General information and suggestions on making sausages. Sources for sausage making supplies.
NOTE: See also the files: haggis-msg, meat-smoked-msg, butchering-msg, pig-to-sausag-art, sausages-msg, chopped-meat-msg, meat-pies-msg, meat-stuffed-msg.
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NOTICE -
This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.
This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org
I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.
The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.
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Thank you,
Mark S. Harris AKA: THLord Stefan li Rous
Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Thu, 16 Oct 1997 00:08:54 -0400
From: "Robert Newmyer" <rnewmyer at epix.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Ready to smoke!
Sorry no recipes but I have found a good source for smoking and
sausage-making supplies:
The Sausagemaker
1500 Clinton Street, Bldg. 123
Buffalo, NY 14206
Phone: 716-824-6510
Also this site sells smoking chips, sounds very interesting.
Woodbridge and Vintage Barrel Chips - made exclusively from recycled 100%
American French Oak wine barrels, which for years have been used in the
aging of fine wines.
http://www.woodbridgechips.com/
Griffith Allt y Genlli
Bob Newmyer
rnewmyer at epix.net
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 10:31:35 -0500
From: maddie teller-kook <meadhbh at io.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
Melissa Martines wrote:
> Second, I have the recipe for the sausage, I have a smoker lined up, I
> have even ascertained that the Kroger butcher will give me intestines
> for casing (althought THAT caused a few lifted eyebrow :) ). What I'm
> not sure about is how to actually squeeze the ground meat product into
> the intestines. A pastry tube perhaps? Any other suggestions?
You can purchase a 'sausage stuffer'. It looks like a funnel with a wide tip
(well, as wide as you want the sausage to be). You put the casing on the tip...
pushing it on until you have about an inch or so.. .tie a knot. You can then add
the ground sausage meat thru the funnel pushing with a dowel... as each ''link''
gets to the size you want... twist it to form the end of the link, then start
pushing more meat through. OR, if you have a Kitchen-Aid with the food grinder
attachment, there is a sausage stuffer attachment that fits into the grinder
..... it is much faster!!!Good Luck!
Meadhbh
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 11:44:59 -0400
From: waks at world.std.com (Jane Waks)
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
>Melissa Martines wrote:
>> not sure about is how to actually squeeze the ground meat product into
>> the intestines. A pastry tube perhaps? Any other suggestions?
>
>You can purchase a 'sausage stuffer'. It looks like a funnel with a wide tip
>(well, as wide as you want the sausage to be). You put the casing on the tip...
Or you can cut the top off a plastic 1 or 2 liter soda bottle and
make your own wide-necked funnel. Then fit the sausage casing
over the neck of the bottle.
(idea courtesy Lady Arianwen ferch Gawaine, who needed half a dozen
such funnels at once for a pre-event sausage-making party)
Caitlin Davies
Carolingia, EK
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 11:39:57 -0500
From: a14h at zebra.net (William Seibert)
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
El-cheapo sausage stuffer: get one of those plastic bag type cake decorating things from the grocery store, bore out one of the tips, then pull the casing over the tip. Fill the bag with the sausage and squeeze like hell. More work than the mechanical ones, but a lot cheaper.
WAJDI
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 10:19:21 -0700
From: "needlwitch at msn.com" <needlewitch at email.msn.com>
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
>Second, I have the recipe for the sausage, I have a smoker lined up, I
>have even ascertained that the Kroger butcher will give me intestines
>for casing (althought THAT caused a few lifted eyebrow :) ). What I'm
>not sure about is how to actually squeeze the ground meat product into
>the intestines. A pastry tube perhaps? Any other suggestions?
One other thing to remember is that when you work with real intestines, you
want to wash them thouroghly, and keep them moist. Also, they tear much
easier, so they are much more prone to blowouts.
Thorbjorn the Cook
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 14:37:24 -0400
From: Jeff Botkins <jbotkins at ime.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
needlwitch at msn.com wrote:
> One other thing to remember is that when you work with real intestines, you
> want to wash them thouroghly, and keep them moist. Also, they tear much
> easier, so they are much more prone to blowouts.
> Thorbjorn the Cook
What works well is to make sure you soak your casings in warm water with
some salt in it for a bit before you start stuffing....
Also, you should seperate and unknot your casings well ahead of time to
avoid frustration...
After you do that, it's helpful to run water through them to sort of
make sure the kinks and such are worked out...you can do this with your
faucet running at just a trickle (use warm water)...
