Mastering the Craft of Making Sausage (31 page)

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1
⁄
2
lb. (225 g) of lean veal (beef, chicken thighs, or turkey thighs may be substituted).

SEASONINGS AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

2 tsp. (10 ml) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

1 tsp. (5 ml) white pepper

1 tsp. (5 ml) ground mustard—packed in the spoon

1 tsp. (5 ml) marjoram

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) garlic granules

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) sage—packed in the spoon

¹
⁄
2
cup (120 ml) finely powdered skim milk

¼ cup (60 ml) water

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) light corn syrup

2 eggs

MIXING AND STUFFING

1.   
Grind the meats together with a
-inch (4.8 mm) or smaller plate. Refrigerate the ground meat for about 30 minutes.

2.   
Mix the seasoning, powdered skim milk, eggs, corn syrup, and water together in a large mixing bowl. Refrigerate this seasoning mixture for about 15 minutes.

3. 
Add the chilled ground meat to the seasoning mixture, and knead until it is thoroughly mixed and uniform. This will require about three minutes. Chill this meat and seasoning mixture again while the sausage stuffer and hog casings are being prepared.

4. 
Stuff the sausage into the hog casings, and twist into 6-inch (15 cm) links. Refrigerate the links overnight to permit the seasoning to be absorbed by the meat. Cover the links with paper towels.

5. 
Sausages that will not be eaten within two days should be wrapped in plastic food wrap individually, placed in a plastic bag, and frozen.

6. 
If you wish to smoke the links, please see Chapter 7 for suggestions and directions. If you wish to omit smoking, please see the cooking suggestions in Chapter 6.

Deviled Ham

Recipes for homemade deviled ham appeared in homestead cookbooks in the 18th century. Making deviled ham was a way of using the scraps of ham left after a whole ham was carved. The scraps of ham were chopped or ground, mixed with seasoning and other ingredients, and spread on bread, biscuits, or crackers.

In 1822, an Englishman named William Underwood set up a small company that initially processed and sold mustard. Soon, other condiments packed in glass jars were added to the list of products. After 1836, Mr. Underwood’s company made a fortune selling various foods packed in tin plated cans. In about 1864, William Underwood’s sons developed the famous canned deviled ham by blending ground ham with special seasonings and canning it. They printed the now familiar trademark drawing of a red devil on the can label in 1870. Today, the same brand of canned deviled ham is still sold in grocery stores.

For me, and for many others of my generation, deviled ham sandwiches were regular fare in the lunch boxes we took to school. Deviled ham is nostalgia in a can. For some reason, kids love deviled ham sandwiches and deviled ham spread on crackers.

Making the deviled ham from ham scraps, as they did in the old days, is very easy, especially if a meat grinder is available. However, with just a little more effort, we can cure cubes of pork and change them into ham. These cubes of homemade ham provide the main ingredient required for deviled ham, and we need not wait until we have scraps of ham on hand.

The basic plan for making deviled ham from scratch is as follows:

Regular Boston butt (shoulder butt), or other pork that is commonly used to make sausage, will be cut into cubes and cured for five days. This pork should contain about 15 percent fat. At the end of five days, these cubes of fresh pork will have been changed to cubes of cured ham.

These cubes of cured ham will be rinsed, drained, and finely ground.

Seasoning will be added, and the deviled ham will be steamed or baked. It can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer for future use.

THE MEAT FOR 2
¹
⁄2 LBS. (1,150 G) OF HAM CUBES

Prepare 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of pork containing about 15 percent fat. Cut this pork into ¾-inch (2 cm) cubes. Refrigerate these cubes until they are well chilled.

CURING INGREDIENTS FOR 2½ LBS. (1,150 G) OF HAM CUBES

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) salt

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) brown sugar—packed in the spoon

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) onion granules

¹
⁄
2
tsp. (2.5 ml) garlic powder

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) white pepper

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) allspice

2 Tbsp. (30 ml) cold water to make a slurry

CURING THE HAM CUBES

1. 
Day 1:
Measure the cure ingredients into a plastic food container that is large enough to allow the cubes to be stirred easily. (The container should have a tight-fitting lid.) Add enough cold water to make a slurry. Place the pork cubes in the container and stir the cubes vigorously to ensure that all surfaces of each cube are coated with the seasoned cure. Push the cubes down in the curing container so that they are packed together tightly. Cover and refrigerate.

2. 
Days 2 and 3
: Each day, stir the cubes thoroughly at least one time in order to recoat each of the cubes with cure. Push the cubes down to re-pack tightly.

3. 
Day 4:
The curing is finished. Remove the cubes from the plastic container, place them in a colander, and spray with cold water thoroughly to remove all curing compound from the surfaces of the cubes. Drain well in the colander, and then place the cubes atop a paper towel with newspaper underneath. Refrigerate the cubes while they are on the paper. While the deviled ham seasoning is being prepared, chill the meat grinder.

DEVILED HAM SEASONINGS AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp. (30 ml) flour

1 tsp. (5 ml) Worcestershire sauce

1½ tsp. (7.5 ml) white pepper

¹
⁄
2
tsp. (2.5 ml) allspice

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) mustard powder

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) paprika

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) cayenne

¼ cup cold water

MIXING

1.   
Grind the cured ham cubes with the smallest plate available—the smaller the better. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

2.   
Measure the seasoning and other ingredients into a large stainless steel mixing bowl. Add cold water to make a slurry. Stir until the mixture is uniform. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes.

3. 
Add the chilled ground meat to the chilled seasoning mixture, and knead until it is well mixed and uniform. This will require about three minutes. Place the deviled ham paste in the freezer, and stir the meat every 10 minutes or so. The goal is to chill this sausage paste in the freezer until most of it is crunchy, but not frozen hard.

4. 
When the sausage mixture has become crunchy, grind it again with the smallest plate available. (This second grinding is optional. The second grinding will cause the particle size to become smaller.)

5.   
Place the deviled ham paste in a Pyrex, ceramic, or non-reactive baking dish, and cover with a lid or aluminum foil.

6.   
Steam at 212° F (100° C), or bake at 220° F (104° C) for 3 hours. Place the “loaf” on a wire grate to drain the rendered fat. Discard the fat. Let the loaf cool to almost room temperature. Divide the loaf into about four parts, wrap each part with plastic food wrap, place in a plastic bag, and freeze or refrigerate.

Deviled ham can be used as a sandwich spread, veggie dip, or as a topping for hors d’oeuvres. When time comes to use the deviled ham, thaw it in the refrigerator, add one or more of the following (or anything else that appeals to you), and blend the mixture by using a food processor. There are also numerous recipes on the Internet for using deviled ham.

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Mayonnaise

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Minced dill pickles

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Sweet pickle relish

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Minced onions or minced green onions

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Finely chopped celery

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Sour cream

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Chopped black olives

Duckwurst

A little over ten years ago, while living in Japan, a retired Japanese radio announcer who was a good friend of mine used to give freshly harvested wild duck to me, and I would cure it, smoke it, and share the smoked duck with him. Duck hunting was one of his hobbies. The cure that I used for the smoked duck was one that I developed especially for wild waterfowl.

This sausage formula is based on that cure for smoked wild duck. It makes a spicy and aromatic duck sausage, and it works well with either wild or domesticated duck or geese.

Duckwurst is clearly gourmet fare, and is best served in a way that suggests that it is on a higher level than a common sausage. For example, after stuffing, smoking, and cooking, I recommend removal of the hog casings before slicing. Thin slices that are not more than the diameter of a fifty-cent piece look very attractive on delicate, whole-grain crackers.

Save the duck carcass. At the end of the sausage recipe, “Duck Sausage,” in Chapter 8, there are simple instructions on how to use the carcass to make delicious duck soup.

THE CASINGS

If you wish to use small hog casing, rinse 7 feet (210 cm), and refrigerate it overnight in a little water. Rinse the casing again, and soak it in warm water for a few minutes before using.

THE MEAT

Domesticated ducks sold at grocery stores are commonly pumped with a salt solution before freezing. If such ducks are used to make sausage, the sausage will be too salty. Ducks that have not been pumped are available, but you might have to search for them.

Prepare 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of duck meat; the skin and fat should not exceed about 25 percent of the total meat. Cube the meat, and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. While the meat is being prepared, chill the meat grinder and stuffer.

Mince the meat with the smallest plate available. It would be best to mince the meat two times; mincing twice provides a finely textured sausage. Chill the meat between each grinding. After the grinding is finished, chill the meat for about 30 minutes.

SEASONINGS AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

2 tsp. (10 ml) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

1 tsp. (5 ml) poultry seasoning—packed in the spoon

1 tsp. (5 ml) onion granules

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) paprika

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) sage—packed in the spoon

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) marjoram

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) white pepper

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) thyme

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) garlic granules

⅛ tsp. (0.625 ml) bay leaf powder

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) light corn syrup

2 Tbsp. (30 ml) cold water

MIXING AND STUFFING

1. 
Mix the seasonings and other ingredients well in a large mixing bowl, chill the mixture for about 15 minutes, and then add the meat and blend well. Knead for about three minutes.

2. 
Stuff the sausage.

3. 
To ensure migration and blending of the curing agent and seasonings, let the sausage rest overnight in the refrigerator.

4. 
Cold smoking followed by hot smoking or steaming is recommended— please see Chapter 7 for instruction details. Please see Chapter 6 for suggestions if the sausage will be cooked without smoking.

German Bologna

The commercially produced bologna luncheon meat sold here in the United States is, in my opinion, almost inedible. However, this homemade bologna is delicious. The taste, texture, and appearance are completely different from that offered in supermarkets. Furthermore, we can be sure that this product does not contain any mystery meat such as pig snouts or cow navels.

The sausage in this formula is not emulsified. If you prefer emulsified bologna like the kind sold in the supermarket, please read HOW TO EMULSIFY SAUSAGE in Chapter 10 and follow the emulsification instructions given for either Beef Bologna or Bologna in that chapter.

THE CASINGS

Soak fibrous casings in water for 30 minutes before using. Make sure that there is a liberal amount of water inside the casings. If you are using 2½-inch (6.4 cm) diameter casings that are about 12 inches (30 cm) long, two of them will be required.

THE MEAT

Prepare 1½ lbs. (680 g) of beef chuck and 1 lb. (450 g) of pork butt, and cut the meat into cubes. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Refrigerate the grinder and the stuffer while the meat is being prepared.

Grind the meat with a
-inch (4.8 mm) plate—use a plate with smaller holes, if available. Pass the meat through the grinder twice if you want it to be particularly fine. Chill the meat thoroughly while the seasoning is being prepared.