Healthy eaters tend to avoid processed meat at all costs because they are filled with chemical preservatives. Consuming processed meat increases one’s cancer risk; therefore, it is better to make sausages at home. Homemade sausages can be as delicious as the store-bought ones minus the added preservatives and food coloring. Good sausages are all about the balance of salt and savory, meat and fat, spices and herbs. Continue reading this article for a recipe that is not time-consuming and easy to do.
Ingredients: Here’s a list of things you need to make the perfect sausage. The measurement is given for Six-pound sausages containing 20 to 25 links. Before you start grinding the meat, make sure they are extremely cold. Also, keep the pork fat in the freezer before putting it in the grinder. Cold meat and fat are easier to cut; therefore, they are suitable for making sausages.
- 5 pounds pork shoulder
- 1 pound pork fat
- 50 grams kosher salt
- 45 grams sugar
- 20 grams toasted fennel seeds
- 10 grams black pepper
- 5 grams ground nutmeg
- 1 cup minced fresh parsley
- Two heads of garlic, peeled and chopped
Special Equipment Needed: You will also need a meat grinder available in the market. You may select an electric grinder that runs on battery or electricity, or you can also go for a traditional hand churning grinder that gets the job done. Besides a grinder, you would also require casings to put your sausage in.
Method of Making Sausages: Once you get your ingredients ready, it is time to make the sausage itself.
First, take the cold meat and the frozen fat and cut them into chunks. To keep the meat and fat still cold, you may put them into the bowl set them into a larger bowl filled with ice.
Now mix the spices with the cut meat well. At times people do not have enough time to get all the different spices. They may use store-bought sausage seasonings that come in handy and are filled with authentic flavors.
Wrap the bowl with plastic and put it in the freezer for about 45 minutes for marination. During this time, immerse the casing in warm water to prepare it for later use.
Now take out your meat and start grinding the same. Instead of using a fine die on the first go, opt for a coarse grind. After leaving it for about 10 minutes in the freezer, put the ground meat back again in the grinder to make a fine consistency.
When you put the meat for the second time in the grinder, attach the casing to the machine. Carefully regulate the sausage inside the casing as you do not want it to slip down the tube.
Now that your sausages are done, take a toothpick and punch holes in them if you see air bubbles forming up on the casing. Spin the link between two fingers to give the sausages their proper size. Hang them on a wooden rack for a couple of hours, if possible, before storing them in the refrigerator.