Jeff
(the former meatcutter/sausagemaker)
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 14:00:38 -0500
From: a14h at zebra.net (William Seibert)
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
Jeff Botkins wrote:
> After you do that, it's helpful to run water through them to sort of
> make sure the kinks and such are worked out...you can do this with your
> faucet running at just a trickle (use warm water)...
Running water thru the skins will also show you where the pinholes are, before
you waste time stuffing them.
WAJDI
Date: Fri, 18 Sep 1998 16:05:16 -0400
From: Jeff Botkins <jbotkins at ime.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
William Seibert wrote:
> Running water thru the skins will also show you where the pinholes are, before
> you waste time stuffing them.
> WAJDI
You Betcha !!
Tho, it doesn't necessarily mean you have to ditch the whole casing,
just cut it off where the tear is...
You might end up with some shorter ones, but if you're going to link
it, it shouldn't be a prob...
Jeff
(who just loves all this talk about sausage-making !)
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 15:10:18 EDT
From: Mordonna22 at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
mmartines at brighthorizons.com writes:
> Second, I have the recipe for the sausage, I have a smoker lined up, I
> have even ascertained that the Kroger butcher will give me intestines
> for casing (althought THAT caused a few lifted eyebrow :) ).
hmmm, a better idea is commercially packaged goat or sheep intestines. We
used to get ours from the general store under the Morton's brand (yes, the
salt people). These are sold in salt in plastic tubs. Salting toughens them,
so they are FAR easier to work with than fresh hog guts. And they are of a
size more readily recognizable as "sausage" and more homogenous. Hog guts are
so easy to tear that they seldom survive the cleaning process without holes.
And the guts from one hog can vary in diameter from 1 inch to eight or more.
We did occasionally use hog guts to stuff the pudding meats, but never for
sausage.
Mordonna
Date: Sat, 19 Sep 1998 16:05:21 -0400
From: Jeff Botkins <jbotkins at ime.net>
Subject: Sausage casings was Re: SC - Food Preservation
From the perspective of someone who used to be in the sausage-making business:
Hog casings are the general rule with most sausages the size of kielbasa and
bratwurst....
Sheep casings are generally used for viennas/hot dogs, that sort of thing.....
Beef bungs are used for big bolognas and such.....
Your summer sausages and cooked salamis generally use a collagen or synthetic
casing.....
In many places, you can buy hog casings in a form commonly referred to as "cup
casings"...these are more or less odds and ends pieces and they are packed in
salt...
Your butcher will generally buy his hog casings fresh packed in salt by the
"hank:...
A hank is about 3 pounds or so and the amount of sausage you can make varies with the diameter..
You have 4 general sizes of hog casings:
29-32 mm -- used for franks, or link breakfast sausage (country sausage)--makes
90-100 lbs.
32-35 mm -- used for some bratwurst, bockwurst and italian sausage--makes up to
115 lbs.
35-38 mm -- used for some knockwurst, kielbasa (polish sausage), etc.--makes
about 125 lbs.
38-42 mm -- largest available (diameter is 1 1/2 - 2"), used for bigger
kielbasa, some summer sausage, liverwurst and ring bologna.-- makes up to
140 lbs.
Sheep casings generally come in 2 sizes:
22-24 mm -- used for pork link sausage--makes 50-60 lbs.
24-26 mm -- used for winers/hot dogs -- makes 60-70 lbs.
Beef bungs are used for big bologna, cooked salami, lebanon salami, etc. --are
approx 4 to 4 1/2" in diameter, and each casing holds 8 to10 lbs.
There's a ton more info I can come up with if anyone wants it, incl info on beef
and hog middles, synthetic casings, collagen casings, etc.
I pretty much get most of my sausage-making stuff mail order from a supplier in
Buffalo, NY (The Sausage Maker)...
I have the phone number and address for anyone who'd like it.....their prices are pretty reasonable.
They also sell a variety of grinders, slicers, stuffers, smokers and
spices....etc.
Jeff
Date: Tue, 22 Sep 1998 21:57:36 EDT
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Food Preservation
upsxdls at okway.okstate.edu writes:
<< Slide the casing over the tube end of the stuffer. Tie a knot in the
end of the casing. >>
For clarification purposes only> Push all of the casing over the end of the
stuffer. It will bunch up together. Pull a couple of inches off the tube
then tie the knot./ Push the extra casing back unto the tube until the knot is
firmly against the end of the sausage stuffer. Then proceed to push the
stuffing through the tube into the casing tying off with string or twisting
the filled casing in the lengths you desire. If you do not wish to make small
sausages by twisting or tying coil the sausage as it is filled, tying off the
other end when it is reached.
