Malcolm McDowell Woods
The Budget Gourmet

Local meats mean homemade sausage

By - Jan 1st, 2010 10:16 am
Annie Wegner

Annie Wegner

Just a few weeks after I put away my canning kettle, I focus my attention on making homemade sausage.

I developed an interest in sausage-making several years ago after learning about charcuterie and forcemeats in culinary school. After enjoying a variety of these delicacies on trips abroad where I would first marvel over their beauty in gourmet shop windows around the Place de Madeleine in Paris and the salumerie along the tight cobblestone streets of Bologna, I was inspired to learn the craft myself.

I took a continuing education course in sausage-making to get more practice at the technique before investing in any supplies or tools. My homemade sausage is much simpler and for “everyday use,” whereas I consider patés and terrines to be more decadent for special occasions.

In making sausage, one can use cheaper cuts of meat, or even trimmings, because they will be ground. I use pork shoulder, also known as Boston butt, because it’s inexpensive, flavorful, juicy, and easy to remove the bone. Pork fat is a necessity for sausage making as well; it gives the product its juiciness. An advantage of making your own sausage is that you can control the amount of added fat. Homemade sausage usually contains half the fat of commercially produced sausage, not to mention no artificial preservatives.

It can also be much cheaper to make your own sausage. I priced all-natural store-bought sausage starting around $5 per pound, organic sausage would most likely be more. Homemade sausage, could be at least a dollar less per pound, depending on the quality of the ingredients you use.

If you own an electric mixer and are willing to shell out for a grinder attachment, you are well on your way to literally cranking out lots of homemade sausage absolutely from scratch. There are plenty of old-fashioned grinders as well, which take a bit of elbow grease, but some friends can take turns to help lighten the workload.

We use a combination of old and new equipment for our sausage. I have a grinder attachment, but when it comes to stuffing the casings, I use an antique sausage stuffer that was rescued from my husband’s great-grandmother’s farmhouse in western Pennsylvania.

I have found that it’s easiest to stuff sausage with two people — one to put the ground meat mixture into the stuffer, and the other to hold the casing on the end and guide it gently as the meat is slowly pushed through the stuffer so as not to tear the casings. I learned this the hard way as I hastily made my first batch solo and ripped many casings in the process. If you don’t have a stuffer — manual or as an additional attachment — or a grinder, you can still make a variety of homemade bulk sausages using pre-ground local meat. In fact, I have found that we use more bulk Italian sausage than those with natural casings for our regular Friday night homemade pizza, an idea I lifted from Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life.

Once I’ve followed the recipe for the sausage ingredients, fried up a sample to adjust for seasoning, I freeze scoops of the meat mixture in mini muffin pans or ice cube trays (devoted solely to this purpose) then pop them out and freeze them in a freezer bag once they’ve solidified individually. This way I can just pull out small portions as I need them for pizza, soup, a breakfast casserole, or a Mexican dish (think homemade chorizo).

I have been unsuccessful in finding a local source for hog or sheep casings. The pork and lamb farmers I’ve talked to said it’s too much trouble for them to sort that out during processing. I say we all petition to make local casings more available. For now I have a source for a locally owned purveyor of imported casings so that will have to do.

After stuffing the casings, one could smoke or dry the sausage if the proper equipment is at hand. I don’t have this luxury so I just freeze them immediately. Unsmoked raw sausages can be safely stored in the refrigerator for three days, but to keep them longer, I suggest wrapping them well in freezer paper or foil and freezing for a few months. Frozen homemade sausages are best if used within two months, but I have frozen them for at least six months with minimal freezer burn when they have been properly wrapped.

 

Recipes from 
Bruce Aidells’ Complete Sausage Book
Before grinding the meat, I suggest cutting the pork shoulder or butt into smaller pieces and freezing it for 30 minutes. After you grind the meat and have adjusted the seasoning, put the mixture back into the refrigerator until you are ready to stuff the casings. The meat should not get above 50° for any length of time.

Italian Sweet Fennel Sausage

Makes about 4 pounds
3 pounds pork butt
¾ pound pork back fat
½ cup dry red wine
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon finely ground black pepper
4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
Medium hog casings (optional)

Grind the pork and fat together through a 3/8-inch plate. In a large bowl, combine the pork and fat with the wine, garlic, fennel, and black pepper, salt, oregano and allspice. Mix well with your hands. Shape into patties or stuff into casings and tie into 5-inch links. The sausage will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator, or for 2 months in the freezer.
 

Chorizo
Makes about 2 pounds
1½ pounds pork butt
½ pound pork back fat
1 bunch (4 to 6 ounces) fresh cilantro, chopped (1 cup) (optional)
1 fresh serrano, jalapeno, or other hot chile, seeded and finely chopped
¼ cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon ground dried chile powder
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon ground coriander

Grind the meat and fat through a ¼-inch plate or in batches in a food processor. Transfer the ground meat and fat to a large bowl. Add the cilantro, chile, vinegar, chile powder, paprika, salt, cumin seeds, ground cumin, black pepper, cayenne, and coriander. Mix together with your hands and chill overnight. Package and place in the freezer or refrigerator and use in 3 days. Chorizo will keep in the refrigerator for 3 days, or in the freezer for 2 months.
 

Local Sources:
Pork: Dominion Valley Farm. Brandon and Tammera Dykema raise Tamworth and Large Black heritage hogs on pasture in the beautiful hills of Washington County. They sell whole and half hogs as well as individual cuts. They also raise pastured Galloway beef and pastured poultry, including heritage turkeys directly from the farm. You can also find them at the West Bend Farmer’s Market next season.

Sausage Casings: Haught Distributing, N89W16776 Appleton Ave., Menomonee Falls, 262-253-8100. Haught carries collagen, natural and synthetic sausage casings as well as other sausagemaking supplies like spices and grinders.

Bulk Spices: Outpost Natural Foods, various locations. Outpost carries organic Frontier spices in bulk. You can fill a bag at the store or reuse your own bags or glass jars from home.


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0 thoughts on “The Budget Gourmet: Local meats mean homemade sausage”

  1. Anonymous says:

    I started making my own sausage last year, and have been buying all my meat and casings at Bunzel’s on Burleigh. The spices I get at Kavanaugh Hill Spice House. Homemade is SO much better, I think, because I can completely control the flavors. I look forward to more adventurous recipes in 2010!

  2. Anonymous says:

    This is truly inspiring. Barbara Kingsolver will be presenting writers’ workshops at the San Miguel Writers Conference in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico February 19-23 2010. I just signed up. It looks like a rare opportunity to meet her. Are you going?

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