Breakfast Sausage Experiment

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

disco

Epic Pitmaster
Original poster
OTBS Member
SMF Premier Member
Oct 31, 2012
11,135
5,265
Canadian Rockies
I have been making breakfast sausage for a while. I use pork butt steaks from the supermarket. They are quite trimmed and are therefore less fatty. Good for my diet. However, it does hurt the texture somewhat. So I decided to experiment.

I used my usual pork steaks and ground up the pork. I have been using some Hi Mountain Mountain Man Sausage Seasonings (I prefer Pops Country Sausage but I was given these seasonings). I add 1/4 cup of water a pound and the seasonings.


I started by sprinkling the seasonings over the cubed pork.


Then I ground it with the smallest plate on my KitchenAid.


Instead of adding my usual 1/4 cup of water a pound, I added 1/4 cup of canola oil a pound. I thought it would help emulsify the sausage without adding too much extra fat.


I mixed it thoroughly by hand and then beat it with the paddle on my KitchenAid for 2 minutes at mediums speed. It definitely was more uniform than I am used to.


I did a test fry and I loved the texture. I was quite excited!


Here is where I was hit by a surprise. I normally don't use casings. I run the meat through my LEM and cut it into unskinned sausage. The emulsifying of the oil made it much too sticky to do this. I zipped into town and picked up some collagen casings and started stuffing like mad.


Here they are cut to length.


I wrapped them in packages of 6 in plastic wrap and put them in a ziploc bag to freeze.


The next day, I fried the ends from the sausage with some French Toast.



The Verdict: I am really not happy about having to use casings but I have to admit, the texture on these sausages are great and they only have slightly more fat than the leaner ones I made Sigh. I guess I will be making sausages in casings from now on.

Disco
 
  • Like
Reactions: foamheart
A glass of red wine with breakfast, now that is living  
sausage.gif
    I love a good breakfast sausage, one more thing I need to get figured out.  

Your experiment looks good, congratulations.
 
 
A glass of red wine with breakfast, now that is living  
sausage.gif
    I love a good breakfast sausage, one more thing I need to get figured out.  

Your experiment looks good, congratulations.
Har! Even an old drunk like me doesn't have wine with breakfast. That was later in the afternoon that I was stuffing the sausage. If you want to make great breakfast sausage you need to check out Pops postings. Here is the link to what I think is the definitive breakfast sausage.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/73350/country-style-breakfast-sausage
 
 
Har! Even an old drunk like me doesn't have wine with breakfast. That was later in the afternoon that I was stuffing the sausage. If you want to make great breakfast sausage you need to check out Pops postings. Here is the link to what I think is the definitive breakfast sausage.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/73350/country-style-breakfast-sausage
Sure I believe you!  
2thumbs.gif
    As soon as I get some space in the fridge & freezer I will make a batch of Pop's breakfast sausage and some fresh hot Italian.  I almost ordered a fridge for the garage this morning, but I stopped myself. (for now)

Thanks Disco & Pops!
 
 
Sure I believe you!  
2thumbs.gif
    As soon as I get some space in the fridge & freezer I will make a batch of Pop's breakfast sausage and some fresh hot Italian.  I almost ordered a fridge for the garage this morning, but I stopped myself. (for now)

Thanks Disco & Pops!
Har, have I ever lied to you before?

Get the second fridge. Trust me.
 
Looks awesome Disco.... Sorry they didn't turn out the way ya had hoped but all in all sounds like they are good even with the casings.... Even though ya was trying not to use them.... I guess on second thought if ya just did them without the casings & had a few glasses of wine.... It'd all turn out good ! :biggrin: After a few glasses of vino, who the hell cares huh.... LOL.... All kidding aside, great thread bud ! Thumbs Up
 
Tasty looking sausages Disco! We need more of Pop's sausage and since I have three butts in the freezer I may make some this weekend!
 
Looks awesome Disco.... Sorry they didn't turn out the way ya had hoped but all in all sounds like they are good even with the casings.... Even though ya was trying not to use them.... I guess on second thought if ya just did them without the casings & had a few glasses of wine.... It'd all turn out good !
biggrin.gif
After a few glasses of vino, who the hell cares huh.... LOL.... All kidding aside, great thread bud !
icon14.gif
Actually, the problem is these sausages with casings were better than my regular without casings. They  were a great taste and texture. Thanks for your kind words and sense of humour! Thanks!
Tasty looking sausages Disco! We need more of Pop's sausage and since I have three butts in the freezer I may make some this weekend!
Thanks, Case. Do I see a new post in the future?