Ras
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 15:11:57 -0600
From: "Decker, Margaret" <margaret at Health.State.OK.US>
Subject: FW: SC - making sausages
Dottie Elliott wrote:
I have been learning to make various sausages (form period sources) and I
need a little advice. When I am stuffing them I twist the sausage skin
several times between each link and it holds for awhile. Yet while cooking,
some of the links untwist. It still tastes fine but doesn't look as nice. I
tried tieing each link with string until after it was cooked and that worked
but it takes a lot of string and time. Is there a trick to twisting the
links I don't know?
Clarissa
Try knotting the casing as you would thread instead of twisting.
Margarite
Date: Thu, 05 Nov 1998 09:09:25 +0000
From: Robyn Probert <robyn.probert at lawpoint.com.au>
Subject: Re: FW: SC - making sausages
>Clarissa wrote:
>I have been learning to make various sausages (form period sources) and I
>need a little advice. When I am stuffing them I twist the sausage skin
>several times between each link and it holds for awhile. Yet while cooking,
>some of the links untwist. It still tastes fine but doesn't look as nice. I
>tried tieing each link with string until after it was cooked and that worked
>but it takes a lot of string and time. Is there a trick to twisting the
>links I don't know?
Try tying several strings of sausages together (4 is common) every few links
Rowan
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 20:30:56 -0500
From: "Philippa Alderton" <phlip at bright.net>
Subject: Re: SC - making sausages
May I suggest that the trick is not in the twisting, but in the stuffing?
Most sausages when they cook, expand, and this expansion will push against
the twist, since the contents have to go somewhere, and out the casing
isn't first choice. Try stuffing less into the casing, and try pricking the
casing when cooking, so the hot juices may escape.
Phlip
Caer Frig
Barony of the Middle Marches
Middle Kingdom
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 08:07:53 EST
From: Mordonna22 at aol.com
Subject: Re: SC - Sausage
mmartines at brighthorizons.com writes:
> Well, I can't figure out how much fat to the meat should be used. For
> example, if I use 5 lbs. of pork, how much fat? Also, what KIND of fat?
Standard practice back home was 1 part lean meat to 1 part fat. Pork fat is
preferred for pork sausage.
Mordonna
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 09:51:00 -0500
From: "Kappler, MMC Richard A." <KAPPLERR at swos.navy.mil>
Subject: SC - sausage stuffing
Clarissa asked:Is there a trick to twisting the links I don't know?
Milady, are you using real or artificial casings? I myself use natural
casings (out of personal preference and so m'lord Ras will continue to
admit, on occasion, that he knows me ;-) and have never had a problem
with them untwisting provided everything was tight, tidy and WELL
washed. I do have a German friend in the Bay area though, who taught me
most of what I know of sausage making, who actually ties the skins in a
knot at the end of each link. Understand, this takes much practice and
more dexrterity, and I myself prefer the twist (lazy lil Pucker that I
am). Essentially what he does is, as he fills each link, he pulls the
casing off the filler tube a ways, and then quite deftly ties a knot by
feeding everything thru on itself. Not difficult to do, but very
difficult to do well in order to avoid air pocket and such. Hope this
helps.
Regards, Puck
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 19:13:15 -0600
From: "Debra Hense" <nickiandme at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: SC - making sausages
Are you aways twisting them all in the same direction? If so, you need
to reverse the twist each time, one link towards you, the next link twist away
from you. Or, a couple of twist to the right, then on the next link, a
couple of twists to the left.
Sorta like: |
-> twist
|
<- twist
|
-> twist
|
This should help prevent the untwisting while cooking.
Kateryn de Develyn
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 01:20:47 -0500
From: Philip & Susan Troy <troy at asan.com>
Subject: Re: SC - making sausages
Dottie Elliott wrote:
> I have been learning to make various sausages (form period sources) and I
> need a little advice. When I am stuffing them I twist the sausage skin
> several times between each link and it holds for awhile. Yet while
> cooking, some of the links untwist. It still tastes fine but doesn't
> look as nice. I tried tieing each link with string until after it was
> cooked and that worked but it takes a lot of string and time. Is there a
> trick to twisting the links I don't know?
