Bangers

[Fueling Around]

Excellent
Report back after you try the products.

 

[FreshGround]

Excellent
Report back after you try the products.

I've tried the burritos, and each of the snack sticks and I'm a happy man. We'll be having some of the maple sausage links this week for a breakfast for dinner this week. And next week I'll be making the bangers & mash that started the whole thing.

I'll be using Adam Ragusea's recipe that I saw on YouTube. He makes the gravy with shallots rather than onions, which is good for me, since I can't handle onions any more but can tolerate shallots. He also adds a dollop of Marmite into the gravy, so I ordered some from Amazon. Not going to make mushy peas this time, but I've started my research.

Anyway, thanks for giving me the idea of checking locally.

 

[zwiller]

Glad you found them (and then some)!

Pork stock addition sound yummy but it is being used to flavor the rusk/filler. Bangers were made popular in war time when meat was in short supply. I think the recipe posted is a gourmet spin on them and real bangers have MUCH more rusk. Doubt the casing would even "bang" open if the rusk content is like 2-5%. I seem to recall reading traditionally they used like 20-30%. BTW if you don't know already, what REALLY makes bangers and mash is the onion gravy. (my bad posting on a non refreshed page LOL)

 

[chopsaw]

The Len Poli is only a 2.5% rusk

He's a great source for stuff like this , just looking at how much he uses and asking urself why . There are a number of things he adds in lesser amounts than what some say is " normal " . I follow his thinking and it improved the end results . Anything more than enough is to much .

 

[Fueling Around]

He's a great source for stuff like this , just looking at how much he uses and asking urself why . There are a number of things he adds in lesser amounts than what some say is " normal " . I follow his thinking and it improved the end results . Anything more than enough is to much .

True enough.
It isn't difficult to improve on many world cuisines from A to Z to match my or your own tastes. Mushy peas will never pass my lips again.
OP wanted authentic. As Sam pointed out they really filled the sausage with non meat.
Ugh, it was the beginning of the impossible trend of today?

 

[Dave in AZ]

For anyone in the Phoenix area, it's worth the drive

Wait, whaaat? Googling now!
Doh... 75 miles away, 150 miles roundtrip!
Phoenix is a wiiide city!

 

[Dave in AZ]

I used to get bangers all the time at the pubs when I lived in England, it was my go-to meal. When I tried recipes here, with like 2 to 5% rusk, they all seemed too meaty to me, not bready enough to match what I remember. So I've made them with 10% rusk, or toast-baked bread crumbs, and that about matches what I think of as Bangers.

Now it may well be that I was just eating cheap bready bangers that weren't high quality... but in my memory, that is what makes a proper banger. There's nothing really special about their flavor, pretty mild sausage, IMO they are mostly defined by being the most bread filler of any other sausage I've had. I love them that way, so I don't necessarily think reducing rusk content to achieve quality is the way to go, with bangers.

 

[DougE]

There's nothing really special about their flavor, pretty mild sausage, IMO they are mostly defined by being the most bread filler of any other sausage I've had.

The Irish ones Aldi sells seasonally are pretty "bready". They're good, but no mistake that the rusk is in there.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

I used to get bangers all the time at the pubs when I lived in England, it was my go-to meal. When I tried recipes here, with like 2 to 5% rusk, they all seemed too meaty to me, not bready enough to match what I remember. So I've made them with 10% rusk, or toast-baked bread crumbs, and that about matches what I think of as Bangers.

Now it may well be that I was just eating cheap bready bangers that weren't high quality... but in my memory, that is what makes a proper banger. There's nothing really special about their flavor, pretty mild sausage, IMO they are mostly defined by being the most bread filler of any other sausage I've had. I love them that way, so I don't necessarily think reducing rusk content to achieve quality is the way to go, with bangers.

For me, the nutmeg really stood out. I freshly ground the nutmeg so I don't know if that was it. The first time I made them, I couldn't find pork broth, so I used water. The second time I used pork broth. The broth did make a difference(duh), but the nutmeg still stood out. I liked it though. They were awesome on some "mash" with the beef/onion gravy. I also used store bought breadcrumbs since I had them on hand. Is there a difference between actual rusk, and breadcrumbs?

 

[DougE]

Is there a difference between actual rusk, and breadcrumbs?