Disco
 
Actually, the problem is these sausages with casings were better than my regular without casings. They  were a great taste and texture. Thanks for your kind words and sense of humour! Thanks!


Thanks, Case. Do I see a new post in the future?

Disco

The wife is off to the valley with her sister for the weekend so I'd say there's a good chance I'll be smoking every meal This weekend! So I expect multiple posts!
 
I do that same thing, only I use sheep casings. Its funny how after that first sausage learning experiment how you find new purpose for the pork sales items. I also learned that pork loin with near zero fat makes terrible sausages. I have always used oil in my sausages, I started because it was what I thought I remembered, then was told here by others I should swap to water that could cook out, but I noticed something was missing, especially in my andouille.

Anyway, nice looking sausages. I will admitt I have not ventured into the emulsfied texture yet, and I think you may have convinced me to try it.

Thanks my friend for showing me the way! That is two now, maple injected and now the emulsified textures...... You are on a roll!

Someone get that man another glass a wine.
 
The wife is off to the valley with her sister for the weekend so I'd say there's a good chance I'll be smoking every meal This weekend! So I expect multiple posts!
I'll open some wine to get ready!
 
I do that same thing, only I use sheep casings. Its funny how after that first sausage learning experiment how you find new purpose for the pork sales items. I also learned that pork loin with near zero fat makes terrible sausages. I have always used oil in my sausages, I started because it was what I thought I remembered, then was told here by others I should swap to water that could cook out, but I noticed something was missing, especially in my andouille.

Anyway, nice looking sausages. I will admitt I have not ventured into the emulsfied texture yet, and I think you may have convinced me to try it.

Thanks my friend for showing me the way! That is two now, maple injected and now the emulsified textures...... You are on a roll!

Someone get that man another glass a wine.
Thanks, Foam. The only problem is that wine is meant to be enjoyed with others. You better head up for a glass!
 
Interesting, looks good. I don't recall seeing recipes with Oil added but if it works and tastes good, great. From a Nutrition point of view, whether you eat the Saturated Fat of Pork or the Polyunsaturated Fat of Oil, both provide 9 Calories per Gram eaten. So no gain substituting one for the other...JJ
 
Last edited:
Looks great Disco, sausage, eggs, and fried spuds is a great breakfast for me. Yours looks great!!!

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS 
 
 
Interesting, looks good. I don't recall seeing recipes with Oil added but if it works and tastes good, great. From a Nutrition point of view, whether you eat the Saturated Fat of Pork or the Polyunsaturated Fat of Oil, both provide 9 Calories per Gram eaten. So no gain substituting one for the other...JJ
Thanks, Chef. I know there is no calorie reduction in fat however 1/4 cup of oil is less than the fat that was removed when the pork was trimmed and being liquid, it made the meat emulsify more easily in my opinion.
 
Looks great Disco, sausage, eggs, and fried spuds is a great breakfast for me. Yours looks great!!!

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS 
Thanks, DS. I do love a sausage myself.
 
Nice job on the sausages Disco.... They look tasty
drool.gif
 
 
Very interesting with the canola oil. I tried lard to add some fat with some brats once and it did not turn out. Nice job!
Thanks, Todd. I don't know that I'd want to use this method for brats. I like the texture for breakfast sausage but I like a little more coarse meat in my brats.

Disco
 
 
BTW any problems or procedural differences to using collegne casings?
You are going to wish you didn't ask. 

As I had not planned on using them, there was a quick learning curve. I looked online and found out that some need to be soaked and others don't. The ones I bought didn't.

Then, they don't stay twisted like natural casings. You can buy special clips or tie off between sausages with twine. I didn't have clips but I do have twine. 

I used the twine to tie of one end after I put the casings on the stuffing horn. They stuff fine but I had read to make sure you don't over stuff them or they will be difficult to twist into sausages.

I started tying each sausage off with twine. I would still be doing that if I continued. 

Some quick searching and I found a site that the guy said he didn't tie them off. He would just pinch where he wanted to cut and then cut it. He then put the sausages on a tray so they were separated and froze them for a couple of hours before packaging them so the sausages wouldn't squeeze out the end when he packaged them. It worked like a charm.

Disco
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky