Cut of Pork for Sausage?

[sandyut]

Hi all,

I know pork butt/shoulder is the usual cut in recipes.  My only gripe is it takes a while to break one down and I have a hard time getting an even poundage.  Last time I broke one down I ended up at less than 5LBs and had to make a quick run to the butcher where I made up the difference with country style boneless rubs which worked great.  Note: I usually go light on the fat content of my sausages (less than the routine recipe amounts).

So - I am a thinking I will just use 5 lbs of the country style boneless ribs this time and save the time and effort.  They seem to have plenty of fat.

Do you see any issue with doing this? 

 

[SmokinAl]

Country style ribs are just strips cut from a pork butt.

So they would work just fine.

Might be a little more expensive than buying a butt.

I usually buy a boneless butt about 5 lb. for a 5 lb. batch of sausage.

There really isn't any waste, so it works out perfectly.

Al

 

[sandyut]

AH! perfect!  many thanks.  It's a lazy more expensive way to go.  Good to know they are basically the same cut tho.  very helpful.

 

[steiny]

Scale your recipe to the amount of meat you end up with. Recipes by weight and metric make it really easy.

 

[dward51]

I usually buy them in double cryo-vac packages at Sam's Club.  If I'm just making a 5lb batch, I can cut the remainder into 1"x1" by however long strips and vacuum pack & freeze them for use the next time (or in 5lb batches if I have more than 5lb left over).  The odd lot gets weighed and made into something at some point. The reason I cut strips like that is they are trimmed and ready to feed into the grinder without any additional work once thawed.  I buy in bulk when they run sales and try to keep some frozen and ready for use between the sales.  When I see $0.99 and $1.29 a pound butts, I load up.  I checked today and they are running $1.68 which is about average for my area.

I also generally have my favorite recipes broken down to the 1lb level so I can make a 3lb or 7lb (or whatever) if needed.  You only have to do it once, and if you set them up in excel at the 1lb level, it will auto calculate what you need for spices for even a 7.3lb batch (works best with the spices converted to weights in grams).

 

[cal1956]

a good digital scale will solve your problem as they can measure in 1/100 oz increments if needed ( even grams )

with a good scale  and a wee bit of math you will soon stop worrying about getting even number of lbs of meat

the calculations are easy once you get used to doing them 

 

[poco tejas]

I know your post is not brand new but I might be able to help. I've been a sausage maker for over twenty years and still learning new ideas. As to the type cut to use, pork butt is best. If you have a Sam's near you, that's the place to get your meat. Butts come in a two-pack and weigh about 18-25 or so pounds.

Use a digital scale to mix your seasoning and make a large batch. I generally make enough seasoning for 50#. It will keep for months. Weigh the batch, when finished then divide by the size of the batch. Example: seasoning for my 50# of breakfast sausage weighs 26 oz. 26 divided by 50 equals .52 oz. Now you don't have to have exact weights, you to use .52 oz per pound of meat. The other advantage of using a scale is that every batch of sausage tastes just like the last batch.

I do the same for smoked sausage, of which I make a lot. I've done 50# of smoke venison in the last month and still have another 50# to do. I have a few tricks for that. If you steal from a few, that's plagerism. If you steal from many, it's research. I'm a great researcher.

 

[sandyut]

hey poco tejas, that is a good point.  I am newer to making sausages and still trying to keep it simple while I dial in my recipes and processes.  Its getting much easier with each batch.  I will check Costco for the larger packs of pork butt.  I may need to keep the batches smaller due to freezer space too :(.  

 

[crazymoon]

SY, if you like lean sausage, try a pork backstrap/loin sometime. They are usually on sale for less than $2 a # and no bone. I have made sausage many times with these and they are quite lean but hold together for patties etc. Just DON"T overcook them!