(Sweet) Italian Sausage

[mr_whipple]

So.. I ground up a butt Monday and made Marianski's Sweet Italian recipe which is this: Per KG of ground meat

salt	18 g	3 tsp.
black pepper, coarse	2.0 g	1 tsp.
sugar	2.0 g	½ tsp.
fennel seed, cracked	3.0 g	2 tsp.
coriander	1.0 g	½ tsp.
caraway	1.0 g	½ tsp.
cold water	90 ml	3 oz fl

I made one very minor change only to Salt down to 1.5 % and added .2% MSG. I ended up being very underwhelmed with the flavor. Nice juicy sausage with a great texture and snap, but I have to wonder if I had old fennel seed, or are his spice levels in this particular recipe a bit on the low side?

So, has anyone made this baseline recipe, and if so would you care to comment on your experience?

Edit: After posting, I went looking at the basic 2 guys recipe for italian sausage, and it has fennel seed at 1.3% so I think I answered my own question.

 

[Makkara]

I use this basic recipe too. However, I triple the sugar ratio and double the fennel. It is still not "quite" what I'm looking for, but it is getting there. My next batch will include more fennel.

 

[chopsaw]

made Marianski's Sweet Italian recipe

It's the base I started with . I do the fennel by eye , and also add anise .
I weight the salt , but the rest is added until I like what I see , and smell . I make enough of this I know what it takes for my taste .
Sometimes I add pecorino and white wine .

 

[SmokinEdge]

I use 4-5g/Kg of fresh cracked fennel. You can also add 2g of anise seed which compliments the fennel well.

 

[mr_whipple]

I use this basic recipe too. However, I triple the sugar ratio and double the fennel. It is still not "quite" what I'm looking for, but it is getting there. My next batch will include more fennel.

Thanks!

It's the base I started with . I do the fennel by eye , and also add anise .
I weight the salt , but the rest is added until I like what I see , and smell . I make enough of this I know what it takes for my taste .
Sometimes I add pecorino and white wine .

I try to weigh everything so I can hit some repeatability. Does the Pecorino come across as salty? I love it but have never added it to sausage,

I use 4-5g/Kg of fresh cracked fennel. You can also add 2g of anise seed which compliments the fennel well.

That's a tad more than the original recipe. I think I'm going to try that and adding Anise to bring the total between the two up quite a bit percentage wise.

 

[zwiller]

I am slowly working on my formula but agree with the consensus, WAY more fennel/anise. That said, last italian experiment I did just by eye/smell and used WAY MORE of coriander and think I am onto something big there. Maybe one of you guys can confirm. For a sweet italian formula I would DEFINITELY be adding some vermouth (Cinzano/etc). Loved with it brought.

 

[chopsaw]

I try to weigh everything so I can hit some repeatability.

Right . After enough batches it becomes habit . Whatever works though .
If you compare his Italian bratwurst to his Italian sausage , he uses twice the amount of fennel in the " bratwurst " formula .

Does the Pecorino come across as salty?

No . Adding with a semi dry or sweet wine counters that .
I don't notice it without the wine , but I'm at a lower rate on the salt to start with .

Get the lean to fat , and salt percentage right , then the rest is flavors you like .
I also crack half of the fennel , and do half whole .

 

[SmokinEdge]

Here is one of the sweet Italian sausage recipes I use.
Per 1Kg ground pork

Salt) 1%
Fresh cracked BP) 2g
Fresh cracked fennel) 4g
Anise seed) 2g
Coriander) 1g
Fresh minced basil) 5g
White wine) 40ml
3 cheese Italian) 100g. (Blend of Asiago, pecorino Romano, and Parmesan
Gran garlic) 2g

 

[mr_whipple]

I am slowly working on my formula but agree with the consensus, WAY more fennel/anise. That said, last italian experiment I did just by eye/smell and used WAY MORE of coriander and think I am onto something big there. Maybe one of you guys can confirm. For a sweet italian formula I would DEFINITELY be adding some vermouth (Cinzano/etc). Loved with it brought.

Thanks. The only thing I use vermouth in are martinis, and very little at that. I like mine Winston Churchill dry.

