Equipment:
I recommend a KitchenAid blender with a meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachments. If you are going to make different types of sausage or just make Italian sausage a lot, you will need to have durable equipment. You should also have coarse and fine dies to grind the meat (comes with the meat grinder attachment).
Ingredients (about 15 to 20 links depending on the width):
5 pounds - boneless Boston butt (pork shoulder - in this case butt refers to the shoulder) 5 cloves - garlic, minced 1 cup - fresh Italian parsley, chopped 5 teaspoons - salt 1 tablespoon - black pepper 5 tablespoons - fennel seed 1 teaspoon - red pepper flakes 1 tablespoon - fresh rosemary, diced 1/2 tablespoon - fresh oregano, diced 1 tablespoon - fresh basil, diced 1 cup - dry white wine (e.g., chardonnay), very cold 12 to 16 feet (approximately) - hog casing (cleaned pig intestine)
One of the secrets to cooking fine Italian sausage is making sure you use fresh spices. It is also crucial not to make the sausage too lean. The butt is perfect, because it will contain a fair percentage of fat necessary for genuine Italian sausage. However, I like to trim away large chunks of fat that may exist in the meat (for my health).
It is also important to get the meat cold before you put it in the grinder (it helps it move through the grinder better). Cut the pork up into 1 to 2 inch cubes and then place them in the freezer for about 30 minutes. Set up the grinder with the coarse die.
When the meat is cold, begin running it through the grinder (medium setting - I use setting 4 on my Kitchen Aid). Let the grinder do the work - in other words, don't force the meat through. Gristle may clog the grinder, but don't get dismayed. Simply clean the die and blade and finish grinding the rest of the meat.
Add the spices and wine to the ground meat. It is crucial to get the wine very cold before using it. I suggest you put the wine in the freezer for at least 15 minutes prior to adding it to the sausage mixture. Mix the ingredients thoroughly with your hands.
Place the mixture in the freezer for another 30 minutes while you prepare the grinder with the fine die. Once the mixture of spices and meat is cold, begin grinding it again. This helps to mix the spices and meat. Once you have completed the final grinding, it is best if you let the mixture sit in the refrigerator over night to absorb the spices.
Prepare the sausage stuffer.
Find the end of one of the hog casings (the longest casing if you can) and put a little water in the end. This will let it slip onto the cone.
Thread the casing all the way on the cone so that meat can come freely out of the cone. Let some meat come through and then pull the end of the casing off the cone and tie it this keeps air from going into the casing.
The rest is just allowing the meat to run through the cone until you fill the casing.
It takes some practice, because air bubbles can form or the casing can break. If you get an air bubble just puncture it with a toothpick and force the air out. If the casing breaks you can tie off the end and start a new casing. I like wide sausage but you can make them thinner if you prefer.
Once the casings are filled, you can go about every 6 inches and form each link by twisting the casing.
You can freeze the sausage for months if you wish to store them.
Enjoy!
Jack Botticelli
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HOW TO MAKE PORK SAUSAGE
4 lb lean pork
2 lb pork fat (from the butcher)
3-1/2 tsp salt
6 tsp sage
3 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1-1/2 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2/3 cup cold water
1/4 cup hot sauce (or to taste)
Thoroughly chill meat and fat. Using a 1/2 inch cutting blade, run the pork and pork fat separately through the meat grinder and chill again.
Combine all seasonings. Mix the seasonings into the chilled meat and then put through the grinder with a 1/8 inch cutting plate. Mix meat and fat in a bowl and add just enough water to make a soft "dough." Stuff into casings and take care to avoid air bubbles.
ANDOUILLE SAUSAGE RECIPE
1-1/2 yards large sausage casing
4 lbs lean fresh pork
3 lb pork fat (from the butcher)
3 TBS garlic, minced
2 TBS kosher salt
1 TBS paprika
5 tsp hickory Liquid Smoke
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp ground bay leaf
1/4 tsp sage
1/8 tsp homemade cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/8 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp mace
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp thyme
Soak the sausage casing in cold water for about 1 hour to soften and loosen the salt. (Casings are packaged with LOTS of salt).
After an hour, remove from water and cut into 3 pieces then place the narrow end of sausage stuffer into casing. Place wide end against faucet and run cold water through casing to remove any salt.
Cut the pork and fat into chunks about 1/2" across and pass once through meat grinder.
In a large bowl, combine the pork & fat with all other ingredients and mix well. (Use a wooden spoon or your clean hands). Cut the casings into 26" pieces and stuff.
HOW TO STUFF A SAUSAGE:
Tie a knot in each casing about 2 inches from end. Put the open end on sausage stuffer and slide to about 1" from wide end. Push the remainder of casing onto the stuffer until the top touches the knot. (It should look like an accordion) Fit the stuffer onto meat grinder and follow instructions that came with the appliance. Stop filling about 1-1/4 inches from end and take the casing off. Smooth out any bumps with your fingers; be careful not to push the filling out in the process. Tie off the open end of the casing with a piece of string, or tie the casing itself. Repeat this process with remainder of mixture and casings.
To cook the andouille sausage, fry in a hot skillet for about 12 minutes on each side until crisp at the edges.
The first one of my venison sausage recipes is this excellent venison bulk sausage recipe. Perfect for breakfast.
BEST VENISON SAUSAGE
6 lbs venison, ground
2 lbs pork, ground
1/2 cup homemade Tender Quick
1/4 cup homemade brown sugar, packed
3 TBS sage
1 TBS homemade garlic powder
1 TBS homemade onion powder
1 TBS fennel
1 TBS freshly ground black pepper
1 TBS crushed homemade crushed red pepper, or to taste
Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Patty out a piece of sausage and fry it. Taste this to be sure it's seasoned enough. Divide into 1 lb packages and freeze.
This is great fried and served with gravy and biscuits. Yum.
Homemade venison sausage The next one of my homemade venison sausage recipes is this one for Summer Sausage. The taste is outstanding and the texture is perfect. You may also use this recipe for ground beef. Finish this off in a smoker with hickory wood; it really is worth it. You can purchase summer sausage casings at Cabelas.
BEST VENISON SUMMER SAUSAGE RECIPE
3 lbs venison, ground
3 TBS homemade Tender Quick
1 cup cold water
2 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp homemade garlic powder
1 tsp homemade onion powder
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp Liquid Smoke
2 jalapeno peppers (or to taste), seeded and minced
1-1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
Mix the tender quick, water, mustard seed, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and Liquid Smoke together in a large bowl until the tender quick is dissolved. Add the ground venison, jalapeno peppers and cheese; mix well. Divide in half and roll into logs. Wrap tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight.
PREHEAT oven to 170 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Unwrap the sausage logs and place on the prepared baking pan.
Bake for a few hours or until the internal temperature reads 165 degrees. Cool to room temperature and dab excess oil. Slice and serve.
BestCustomerReview
During the canning season I can often recall that my grandmother used to take and can sausage patties. She would take fresh made patties and stack them neatly inside a wide mouth jar and then fill the container full of hot sausage grease. She would then place the lids securely on them, turn them upside down to seal and she was done. How I remember going to the food closet and seeing dozens upon dozens of jars carefully stacked upside down. It seems that in those days it was customary to place the jars upside down to ensure a good seal.
During the canning season I can often recall that my grandmother used to take and can sausage patties. She would take fresh made patties and stack them neatly inside a wide mouth jar and then fill the container full of hot sausage grease. She would then place the lids securely on them, turn them upside down to seal and she was done. How I remember going to the food closet and seeing dozens upon dozens of jars carefully stacked upside down. It seems that in those days it was customary to place the jars upside down to ensure a good seal.
Chorizo is that wonderfully tasty sausage to be found and enjoyed all over Spain. There are many different ones, each Spanish family having its own particular favorite but, basically, they fall into two different types... fresh chorizo, which will need cooking before you eat it, and cured chorizo, which you can slice and consume just as it is.
Chorizo sausages are normally a strong, orangey-red color. This is because of the paprika or pimentón they contain - a main ingredient of chorizo sausages.
Paprika comes in two different types - "picante" or spicy, and "dulce" or sweet. Depending on the type of paprika used to make the sausage, the resulting chorizo will be either a spicy or sweet variety.
But, how is chorizo made, and what are its origins?...
How To Make Chorizo
Going back, more Spanish families lived in the country. More-often-than-not, they'd have a little plot of land, where they'd grow their own vegetables, keep some chickens... and fatten a pig.
The beauty of keeping a pig was that it could be cheaply fed from kitchen leftovers and, once killed, nearly every part could be used, with practically no waste. When November arrived, and the pig was nice and fat, the family would gather together - each having their own particular role to play - and kill the pig.
In Spanish, this slaughtering of the pig is known as the "matanza", and is still very much celebrated in Spanish villages to-day, with fun-loving fiestas, free-flowing wine, and much rejoicing.
Why did the "matanza" traditionally take place in November? Well, the weather was cooler then, with less chance of the meat going off. Also, it meant that village people were well-stocked up for the winter. This was particularly important as - even to-day - more-isolated villages in mountainous areas are completely cut off for a spell during winter when heavy snows have fallen.
Going back, each family would kill its own pig. This was no easy task, as getting a big, fat pig settled, ready for the knife, is quite hard work!
The pig was killed by stabbing it in the neck. This also released the blood, which the ladies of the family would catch in a bowl. Care had to be taken to ensure the blood didn't clot, for this was needed for mixing with rice and spices to make "morcilla" or black pudding.