Scott Rea has a video on rusk on his youtube channel. I watched it, but it was awhile back. I think the real deal rusk is made with unleavened bread. I may be misremembering, but I believe that's what he said. (He's a British dude)

 

[Dave in AZ]

6GRILLZNTN , I agree on the nutmeg, that is definitely in there and nice.
Rusk is just a type of bread roll that is toasted, like an English muffin but tighter grain. And not as fluffy. Original Eggs Benedict is served on rusk. In England, they toast that to a light brown and grind it up to breadcrumbs. They sell it in stores as "rusk", and I'd say most non-bakers probably think of the ground crumbs when they hear the word. But there is nothing special about it, just a finer ground breadcrumb that has been toasted really. If you crushed up Melba Toast, or made super dry evenly browned toast in oven and crushed it, would be the same.

The key difference if you want to match it, is the toast flavor from maillard reaction, its the difference between oven dried bread still white, and nicely browned toast. You know the toast flavor I mean.

 

[DougE]

Scott Rea has a video on rusk on his youtube channel. I watched it, but it was awhile back. I think the real deal rusk is made with unleavened bread. I may be misremembering, but I believe that's what he said. (He's a British dude)

Not unleavened, but twice baked bread to make it hard as a rock lol.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

6GRILLZNTN , I agree on the nutmeg, that is definitely in there and nice.
Rusk is just a type of bread roll that is toasted, like an English muffin but tighter grain. And not as fluffy. Original Eggs Benedict is served on rusk. In England, they toast that to a light brown and grind it up to breadcrumbs. They sell it in stores as "rusk", and I'd say most non-bakers probably think of the ground crumbs when they hear the word. But there is nothing special about it, just a finer ground breadcrumb that has been toasted really. If you crushed up Melba Toast, or made super dry evenly browned toast in oven and crushed it, would be the same.

The key difference if you want to match it, is the toast flavor from maillard reaction, its the difference between oven dried bread still white, and nicely browned toast. You know the toast flavor I mean.

I appreciate the clarification on that.

 

[6GRILLZNTN]

Not unleavened, but twice baked bread to make it hard as a rock lol.

I may just stick with ordinary bread crumbs. Lol!

 

[FreshGround]

Scott Rea has a video on rusk on his youtube channel. I watched it, but it was awhile back. I think the real deal rusk is made with unleavened bread. I may be misremembering, but I believe that's what he said. (He's a British dude)

I remember reading that functionally rusk held 50% more water than breadcrumbs and that made a juicer sausage.

 

[zwiller]

Anything more than enough is to much .

SMF resident quality control analyst? LOL That's the beauty of the hobby, make it how you want it. I like geeking out and trying authentic and weird stuff.

Been down the banger/rusk rabbit hole a few times but have not made them yet. The rusk addition sound positive to me not negative. Rusk is known as other names and the one that blew me away and got me fired up about it was the german version, zwieback. Yep, like the old toothing biscuits... Man I loved those. Many rusk products on Amazon so not too hard to source. I think it would be important to mate the rusk and liquid addition. I would probably start at 50/50, so like 10% liquid, 10% rusk. As was said, bangers are well known to be mild compared to other sausages and this makes it a little harder to dial in as small mistakes like too much nutmeg will stick out a little more. I usually use half the spice amount of a posted recipe when using fresh ground spice and that has served me well.

 

[FreshGround]

Excellent
Report back after you try the products.

We had breakfast for dinner last night and cooked up the maple breakfast links. The casing had a nice snap and the texture was very clean. It had the nice sweetness you expect and unexpectedly (but not unwelcomely) had a nice bite of heat. As Nero Wolfe would say, "very satisfactory".

 

[FreshGround]

Just to close the book on this, I've now eaten everything we bought at The Pork Shop.

The bangers were delicious in my bangers and mash. They had a great texture and were very juicy - no breadiness but more tender and juicy than, e.g., their breakfast sausage. And I was amazed at the huge punch of umami that a large spoonful of Marmite gave to the onion (actually shallot) gravy. I think I will be adding some to any gravies, sauces, stews, and soups I make. An absolute revelation.

My one quibble, and it's really a matter of personal preference, was that the smoked Polish sausage was leaner than I prefer. I like a nice juicy sausage which requires more fat content. But flavor-wise it was very good.

We'll be heading back there to re-stock next Friday.

 

[tbern]

nice thread!

 

[zwiller]

And I was amazed at the huge punch of umami that a large spoonful of Marmite gave to the onion (actually shallot) gravy. I think I will be adding some to any gravies, sauces, stews, and soups I make. An absolute revelation.

Thanks for the follow up! Huge fan of umami boosting and Accent is pretty standard in my stuff but will have to try Marmite. Swear I posted this but guess not. Many brits use this instead of making it or use it to boost their own. It's killer.