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Homemade Italian Sausage

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Boilermaker View Drop Down
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    Posted: 11 December 2010 at 17:45
Well, Mrs. Andy took the kiddies to look for the Christmas tree so I figured now was a good time to begin my Italian sausage project.

So.........

I popped the cap on a beer, a Tupper's Keller Pils from St. George's Brewing Company of Hampton, Virginia.....



Popped Creedence Clearwater Revival's Greatest Hits into the kitchen stereo, cranked up the CCR, and got started.  Nothing like them John Fogerty vocals to get things cooking.Clap



Here's the goods....



I started with a 9 pound pork shoulder which I trimmed real well and cut into cubes.  I ended up with about 4 1/2 lbs of trimmed shoulder.  I didn't get any pics of the de-boning and trimming as I was alone and covered in pork juice and didn't have anyone to take pics but it's not rocket science, just cut the meat off the bone and trim it of gristle and excess fat and cut into cubes.  With sausages you are shooting for about a 15% to 20% fat content, you can kind of guesstimate as you do the trimming.  Too much fat and they will be greasy and too little they will be dry.  In general though, you are better off with too much rather than too little, don't ask me how I know that.Wink

I reviewed a bunch of different recipes and settled on this one that Hoser provided me in an earlier thread which I scaled down and made a couple of changes to:

http://foodsoftheworld.activeboards.net/italian-sausage_topic974.html

Here is what I ended up with for seasoning.

1 t salt
2 t garlic salt
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
4 t paprika
4 T extra virgin olive oil
1 t anise seed
1 t fennel seed
1/2 t red pepper flakes

My plan at first was to mix in some Dave's Dragon Dust that Rivet sent me but since Mrs. Andy and the kiddies complain about the pepper in regular store-bought Italian sausage, with the exception of the 9 year old who is a chilihead like his dad, he even keeps a bottle of Tabasco nearby when he eats, I used just a bit of regular red pepper.  

I put the anise seed, fennel seed, and red pepper flakes into a spice
grinder and whirred them up just enough to break the seeds up a bit and
release their goodness.  I didn't grind the pork but left it in cubes, mixed it with the spices and then drizzled it with the olive oil, mixing it all up well.  My plan is to let it marinate overnight and then grind it tomorrow. 



I covered the bowl with Saran warp and left the meat to marinate for 24 hours in the refrigerator before grinding it.  Took it out of the fridge this evening and it smells wonderful.



I'm going to stuff part of it into casings.  I get these natural pork casings from Bass Pro Shops, they come packed in salt so must be soaked in warm water for a half an hour or so and then rinsed before they can be used so I will put a couple of them on to soak while I grind the meat.



Here is the KitchenAid mixer set up with the grinding attachment and the start of the grinding.  If you don't have a KitchenAid mixer you should seriously consider getting one, it is one of the most useful tools you will ever buy and they are bullet-proof, mine is going on 20 years of constant hard use and just keeps chugging along.  These are a quality piece of American-made machinery.



Yes, both the bowl and the process are messy and unappetizing but please keep in mind Bismarck's astute observation that those who like laws and sausages should see neither being made.Wink



Here is the ground sausage.



Now it is time to stuff the casings so I have put the stuffing tube on the grinder, lubricated it with shortening, and placed a casing over it.  Notice I have tied off the end of the casing and also don't forget to prick a small hole in the casing to allow the air which is trapped in the grinder to escape, otherwise it will blow up like a little balloon, again, don't ask me how I know this.



The beginning of the stuffing, not too bad once you get the hang of it.  I just make them the length I want then twist the casing, when I get to the end of the casing I tie it off.



I didn't stuff all the sausage, I left about a pound of it for spaghetti
with sausage marinara sauce that I will make later this week and create
a tutorial for.

Here's the finished sausages.  Notice the difference in appearance of the two casings and their respective sausages, this is due to the fact that these are natural casings and are from two different piggies, intestines are like snowflakes, no two are alike.



These will be good grilled, smoked, fried, in sandwiches, on pizza, etc.

Next time we'll make either bratwursts or keilbasa.

Cheers!
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Melissa Mead View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Melissa Mead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 December 2010 at 18:02
Mm, sausage!
Is it possible to make sausage like this without salt?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boilermaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 December 2010 at 18:07
Originally posted by Melissa Mead Melissa Mead wrote:

Mm, sausage!
Is it possible to make sausage like this without salt?


Absolutely.  Salt is by no means a requirement and if you like simply omit it, I doubt anyone would ever miss it.  Also, I would substitute garlic powder for the garlic salt.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Melissa Mead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 December 2010 at 18:41
Originally posted by Boilermaker Boilermaker wrote:

Originally posted by Melissa Mead Melissa Mead wrote:

Mm, sausage!
Is it possible to make sausage like this without salt?


Absolutely.  Salt is by no means a requirement and if you like simply omit it, I doubt anyone would ever miss it.  Also, I would substitute garlic powder for the garlic salt.


