that matters. I'm using steel-cut oats to formulate an Irish Whiskey sausage, and am getting a very nice texture. I'm not going to use oats all the time, but in this sausage, it works well.

[wheels]

That's why i'm hoping that Wu will tell us more Tom.

[Wu]

Thanks for the feedback.

Perhaps I was a little precipitous posting the recipe, but your feedback made it worthwhile.

Yes, I like 'well seasoned' and some of my friends love these, but others do suggest less strong seasoning.

Maybe my Marjoram is not so good as the flavour does not dominate. (I just checked and it was from the supermarket). I switched to good quality dried herbs bought online and had to reduce the amounts because they were so much better.

I think I will stick to some of the tried and tested recipes, online here until I get a better feel for it.

Polly Perkin's Cumberland Sausage looks a good place to start.

Maybe I should use dextrose... But oats give the sausage a great taste and texture...

Many thanks

[wheels]

You could certainly use oats instead of breadcrumb or rusk if you like.

The dextrose has both a slight sweetening effect and also encourages the casings to brown. It's not essential.

HTH

Phil

[Wu]

Thanks Phil

That's good to know

I Like your blog BTW -

ATB

Kevin