When I think about all the yucky entrails (or worse) that go into the average sausage it rather turns me off from wanting to eat it. And yet, I sure love a good sausage on occasion. Does anyone make a sausage where all the meat ingredients are from decent cuts of meat (for example—I don’t know-- steak or something)?
I know that recent news reports have identified red meats as a possible contributor to various cancers, but aside from that, isn’t it somewhat healthy to eat certain fairly lean cuts of red meat–at least in moderation?
BTW-- I realize I could make the sausage myself, but I am interested in finding out if there is any such item commercially available.
An “All Named Meat” sausage would be awfully dry, I’d think. You really need the fat in there to juice it up. But most commercially available sausages from quality manufacturers should meet your needs. Try Farmer John for a start.
Of course, you hit on the one way to make sure…make your own. It isn’t hard.
Sitting under my Christmas tree is everything I need to make my own sausages except for the hog casings, which are en route from The Sausage Maker . I can purchase pork shoulders from Costco at around $1.39/pound. Pork shoulders have an excellent lean/fat ratio for sausage. I figure I can turn out sausages for around a third the price of those quality manufacturers.
My wife thinks it’s pretty ironic that I don’t like commercial sausages because I don’t like what’s in them, but have 230 feet of hog intestines coming by Fedex, but what can you say? I contain multitudes.
I made my own sausage with my trusty KitchenAid mixer attachments when I lived in Africa; easy to do, indeed. I have an ancillary question to the OP, though. What the heck are synthetic casings made from, and how can they be edible?
In some areas, I think it is still possible to buy a whole pig from a Farmer and pay a processor/butcher to make whole hog sausage, that is, the entire pig is processed for sausage from the loin to the bacon to the hams. I’m sure they could process it into various types of sausage as well, a little breakfast, a little kielbasa, a little Italian, Some Brats, etc.
I think that’s the best sausage.
OHHHHYEA! From the Loin to the Bacon to the Hams, and ya don’t stop! From the Loin to the Bacon to the Hams, and you don’t stop… Throw your hands in the air, like you just don’t care! (Piggy rap…sorry, couldn’t help myself.)
Regarding sausage, someone (it may have been Sinclair Lewis, but it may not have been him either) said that you don’t want to see sausage of law being made. Having lived in Germany, where the next-door neighbor was the village butcher and meat market, and in rural Ohio and Iowa and Virginia where meat was slaughtered and cut locally in a locker plant, I can tell you that the best sausage is made of all the pig’s left over pieces. If its not ham or shoulder or ribs or loin or chops then its sausage.
There was a reason sausage was the fest food of the humble. It was relatively inexpensive. When your day to day diet is potatoes and a grain and water gruel, a bit of sausage on a pile of pickled cabbage is a treat. Properly seasoned it is a delight. The harvest feast in Germany and in the far northeast of France is marked by the arrival of the new sauerkraut served with various non-prime parts of the pig and traditional sausages. Even the fancy restaurants in Strasbourg almost make a fetish out of it.
Take my word for it, stick with the traditional, old fashion sausage made from mystery meat.
It is noted that it is the butcher’s apprentice (or the last hire at the locker) who gets to invert and clean the pig’s large intestine for sausage casings. This is not because the job requires no skill.
Small sausage makers will answer your questions. The local one here is an old school German deli where they make different varieties, and a couple are just the good cuts. But he only sells them in his own deli, says that way he is under restaurant rules, not manufacturer rules. He doesn’t have to go through labeling red tape to sell to supermarkets, where they would cut out his profit margin anyway.
Two feet of medium casings will hold around 1 pound of sausage, so figure 115 pounds. I usually stick to making Italian, chorizo, breakfast and garlic sausages. I’ve been making them loose, but plan to start making link sausages next year.
Meh, I’ve had the trimming sausages and whole hog. I prefer a whole hog, fresh, garlicky, pepper, Polish Kielbasa. I like the meatieness and texture better. Similarly, I’ve had real German Bratwurst from the local Butcher in Germany and they are nothing at all like these jelly white, amorphous, masses that pass for Brats in the US. They are made from quality cuts, not trimmings.
There’s a lot of recipes for breakfast sausage. It’s the loose kind you can buy rolled in a tube or sold as patties. The characteristic seasoning is sage. Mine uses sage, coriander, black and cayenne pepper, a dab of nutmeg, and salt. If you’re serious about making sausage I can heartily recommend a book called *Bruce Aidell’s Complete Sausage Book. *