I had a request this weekend to make a big batch of breakfast sausage. I still had a few packers of AC Leggs Old Plantation Seasonings around, plus a boneless 13lb pork butt from costco. One of things I wanted to do was make it so my sons could make 'em in a hurry (before heading out to school or work in the morn), - similar to the 'brown-n-serve' variety you find the supermarket freezer section. One way to do this was to 'pre-cook the sausage (links & patties) before packing them up in the fridge or freezer. That way, the boys could nuke'em or fry 'em up in a couple of minutes with no risk of undercooked pork.
Onward...
I have two sons who like the sage (not hot!) and one who, like me, loves a hot, spicy sausage. I made two batches - one is the basic link breakfast sausage (ACLeggs#115) and the other, Hot (ACLeggs#109) made into patties. got the pork butts well-chilled, sliced into chunks and ground (medium plate). Divided up the two loads and mixed the appropriate amount of spice for 6.5lbs for each. Each 9.0oz packet does 25lbs, so some simple math & my kitchen scale helped me keep the amounts consistent. I stuffed a chub with the 'hot' and put it into the freezer to harden before slicing.
After a couple of hours I pulled the chub & sliced it into patties.
STUFFING: I quick-soaked the sheep casings in warm water & vinegar while the chub chilled. Used my grinder stuffing attachment to stuff the links. Sort of a pain for a one-man operation. A couple of blow-outs happened (tender sheep casings!), but got a nice load of links.
I heated my turkey roaster full of water until it hit 165 degrees & plunked the load of links into the bath. After about 25 minutes, they hit the desired IT and I pulled them to cool.
I did the same thing with the patties. These took a bit longer, not sure why, but about 35 minutes later, they came out.
NOTE to SELF: Remove ALL casing before poaching. Some of the patties I left the outer ring of the clear casing on. This resulted in those patties 'bowing' out as the casing ring shrunk. So about half are nice flat patties & half are 'cupped' a bit. Oh well. They still taste great.
Got all put away in both freezer bags and a few in foodsaver. During this time, my son grabbed a few links & browned them up in the skillet in about 3-4 minutes. Got a thumbs-up review from him too.
— Kevin
Onward...
I have two sons who like the sage (not hot!) and one who, like me, loves a hot, spicy sausage. I made two batches - one is the basic link breakfast sausage (ACLeggs#115) and the other, Hot (ACLeggs#109) made into patties. got the pork butts well-chilled, sliced into chunks and ground (medium plate). Divided up the two loads and mixed the appropriate amount of spice for 6.5lbs for each. Each 9.0oz packet does 25lbs, so some simple math & my kitchen scale helped me keep the amounts consistent. I stuffed a chub with the 'hot' and put it into the freezer to harden before slicing.
After a couple of hours I pulled the chub & sliced it into patties.
STUFFING: I quick-soaked the sheep casings in warm water & vinegar while the chub chilled. Used my grinder stuffing attachment to stuff the links. Sort of a pain for a one-man operation. A couple of blow-outs happened (tender sheep casings!), but got a nice load of links.
I heated my turkey roaster full of water until it hit 165 degrees & plunked the load of links into the bath. After about 25 minutes, they hit the desired IT and I pulled them to cool.
I did the same thing with the patties. These took a bit longer, not sure why, but about 35 minutes later, they came out.
NOTE to SELF: Remove ALL casing before poaching. Some of the patties I left the outer ring of the clear casing on. This resulted in those patties 'bowing' out as the casing ring shrunk. So about half are nice flat patties & half are 'cupped' a bit. Oh well. They still taste great.
Got all put away in both freezer bags and a few in foodsaver. During this time, my son grabbed a few links & browned them up in the skillet in about 3-4 minutes. Got a thumbs-up review from him too.
— Kevin
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