a couple of questions about breakfast sausage

[cal1956]

(1) does breakfast sausage need more fat content than smoked sausage ?
if so how much more ?
(2) sausage maker.com has a fat substitute , has any one used it and was it any good ?

 

[browneyesvictim]

1. In my opinion yes. For only for breakfast sausage I found I like about a 30% fat content. But the beauty is it can be whatever you want it to be for your tastes/health or any other reasons.

2. Sorry. I have never used it. By what reviews I have read from those who have used it were a little disappointed. There's nothing like the real thing.

 

[cal1956]

thats kinda what i had thought , i make a lot of smoked sausage and always have enough meat left in my stuffer to make about 4 patties and when i fried it , it always seemed tough like it needed more fat in it
thanks

 

[cal1956]

i make 100% pork sausage with 0 fillers , once we learned how to make the smoked sausage we won't eat anything else so we thought we might as well make the patties as well

 

[browneyesvictim]

100% pork smoked sausage is fantastic! I just did another 10 lb batch 2 weekends ago of Smoked Polish. I'm still using up mix I got from The Sausage Maker. There are no fillers, but I use NFDM as a BINDER and that has made a HUGE difference (improvement) in the texture, and would highly recommend that. Using Phosphates is another rabbit in the hat trick but I'm not that level of magician yet.

There are 2 breakfast sausage recipes I like: One is Fassets Breakfast Sausage, just because it is so simple and good! The second is a Jimmy Dean Clone. But so far for loose grind or patties and general purpose use the Italian Sausage (calculator) is my favorite so far.

 

[cal1956]

i'm not familiar with what NFDM is ?
for anyone that hasn't tried /made 100% pork sausage i would highly recommend that you try it
being from the south, when the commercial sausage makers went to pork,beef and chicken blends
that pretty much ruined sausage for me until i l learned how to make me own , my wife is from Michigan
and had always ate whatever she bought from the store BUT once she tried 100% pork sausage she refuses to buy any commercial sausage now , we have been making our own smoked sausage for the past several years and want to tryour hand at making a few patties

 

[browneyesvictim]

NFDM= Nonfat Dry Milk. It is used for moisture retention in ground meats. It is similar and an alternate to the same reason recipes call for soy concentrate.

 

[chopsaw]

Non Fat Dry Milk . I use it in most sausage I make . Wasn't sure what you meant by 100% pork no fillers . I use all pork but add nfdm , and some phosphate . You don't use a binder in your smoked sausage ?

Brown , I used the phosphate for the first time on some hotdogs a couple weeks ago . Wow ! Give it a shot .

 

[browneyesvictim]

Yes. I have been meaning to. There are many. Which one are you using? Same Amesphos as Dave O?

 

[chopsaw]

Yes. I have been meaning to. There are many. Which one are you using? Same Amesphos as Dave O?

Yes the one Dave had for his Ham injection . STPP Sodium Tripolyphosphate . I just injected a butt yesterday . Butts on sale , $1.19 a lb. Bought 5 .

 

[cal1956]

what would i need a binder for ? my smoked sausage always turn out great !!!

 

[browneyesvictim]

Need? No. But NFDM gives an improvement in moisture retention. Those certainly look great and I won't argue with success. But if you try it next time with a small batch in comparison I am certain you will notice the difference. Do you mind sharing your recipe? Is it your own mix or a commercial one?

chopsaw - Where did you get your STPP? Amazon is out of stock (still) for the food-grade Pronto brand I recall Dave posted.

 

[browneyesvictim]

And since the topic is about breakfast sausage and you want to make some patties, I think you would like this old fashioned tried and true, and highly rated mix by Pops: (And no, you don't need to add any other binder or moisture retainer if you don't want to.)

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/fassetts-breakfast-sausage-seasoning.83939/

 

[cal1956]

i use a commercial mix from a butcher supply co. the only thing i ever add extra is red pepper ( i like them a bit hotter than my wife ) oh and i always add a bit of sodium nitrate that comes with the seasoning mix so i guess that makes mine 99% pure instead of 100% ( sorry bout the error ...lol )
when we make the patties we will most likely make one and cook it then adjust the seasoning a couple of time's before we figure out what works for us , our goal is once we get the fat content and seasoning figured out , to make about 25-40 lbs and put it in the freezer

 

[cal1956]

Browneyes : thanks for the info , that looks like a good starting point for us to try

 

[browneyesvictim]

i use a commercial mix from a butcher supply co.

Im going to go out on a limb here, but you may be surprised to know that your commercial mix from Butcher Supply most likely already has a binder/moisture retainer in it.

And you are welcome for the link. That is a great breakfast sausage!

 

[chopsaw]

what would i need a binder for ? my smoked sausage always turn out great !!!

Thought that was a yes or no answer ,,, Just asking if you did . If your buying a commercial mix , you might be and don't even know it .

 

[cal1956]

reading from the package :salt, black pepper,red pepper,sage, sugar,chili pepper,mono sodium glutamate, sodium erythorbate . it says that the soduim erythorbate when used as directed will result in no more than 7/8 oz per 100 lbs what ever that means but , thats all folks

 

[cal1956]

wife talked to our local butcher this morning and he is going to collect and sell us a few lbs of pork fat to add to the sausage , and we ordered casings to make 100 lbs of smoked sausage and the seasoning to make 40 lbs of patties so you know what we will be doing next weekend

 

[browneyesvictim]

Sounds like a good ol time to me! Next you will want a bigger smoker! Good luck and post some more pics!