It was also the task of the females to make the chorizo sausages. For this, they would take the pig's intestine, empty it, clean it, and then leave it to soak in salt water, to remove any unpleasant odors.
Once ready, the intestine would be filled with a mixture of finely-chopped pork, paprika, garlic and salt, and the end tied in a knot. Originally, the chopping of the meat and the procedure of squeezing it into the intestine was all done manually. Nowadays, however, there's a machine to help with this.
Once filled and securely tied, the chorizo sausage was ready for hanging. It would be left to cure in a well-ventilated place, probably for at least 3 months.
Nowadays, the pig is killed in the local abattoir, under strict, hygienic conditions. A vet will test the meat and, once it's been approved, the owner of the pig will collect it, take it home, and carry on with preparing it.
And now, for those of you with a pig roaming around in your garden, which you plan to slaughter in November, here's a basic recipe for making your very own, tasty, chorizo sausage!...
Chorizo Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 kilo pork
- 40 gr paprika - sweet or spicy, according to taste
- 2 cloves garlic - peeled and crushed
- 20 gr salt
- 50 cm pig's intestine
- A little water
Method:
1. Chop up the pork fairly finely.
2. Mix in the paprika, garlic, and salt.
3. If necessary, use a little water to facilitate mixing.
4. Cover with cling film.
5. Leave in fridge 24-48 hours.
6. Fill intestine with the mixture, leaving a few centimetres of intestine free at one end.
7. Tie a knot in the end of the intestine.
8. Leave to hang in a well-ventilated place, normally for 3 months plus.
Well, I do hope all this talk of killing pigs and filling intestines won't put you off enjoying all those delicious chorizo sausages you'll find in Spain!
Over the years as I grew up and investigated the art of canning on my own I discovered there are two major ways to can sausage. You can form and bake the patties until they are firm similar to the way my grandmother did it or you can fry the sausage up and let it crumble and then fill your jars up.
With the second way you would fry some of the sausage until it started to separate into small pieces and then can these pieces for use in gravies or casseroles. Here are some tips to follow when attempting this on your own.
You should omit any use of sage from your recipe if you decide to mix your own sausage. When canning your sausage the sage will tend to make it taste bitter. I generally use very little herbs and spices in my mix and that also includes the use of my favorites such as garlic or onions as they will actually become stronger tasting when your product is canned. Instead you could use a little bit of hot red pepper, salt, black pepper, some thyme or perhaps a bit of marjoram to season the sausage that you plan to can.
When selecting the meat make certain to choose 2/3 of lean meat to about 1/3 fat in order to make the best canned sausage that you can. You would can your sausage in the same manner as you would ground meat except that you will make small patties and cook it until it's very well done.
Unlike ground beef you can use the fat from cooking the sausage to actual can it in. Be certain not to fill the jar too full, 2/3 full is plenty enough for it. Pour the grease in and make sure that it covers the sausages. You may wish to melt some extra lard to use for covering the sausages in the jar. Keep the lard or grease very hot while it is waiting to be poured into the jar.
Lastly, you will want to adjust the lids onto the jars and place then into a pressure canner set for 10 pounds of pressure. For pint jars cook for 75 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes.
Over the years as I grew up and investigated the art of canning on my own I discovered there are two major ways to can sausage. You can form and bake the patties until they are firm similar to the way my grandmother did it or you can fry the sausage up and let it crumble and then fill your jars up.
With the second way you would fry some of the sausage until it started to separate into small pieces and then can these pieces for use in gravies or casseroles. Here are some tips to follow when attempting this on your own.
You should omit any use of sage from your recipe if you decide to mix your own sausage. When canning your sausage the sage will tend to make it taste bitter. I generally use very little herbs and spices in my mix and that also includes the use of my favorites such as garlic or onions as they will actually become stronger tasting when your product is canned. Instead you could use a little bit of hot red pepper, salt, black pepper, some thyme or perhaps a bit of marjoram to season the sausage that you plan to can.
When selecting the meat make certain to choose 2/3 of lean meat to about 1/3 fat in order to make the best canned sausage that you can. You would can your sausage in the same manner as you would ground meat except that you will make small patties and cook it until it's very well done.
Unlike ground beef you can use the fat from cooking the sausage to actual can it in. Be certain not to fill the jar too full, 2/3 full is plenty enough for it. Pour the grease in and make sure that it covers the sausages. You may wish to melt some extra lard to use for covering the sausages in the jar. Keep the lard or grease very hot while it is waiting to be poured into the jar.
Lastly, you will want to adjust the lids onto the jars and place then into a pressure canner set for 10 pounds of pressure. For pint jars cook for 75 minutes and quarts for 90 minutes.