Thank you! I've really missed sausage.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boilermaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 December 2010 at 18:57
Originally posted by Melissa Mead Melissa Mead wrote:

Originally posted by Boilermaker Boilermaker wrote:

Originally posted by Melissa Mead Melissa Mead wrote:

Mm, sausage!
Is it possible to make sausage like this without salt?


Absolutely.  Salt is by no means a requirement and if you like simply omit it, I doubt anyone would ever miss it.  Also, I would substitute garlic powder for the garlic salt.


Thank you! I've really missed sausage.


I'll get some pics put up to go along with this.  You should try your hand at making your own sausage, Melissa!  It's fun and if you don't want to go to the trouble of trimming your own bone-in meats you can always just buy ground pork and beef (lean chuck or round) at the market and mix in your own spices, no need to even stuff it into casings if you don't want to, especially Italian sausage since it usually ends up being removed from the casing anyway so it can be incorporated into Italian recipes.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 December 2010 at 03:42
Outstanding sausage Andy...and even more outstanding choice of music! Thumbs Up
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Guests Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 December 2010 at 07:48
This is a wonderful post Andy, definitely some good pictures and tutorial. I thought your marinating pork chunks and ground was beautiful, such a nice appetizing color. Also, nice to see your Kitchen-Aid at work! That sure is one pretty tool. Congratulations on such nice sausages at the end, too. Now I got to see the cooking and eating part!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boilermaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 December 2010 at 19:08
Originally posted by Hoser Hoser wrote:

Outstanding sausage Andy...and even more outstanding choice of music! Thumbs Up


If there's ever been a better American band I don't know who they are,  CCR spoke a lot of truth, they're as relevant today as they have ever been, maybe more so.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 December 2010 at 20:41
very nice, andy! this one is a true winner and you sir have made us a wonderful signature post for the italian forum! congratulations!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 04 March 2011 at 16:21

hey, andy - i keep wanting to try this as it really looks great. a couple of questions:

just to confirm, those measurements (except the olive oil) are TEASPOONS, not TABLESPOONS, right?
 
i know you said that you got about 4.5 lbs from the pork shoulder; would you guess that your measurements above would work for an even 5 lbs. of pork, or should a person put an extra pinch of everything into the mix?
 
anything different that you would add or take away?
 
let me know because i would like to give this a go. i have one of those "jerky guns" with a sausage horn on it for breakfast-link-sized sausages and i think this would be perfect for doing sausages with a marinara similar to something i had in a really nice bistro once.
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Boilermaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 March 2012 at 17:20
Ron,

Just saw your post a year later, sorry.

The capital Ts are tablespoons and the lowercase ts are teaspoons.  I think the seasonings would work just fine for 5 pounds of meat.  I would also double the amount of anise and fennel seeds as there flavor doesn't come through as much as i would like with only a teaspoon of each.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 March 2012 at 17:34
hey, andy - yep, i got it figured out. i use this a lot for meatballs, the only difference is that they are all beef rather than pork (wife's preference).
 
great stuff!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2012 at 09:16
just wanted to bring this up again as it makes a great recipe for meatballs. I made some again over the past weekend and was suitably impressed.
 
because of mrs. tas's preferences, i normally make these from all-beef; however, i would really like to try 50% beef/50% pork sometime. this time around, I made them with 3 pounds of ground meat; 2 pounds were elk and the 3rd pound was beef. also, i use granulated garlic rather than garlic salt, and double the black pepper in lieu of crushed red peppers (i love crushed red peppers, but mrs. tas cannot eat anything with them). finally, i sometimes, depending on mood or intended usage, add a little basil and/or oregano.
 
these turned out very good, and the addition of olive oil (as per the recipe) ensured that the meatballs would not be dry at all.
 
some notes about using this recipe for meatballs:
 
the measurements above, although written for about 4.5 pounds of meat, also work very well for 3 pounds of meat; for 2 pounds of meat, it would probably be good to cut the recipe in half.
 
for each pound of meat, i add 1 egg and about 1/4 cup bread crumbs and 1/4 cup of a grated parmesan/romano/asiago blend.
 
rather than frying the meatballs, i bake them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. when removing the meatballs from the baking sheet, there is a lot of leftover fat behind, as well as some very nice savory "drippings" which are probably a result of some of the cheese melting out. i discard the fat, but keep all the the drippings, adding them with the meatballs to the sauce to simmer for a while.
 
simmering the meatballs in the sauce allows them to absorb the sauce, so that they are very tender and flavourful - perfect for topping pasta or gnocchi - and outstanding for sandwiches on toasted rolls!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2012 at 09:37
Boilmaker,
 
Fabulous post and contribution to FOTW. Thanks so much for posting and what an informative pictorial.
 
These would be absolutely marvelous, for the Spanish Hornazo de Salamanca Pastry / Empanada that I posted too.
 
Of course, they would be phenomenal for your Tomato Sauce too !
 
Thanks again, and Happy Thanksgiving.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Feather Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 November 2012 at 16:50
Loved the pictures of the sausage in the casings. Excellent. It makes me hungry. 
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