The Sausage Thread

[punkin]

My favourite home made snags comes from a recipe i lifted from the net.

Pork and Apple Sauasages;

1 kg pork
40g dried apple
10 gm salt
2 gm pepper
7% rusk
7% apple juice simmered to concentrate the favour (i add bourbon or calvados after the simmer once cooled)
fresh garden herbs parsley, sage etc.

Soak the dried apple in the juice for an hour os so to reconstitute (i've added dried mango before too with good results)

Mix the once ground coarse pork, herbs, seasoning and rusk.

Add juice if needed to reach consistency.

Rusk recipe here...

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.p...;highlight=rusk

i make the rusk in large batches and freeze after crumbling.

 

[Nibbo]

Ressurecting an old thread...

I'm looking to start making my own snags at home and have some beef and pork sitting in the fridge trembling at home knowing i'm about to go Chuck Norris on their arse.

I need to visit a butcher to get some casings. Also before i do, l need to research which casings i want to use.

All good fun. We have the in laws mincer and stuffer to play with so it will be on.

We have a 8 month old at home and ideally would like for him to grow up learning that you don't need to go and buy everything from the supermarket and also some skills for his own future. Currently we make our own beer, cider and pasta and always looking to add to the list.
Now the weather is turning, it will give me more time inside the house to do this type of thing.
If the snags turn out OK, then will be looking into salami, kababna and all the good stuff.

Will update how the massacre goes...

Cheers

 

[manticle]

Get natural casings. I've used pig intestines in my few forays into snag making but I understand beef and others can be OK too.

 

[punkin]

You want sheep for skinny snags and pig for regular. Beef casings are for big fat salamis.

edit; google turning the skins inside out with the tap on youtube or somewhere. it makes a much more presentable snag.

 

[Nibbo]

I like fat snags cooked on low on the bbq but in the interest of experimentation, i'll be getting whatever the butcher has to sell.

I'm also interested in what cuts of meat are people using. I was in tasman meats yesterday thinkning to myself "why didn't i research this ya dingbat". From memory i bought some pork fillets (not sure where this cut came from) and some beef topside. My old man also gave me a slab of scotch which we tested at lunch over his bbq. Deelish...
I thought the scotch would be ok to try out but maybe a waste to use in snags.

 

[benno1973]

I bought casing the other day from The Casing Boutique. Price and range are pretty good, and service, packaging and postage were exceptional. I'd highly recommend these guys for casings if you don't have someone close by willing to stock them for you.

 

[punkin]

I like fat snags cooked on low on the bbq but in the interest of experimentation, i'll be getting whatever the butcher has to sell.

I'm also interested in what cuts of meat are people using. I was in tasman meats yesterday thinkning to myself "why didn't i research this ya dingbat". From memory i bought some pork fillets (not sure where this cut came from) and some beef topside. My old man also gave me a slab of scotch which we tested at lunch over his bbq. Deelish...
I thought the scotch would be ok to try out but maybe a waste to use in snags.

You need about 20-30% fat so all those cuts would be a waste of money excepting the topside. You want the cheapest cuts you can find. Pork shoulder is great, but you'll still need to add fat, if you can buy pork fat from your butcher it's the best. Pork bellies are good, but getting expensive now that they're trendy.

 

[Spoonta]

for your snag making needs try mbl in thornlie

 

[punkin]

I get skins from http://www.fsdp.com.au/index.html

They have an outlet close to home.

 

[benno1973]

I used to go to MBL, but it's just too far to drive. It's south of the river for gods sake! h34r: (And I'm lazy I guess)

 

[Spoonta]

it 2 mins down the road from me

 

[Nibbo]

Good discussion lads...
Already picking up info...so if i grab say 200 grams of pork fat per kilo of snags, that'll help keep them moist enough?
Shoot me down if thats wrong.
Good links to some casings too.

 

[CosmicBertie]

Good discussion lads...
Already picking up info...so if i grab say 200 grams of pork fat per kilo of snags, that'll help keep them moist enough?
Shoot me down if thats wrong.
Good links to some casings too.

Something around that mark, yes. If the sausages come out a little dry, try adding more.

I've found that blocks of lard are relatively cheap from Woolies, these are pork fat. Freeze them first before using, easier to handle.

 

[manticle]

Not sure if it's been mentioned at all in this thread but if you can find some wild fennel towards the end of summer before it turns to seed, you should harvest as many flowers as you can, dry them, grind it up and add that to Italian style sausage along with some dried fennel seed. I dry roast my spices, including the fennel flower first.

Spectacular flavour - different enough to the seed to make it worthwhile. A little goes a long way - if you grab pork belly for your meat, sprinkle a bit on the left over ribs and roast them up.

Also cooking up a little of the mince when thoroughly mixed is a good way to tell both if your seasoning level is good but also if your fat content is good.

 

[Nibbo]

Also cooking up a little of the mince when thoroughly mixed is a good way to tell both if your seasoning level is good but also if your fat content is good.

This makes sense. Will keep that one in the memory bank.

 

[punkin]

Yes always fry a small rissole before stuffing.

 

[Airgead]

Making Sicilian pork sausages today.

2kg pork shoulder with fat left on. Minced through the coarse screen on the mincer

Add -
2tbsp roasted fennel seeds
2tbsp black pepper
2 tsp chilli flakes
2tbsp salt.

Mix, rest, test and stuff.

Currently resting.

Cheers
Dave

 

[Airgead]

AAARRRGGHHHH!!!

Just found out that my machine (or me) is really bad at stuffing thin casings. The missus bought the wrong size. I decided to have a go anyway. It took me 45 minutes to thread the things onto the nozzle then they burst everywhere while stuffing. Could be because its a very coarse mix. Could be because I'm a klutz.

Have to try again tomorrow after an emergency trip to the butcher for some thick ones.

On the up side the rissole I fried to test the seasoning tasted fantastic.

 

[manticle]

I have found different skins have different tolerances (presuming you are using natural skins). First lot I ever got were super strong (pig), next lot (still pig from the same butcher) couldn't cope with the same stress. It's a matter of adjusting as you go.

Got to get back into my smallgoods - been too long.

 

[barls]

AAARRRGGHHHH!!!

Just found out that my machine (or me) is really bad at stuffing thin casings. The missus bought the wrong size. I decided to have a go anyway. It took me 45 minutes to thread the things onto the nozzle then they burst everywhere while stuffing. Could be because its a very coarse mix. Could be because I'm a klutz.

Have to try again tomorrow after an emergency trip to the butcher for some thick ones.

On the up side the rissole I fried to test the seasoning tasted fantastic.

had the same thing last time.