Sausage Making

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KeithLBPI

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Jul 12, 2018
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About to make my 2nd batch of sausages. This time I am using a cure as recommended on here.

Having trouble finding a good seasoning for a hot Italian sausage and brat. Also will be doing breakfast sausage. What do you like?

I plan to primarily hot heat these Links.
 
No need to use cure If you are making fresh sausage. These sausages are stuffed & refrigerated or frozen until they are cooked. They must be cooked to a IT of 165 to be safe to eat. There are a bunch of sausage recipes on here. I’m sure you will get a lot of responses.
Al
 
I've made this one a couple of times . It's a good one . From another member .
 
No need to use cure If you are making fresh sausage. These sausages are stuffed & refrigerated or frozen until they are cooked. They must be cooked to a IT of 165 to be safe to eat. There are a bunch of sausage recipes on here. I’m sure you will get a lot of responses.
Al
Thanks AL. I don't comment much here, but I've been utilizing a lot of your stuff for years.

Would it be okay to still add it so I have the option to go low/slow? It's a wild pig I shot so also concerned on bacteria.
 
I've made this one a couple of times . It's a good one . From another member .
Looks great thank you!
 
About to make my 2nd batch of sausages. This time I am using a cure as recommended on here.

Having trouble finding a good seasoning for a hot Italian sausage and brat. Also will be doing breakfast sausage. What do you like?

I plan to primarily hot heat these Links.
Here is a link to my sausage recipe page with many of my go-to formulations. The Farm and Lukainka can be made in bulk, or preformed patties and frozen. Same with the Italian.

 
Here is a recipe...

 
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Thanks AL. I don't comment much here, but I've been utilizing a lot of your stuff for years.

Would it be okay to still add it so I have the option to go low/slow? It's a wild pig I shot so also concerned on bacteria.

Yes you can add 1 tsp of cure #1 per 5lbs of meat. It will change the flavor and color of the sausage, but not in a bad way. It will just be a bit hammy.
Al
 
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About to make my 2nd batch of sausages. This time I am using a cure as recommended on here.

Having trouble finding a good seasoning for a hot Italian sausage and brat. Also will be doing breakfast sausage. What do you like?

I plan to primarily hot heat these Links.

Hi there and welcome!

No matter if you get a store bought seasoning or you follow a recipe, ALWAYS be sure to do a "fry test" before you stuff or package the meat up.

Once you season the meat well, take a glob and form into a tiny little patty and fry it in a skillet on your stove.
If it's too salty or tastes horribly then you need to add more meat and adjust flavors and test again until you have nailed it (make notes of how much seasoning and meat you use so you have the correct proportions/recipe for the future).

If it is too bland, simply add more salt/seasoning and fry test again until it tastes good.
IMPORTANT: When do you stop adding salt if it's bland????
When you fry test it and you think "close but could use a little more salt"... that is the indicator to NOT add anymore salt :)

Now, the flavor will change some when you smoke or cook the meat and that is ok. Your fry test just lets you know if you are good on flavor/salt and not to tell you how it will develop more flavor in the end :)

Again, you must do this process for ALL store bought and/or recipes you are given because they are rarely accurate, or your tastes are different.

For Brats, Lem's Backwood Fresh Brat seasonings hands down destroys any of the millions of different brats i've tried in comparison. No competition.
What is also nice is that you can add your cure to it or just go with no-cure and you will be good to go either way.
My notes have this seasoning at 27.3grams per pound of sausage meat.
So there, the homework is done for you but still fry test it :)

Lem's Hot Italian is good as well but their Sweet Italian is amazing. I don't have measurements if you decide to use it AND you can always add red pepper to it to heat it up.

As for breakfast sausage, that is the simplest "do at home" and fine tune sausage. Basically Salt, Pepper, Garlic (a good amount), and Sage (plenty of it) will get you breakfast sausage. Just tune each ingredient from there till you get what you like from it.
You mix it up, fry test, and fine tune seasonings all day and on the spot until you nail the flavor you want.
Again write down your seasoning measurements and meat amounts.

Finally, the best way to measure your seasonings is by weight if you have a little scale that can measure down to 1gram.
If you go by volume (teaspons/tablespoons) the flavors can easily get out of whack as you go up/down in the amount of sausage you make.

For example, the LEM's seasoning by volume instructions is acceptable when doing 1-5 pounds. When you get 6+ pounds it starts getting too salty because of the inconsistent slop in the teaspoons and some measurements being more/less than others. Going by the weight (grams) with seasoning makes it consistent whether you are doing 1 pound or 100 pounds.

I hope all this info helps :)
 
Thank you all again for the recipes and advice. I used a few of the recipes on here for the hot Italian, tweaking and adding here and there. I did do the fry test and got it tasting wonderful.

The wife's very happy.
 

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Thank you all again for the recipes and advice. I used a few of the recipes on here for the hot Italian, tweaking and adding here and there. I did do the fry test and got it tasting wonderful.

The wife's very happy.
Looking good! Looks like you are well on your way!
 
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Thank you all again for the recipes and advice. I used a few of the recipes on here for the hot Italian, tweaking and adding here and there. I did do the fry test and got it tasting wonderful.

The wife's very happy.
What was the final recipe?
 
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They look very good, nice job!!
8lbs pork 2 lbs pork fat

3 tbsp sea salt
1tbsp and 1 tsp black pepper
2 tbsp cracked fennel seed
1.5tsp whole fennel
3tbsp minced garlic
2tbsp crushed red pepper
1tsp anise
0.5tsp caraway
1tsp ground coriander
1tsp oregano
2 tsp msg
1/2 cup ice cold red wine (I used a cabernet sauvignon)

I did cure the meat as well. Will let you know how it comes out after I fry some links up.
 
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Through the 1st pack on the pit boss tonight. Also made some squash fritters from the garden.

Turned out great for my 2nd ever batch. I think next time a bit spicier, maybe increase the hot pepper flakes. They also were slightly dry. More fat or red wine next time?

Regardless very happy.
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Those grilled up nice . They look great .
They also were slightly dry. More fat or red wine next time?
I always use pork butt . The lean to fat is about 80 / 20 .
Hard to say without a cut shot of the sausage or a better description of what you used for the pork .
 
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