Right . After enough batches it becomes habit . Whatever works though .
If you compare his Italian bratwurst to his Italian sausage , he uses twice the amount of fennel in the " bratwurst " formula .

No . Adding with a semi dry or sweet wine counters that .
I don't notice it without the wine , but I'm at a lower rate on the salt to start with .

Get the lean to fat , and salt percentage right , then the rest is flavors you like .
I also crack half of the fennel , and do half whole .

I did the fennel in a mortar pestle kinda rough. The cheese ideas have me thinking.

Here is one of the sweet Italian sausage recipes I use.
Per 1Kg ground pork

Salt) 1%
Fresh cracked BP) 2g
Fresh cracked fennel) 4g
Anise seed) 2g
Coriander) 1g
Fresh minced basil) 5g
White wine) 40ml
3 cheese Italian) 100g. (Blend of Asiago, pecorino Romano, and Parmesan
Gran garlic) 2g

Thanks. Is the 1% salt a product of the cheese? That and I wanted to add basil, but also wanted to try the original as made. My buddy loves basil so I might try this out and see.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks. The only thing I use vermouth in are martinis, and very little at that. I like mine Winston Churchill dry.



I did the fennel in a mortar pestle kinda rough. The cheese ideas have me thinking.


Thanks. Is the 1% salt a product of the cheese? That and I wanted to add basil, but also wanted to try the original as made. My buddy loves basil so I might try this out and see.

Yes, the lower salt allows for the cheese, it balances nice.

 

[chopsaw]

I did the fennel in a mortar pestle kinda rough.

Great way to do it .

The cheese ideas have me thinking.

That's good . Here's an old thread I did . This is a sausage makers mix , but It talks about the amount of cheese used for 10 lbs. I had 8 so that got reduced a bit .

Italian Herb and cheese sausage

Well I went out to get some eggs , they were out . So I came home with an 8 lb. pork butt and made some sausage . My son gave me a couple new mixes from The Sausage maker . One was Italian Herb and cheese . I do all my sausage over a couple days . Just easier that way . So I cut and ground...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

I wanted to add basil,

It's a good add . I have some Thai Basil that I grew . Dried out it taste just like anise .
I got spoiled with the aero gardens . Fresh herbs for the picking . Right off the kitchen .
I have them all shut down now .

Gets crazy .

 

[mr_whipple]

I'm gonna bookmark this thread. Thanks!

Mine came out so nice looking. I used large hog casing 32-38 and kinda shorted the links up to make them short and fat. Always time to get it right the second time

 

[zwiller]

Fresh minced basil) 5g

Now that's interesting. Have not seen basil in much of any italian formulas but admit I have not looked all over. Sounds fantastic. Great color too. Gonna try that.

 

[clifish]

For those that grind, what plate or plates do you use? I am thinking very course grind like 12mm, add in the spices and mix then regrind through a smaller plate? I will eliminate all fennel as I don't like it.

Initially I will be doing them in 1 lb batches, loose, not stuffed.

 

[mr_whipple]

The original marianski recipe calls for 10mm plate, but I think I used the 7.5mm I have for no particular reason. I did a single pass ,mixed in the seasoning and mixed by hand. Other than the flavor it was texture wise perfect to me, but that's subjective to say the least.

 

[clifish]

Do you use whole anise seeds or powdered?

 

[mr_whipple]

I used whole fennel seeds that I cracked, but no anise.

 

[chopsaw]

I will eliminate all fennel as I don't like it.

Do you use whole anise seeds or powdered?

What don't you like about the fennel , taste or texture ? I just ask because the taste is pretty close between the 2 .

I use anise whole and cracked . Anise seeds are pretty small .

 

[clifish]

What don't you like about the fennel , taste or texture ? I just ask because the taste is pretty close between the 2 .

I use anise whole and cracked . Anise seeds are pretty small .

Taste, I can tell when it is in a sausage mix and when I can, I always bought with out. I will probably eliminate the anise on the first run.

 

[okie sawbones]

I use 5 tsp. of fennel per kilo, add basil and oregano, and use no caraway.