Twisting the casings more than maybe two complete twists places a great
deal of stress on the casing. I'm coming into this discussion a bit
late, but I wanted to respond to some responses you've already received.
My own experience has been that it's best to twist the links in
alternating opposite directions, and tie them with a continuous length
of string, roughly 1 1/2 times as long as your string of sausage. Have
you ever examined the way a butcher ties up a roast, using one piece of
string? It's a lot like that. Use one end to tie the end of your
casings, even if you've knotted the casings. (Don't fill them too full,
but be sure there are no air bubbles, which are easier and better to
expel before sealing the ends than to prick the thing full of holes.
Sausages don't really expand when cooking, and hot dogs don't "plump
when you cook 'em", either! What happens is simply that the casing
shrinks rapidly, which, if it's not stuffed too tightly, is rarely a
problem, but a tight casing, especially one full of expanding air, which
becomes a problem a lot sooner than steam does; who cooks sausages to
212 degrees inside?)
Run your string along the first link, wrap it around the first twist and
under itself and out again, then along the second link, and so on until
you've got all the links tied off. The great advantage of using this
method is with things like liver sausages and black puddings: they often
won't support their own weight without help, and it is a source of
unending despair to have your black puds bust open not because you broke
the casings while poaching them, but because you weren't careful enough
lifting them out of the pot. With the string properly tied, you can lift
that string of links out of the pot by the string without straining the
casings too much.
Yes, it uses a lot of string. No, it's not that time consuming once you
get your fingers accustomed to the task. If using a lot of string is a
problem, make sure you use cheap, thin cotton twine, which is what
butchers use anyway.
Adamantius
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1998 07:16:58 -0600
From: kallie at zebra.net (Kathleen Ashcraft)
Subject: Re: SC - making sausages
Philip & Susan Troy wrote:
> My own experience has been that it's best to twist the links in
> alternating opposite directions, and tie them with a continuous length
> of string, roughly 1 1/2 times as long as your string of sausage. Have
> you ever examined the way a butcher ties up a roast, using one piece of
> string? It's a lot like that. Use one end to tie the end of your
> casings, even if you've knotted the casings.
An alternative to this, if you're using natural casing, is to take one of the
casings that end up with pinholes in it (and one will, rest assured), and trim
out about 6 to 8 inches to either side of the pinhole, then slice the casing
into thin strips and use these to tie between links. Works for me.
wajdi
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 10:21:48 -0500
From: "LHG, JRG" <liontamr at ptd.net>
Subject: SC - SC-Sausage/Powder Douce
>> Plastic coke bottles work wonderfully as disposable sausage
>> stuffers/funnels if anyone else out there is thinking of doing some
>> sausage stuffing.
>Thank you. This is a wonderful idea and much cheaper than the metal meat
>grinders/sausage stuffers I saw advertised. This sounds especially good
>for someone who would like to try sausage making but doesn't know if they
>want to do a lot of it.
>Stefan li Rous
Stefan, an even easier method is to use a plastic kitchen funnel. It is
devoid of the ridges that could get in the way of threading the casings
properly onto the stuffer tube. When you are talking 8mm casings, it's not
a risk I'd want to take.
BTW, Morgan, we *did* get the casings thoroughly wet before we stuffed
them, right? Rinsed them quite well inside and out, getting rid of salt, if
that's how they were packed?
And we also used meat that had been ground and held at the proper
temperatures (ie ground just at the freezing point, and mixed and used
immediately) so that we wouldn't need any of that nasty prague powder that
wards off bacterial infection (I hate medecine in my food)?
Aoife
Subject: Supplies
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1998 21:00:51 EST
From: Logo65 at aol.com
To: stefan at texas.net
I have bought supplies from the sausage maker, but now buy from a source out
of detroit. They have a catalog and a web site. Many of the
http://www.butcher-packer.com/bod.htm Butcher & Packer Supply Company
prices are half as much as of what the sausage maker wants. If
you do a seach on the web you can probably find a supplier close to you.
Eric
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1998 08:52:56 EST
From: LrdRas at aol.com
Subject: SC - Sausage Casings
stefan at texas.net writes:
<< But do they make plastic kitchen funnels with large openings? The ones I
remember seeing all have snouts only about the size of a finger or less
in diameter. Wouldn't this really slow down the sausage stuffing compared
to that of a 2-litter or 3-litter soda bottle, which are closer in size
to what I thought the sausage casing diameter is?
Stefan li Rous >>