Trying to improve my Sausages

[Skagg2000]

Evening Gent's,

I'm about due to makes some more sausages but want to improve them. I use the tongmaster rusk / seasoning mix with trim, shoulder & belly pork from my local butcher following the recipe on the rusk mix.  Whilst they look great & the flavour is good, they always come out on the dry / crumbly side. Admittedly, last time i left my lad to mix the meat & rusk & it was probably not properly emulsified.

I've spoken to a couple of butchers & they both gave conflicting solutions. One said, to add some back fat which concurred with my thoughts, the other said to add more water to the mix. I can't really see how adding water will make them more juicy, but can see how it will help bind them. Both butchers are award winning sausage makers so i'm not sure who to listen to but want to get it right this time.

Any thoughts from the sausage makers on the forum?

Cheers n Gone Nick 

 

[Smokin Monkey]

When I make Sausage I do not use rusk. 
 

Meat, seasoning and that it.

[Icefever]

There's an old adage " ask 10 people a question, and you'll get 11 answers" I've been in the same position as you over the last couple of years of making sausages.  Some "experts" say this, others say "t'other" it's a minefield, as you find from your butchers.

I've watched loads of videos and most say add rusk/breadcrumbs of some sort....others add more backfat, but that's not cheap to buy.
I've read about how you cook a sausage, one guy said not to overcook by using a probe for the IT..this holds the fat inside and makes for a better sausage..but how many folks want to frig around with a digi thermo when all you want is a cooked sausage??.

Scott Rea on YT shows using rice as a binder?? I've not tried that yet but I intend too, the only advice I can offer mate is do small batches, grind your meat then split into 3 or 4 parts, try no rusk, more water, more fat...the beef & Guinness ones I did were ok, friends have liked them, but I'm not 100% happy with them, so it's a work in progress...all the best.

 

Ice.

[Skagg2000]

5 hours ago, Icefever said:

There's an old adage " ask 10 people a question, and you'll get 11 answers" I've been in the same position as you over the last couple of years of making sausages.  Some "experts" say this, others say "t'other" it's a minefield, as you find from your butchers.

I've watched loads of videos and most say add rusk/breadcrumbs of some sort....others add more backfat, but that's not cheap to buy.
I've read about how you cook a sausage, one guy said not to overcook by using a probe for the IT..this holds the fat inside and makes for a better sausage..but how many folks want to frig around with a digi thermo when all you want is a cooked sausage??.

Scott Rea on YT shows using rice as a binder?? I've not tried that yet but I intend too, the only advice I can offer mate is do small batches, grind your meat then split into 3 or 4 parts, try no rusk, more water, more fat...the beef & Guinness ones I did were ok, friends have liked them, but I'm not 100% happy with them, so it's a work in progress...all the best.

 

Ice.

Cheers for the advice chap.

I will persist. I do like the Scott Rea stuff on you tube & it was one of his recipe I followed when i made my first ever batch. I'm going to add more back fat to the next lot. In my mind the sausage will hold the fat & then release it slowly when cooked to provide a juicy sausage. I feel as though adding more water isn't the solution as whilst it will make the meat easier to handle, once hung for 24 hours the water will dry out. In fact my last batch were in my opinion quite wet when i was filling the carcass. Also I thought the term banger came from sausages in the war that had to much water added to them?

Cheers n Gone Nick

 

 

[Mick]

I did a cooking course on making sausages and their advice was to keep everything cold even slightly frozen when mincing, and add water which needs to be mixed well to emulsify with the fat, it's the mixing of the water and fat that makes them juicy

[Skagg2000]

9 hours ago, Mick said:

I did a cooking course on making sausages and their advice was to keep everything cold even slightly frozen when mincing, and add water which needs to be mixed well to emulsify with the fat, it's the mixing of the water and fat that makes them juicy

Interesting. I new that cold was good & getting the emulsification going was essential. I think I'll take the earlier advice & make my batches smaller & experiment with more water, different levels of fat etc & see what happens.

Cheers n Gone Nick

[Icefever]

Scott Rea does talk about working the meat by hand and getting to the emulsification stage.

 

Ice.

[Icefever]

Found this quote from a guy who worked in a sausage making firm...

 "try blanching your sausages very briefly in scalding water, and then pan-frying them slowly on a medium low heat with a lid on. Lift the lid occasionally to let the steam out and turn them.. then lid off to finish. After about 20 minutes, should wind up with a sort of super-fond in the bottom of the pan.. sticky bits which taste fantastic. And don't you dare throw the fat away! Save it for something else.)

 

Think that should read "super-food"😁

 

Ice.

 

 

 

[Icefever]

The magic of making sausages....rusk, no rusk...water, no water...amount of fat to meat??? just watched Scott latest vid doing Cevapi, (pronounced...Ce-va-a-pe).

Got to try these...with the bonus no casings, which I must admit I prefer.

 

 

Ice.

Edited February 14, 2020 by Icefever

[Icefever]

I have  got to have a go at these sausages, found this guys vid and it all make it so clear, did a little translation just to make sure. It looks so easy boils garlic in 100kl water,  2x ground beef....S & P...mix...add garlic water...shape then leave in the fridge for several hours. That bread looks great must find out what type it is??.

 

 

 

Ice.

 

[Skagg2000]

interesting 👍