The Great Fresh Itailan Sausage Search

[smoothsmoker]

OK, I just got a new meat grinder and have been itchin' to do something with it! I have my wife's and my family coming over for Christmas. We're going to serve a simple sausage Lasagna for dinner. My wife doesn't like anything hot much less hot Italian sausage so I needed to find a good recipe, not to hot but with a nice flavor. I searched the smoking-meat forum and came up with 4 possibilities. The recipes I chose were from Scott AKA Alelover, Lynn AKA Johnny Walker, Debi AKA Dee Jay Debi and Martin AKA Digging Dog Farm.

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

 I had a 9 lb Pork shoulder. So after removing the bone it left me with about 8 lbs of meat.

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

Here are the different recipe mixes and who they're from

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

 I used my new grinder - it worked great!

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

I mixed 2 lbs each of the different recipes

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

I let them sit overnight in the fridge. Before the big Bears game Sunday I fried a patty of each and let everyone "sample" them to help me decide which had the best flavor. The winner will be used in the lasagna for Christmas!

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

I had my wonderful Granddaughter "Goosie" helping me decide!

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• smoothsmoker
• Dec 18, 2012

And the winner is........... Recipe #1 from Alelover AKA Scott.

Thanks for looking!

 

[dschoemaker]

You mean the extremely disappointing Bears game on Sunday :P

I live a bit north of you, and was screaming my head off at the Bears offense all afternoon.

All the sausage looked good, what was it that made #1 the winner?

Dave

 

[thoseguys26]

Cool experiment. Can you tell us about the major differences between them?

 

[smoothsmoker]

Yes Dave, the Bears did Suck! Every year it seems I get so excited in the beginning of the season only to be let down once again ;(

First of all I must say that all the recipes were very good, I would make any of these again in a heartbeat. The winner #1 had a great fennel and pepper taste to it. The second #2 was very close but I think that the anise and Sage threw it off a little. #3 was a little too sweet and you could definitely taste wine. #4 definitely had the anise taste which none of the resident "experts" cared for. But like I said each one was very good in it's own right.

Tom
 

 

[boykjo]

I have made Scott's Italian several times.......I took some of them to Winston Salem to one of Joel's (solaryellow) caterings and we smoked them for us on the side and they were gone in no time
 

 

[danbono]

Hi Where can I find the recipe for sausage #1?

Thanks Dan

 

[smoothsmoker]

Hi Where can I find the recipe for sausage #1?

Thanks Dan

Hi Dan, here's a link to it:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/115399/fresh-italian-sausage-with-pix

 

[bluebombersfan]

Awesome !  Thanks for posting your results!