Mastering the Craft of Making Sausage (32 page)

THE SEASONING AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

2 tsp. (10 ml) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

1 tsp. (5 ml) black pepper, finely ground

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) mustard, ground—packed in the spoon

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) celery seed, ground

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) garlic powder

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) coriander—packed in the spoon

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) nutmeg

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) light corn syrup

¼ cup (60 ml) water

½ cup (120 ml) powdered skim milk

MIXING AND STUFFING

1.
While the ground meat is being chilled, mix all the seasoning ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl, including the water and powdered milk. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

2. 
Add the ground meat to the seasoning mixture. Blend by kneading until it is uniformly mixed. This will require about three minutes.

3. 
Stuff the sausage into casings. Insert the cable probe of an electronic thermometer in the open end of one of the sausages, and close the casing around the probe with butcher’s twine.

4. 
Refrigerate the stuffed sausage overnight so the seasoning and curing powder will blend with the meat.

The next morning, the sausage may be smoked. Please see Chapter 7 for smoking instructions and suggestions. Cold smoking and steam cooking are recommended. If the sausage will not be smoked, steaming or poaching is recommended. Cooking by steaming or poaching is explained in Chapter 6.

Hot and Spicy Ham—Coppa Style

Sometimes there is a fuzzy line between sausage and cured meat, and this recipe is a good example. This product is made of pieces of seasoned and cured pork that are stuffed into a fibrous casing; stuffing the meat into a casing seems to make it a sausage. However, the meat is not chopped into tiny pieces—it is cut into hunks that, on the average, have a volume of about 1½ cubic inches (3.8 cubic centimeters). Considering this,
Hot and Spicy Ham
could be called cured ham that is stuffed into casings. (A similar product,
Krakowska,
is presented later in this chapter.)

The inspiration for this product came from an Italian sausage called
coppa
. Coppa is similar to
Hot and Spicy Ham
because both are cured hunks of pork that are seasoned in a similar way and stuffed into casings. Coppa, however, is dry cured using a lot of salt, and it is not cooked before it is eaten. Hot and Spicy Ham is gently cured with just the right amount of salt for good taste. It is lightly smoked, and is fully cooked for health and safety.

MEAT FOR 2
¹
⁄2 LBS. (1,150 G) OF HAM

Prepare 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of
lean
pork. (Usually meat for sausage making should be about 25 percent fat, but this is an exception.) These hunks of lean pork can be any shape, but uniform curing is easier to accomplish if the hunks are not more than about ¾ inch (2 cm) thick. The easiest way to accomplish the cutting is to slice the pork into ¾-inch (2 cm) slabs, and then to cut the slabs into any shape that measures something like 1 to 1½ inches (2.5 to 4 cm). Any lean pork may be used. For example, the cubes may be cut from pork sirloin, pork loin, uncured ham (hind leg), or even from the lean parts of pork butt. Refrigerate these cubes until they are well chilled. Keep the meat chilled while the seasoning and other ingredients are being prepared.

THE SEASONING, CURE, AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) salt

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

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) paprika

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) black pepper, ground

1½ tsp. (7.5 ml) coriander, ground—packed in the spoon

1 tsp. (5 ml) cayenne

1 tsp. (5 ml) garlic, minced

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) allspice

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) mace

¼ cup (60 ml) red wine

MIXING, CURING, AND STUFFING

1. 
Day 1
: While the pork hunks are being chilled, mix the seasoning and other ingredients in a food container with a tight-fitting lid. Stir the mixture until it is uniform. The container should be large enough to hold all the meat cubes, and large enough to permit them to be stirred easily.

2. 
Add the pork hunks to the seasoning mixture and stir well. All surfaces of the cubes must be coated with the seasoning cure. Push the cubes down in the curing container so that they are packed together tightly.

3. 
Days 2, 3, and 4
: Each day, stir the cubes thoroughly at least once in order to recoat each of the cubes with cure. Push the cubes down to repack tightly.

4. 
Day 5
: The curing is finished. Remove the cubes from the plastic container, place them in a colander, and spray with cold water while thoroughly agitating them. (This is to remove all curing compound and excess seasoning 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, and prepare to finish making and stuffing the sausage.

CASING AND STUFFING

Any size of fibrous casing may be used, but you likely have 2½-inch (6.35 cm) casings on hand, and these work well. For 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of sausage, two of these casings—each 12 inches (30 cm) long—will be required. Prepare the casings by soaking in lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Be sure to flood the inside of the casing with warm water.

1. 
Stuff the cured ham hunks into fibrous casings
by hand
. Insert the cable probe of an electronic thermometer in the open end of one of the sausages, and close the casing around the probe with butcher’s twine.

2. 
Refrigerate the sausage chubs overnight.

The next morning, the chubs may be smoked. Please see Chapter 7 for smoking suggestions. If they will be smoked, cold smoking and steam cooking is recommended. If the sausage will not be smoked, steaming or poaching is recommended. Cooking by steaming or poaching is explained in Chapter 6.

Käsewurst (Cheese Sausage)

Variations of Käsewurst (Cheese Sausage) appear in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Some of the formulations resemble cured Bratwurst with the addition of cheese cubes. This formulation is similar to that made in Switzerland, and it uses the famous Emmenthaler cheese of Switzerland, which most people in the United States call Swiss cheese.

The melted cheese goes well with the ham-like taste of this cured sausage, so this wurst has many devotees.

Half a pound (225 g) of cheese is added to the normal amount of meat, so this formulation will result in 3 lbs. (1,360 g) of sausage.

CASING

Prepare 9 feet (270 cm) of hog casing; rinse thoroughly. Soak in water, in the refrigerator, overnight. Rinse again, and soak in warm water for a few minutes before using.

MEAT AND CHEESE

Cut ½ lb. (225 g) of Emmenthaler cheese (or Swiss cheese) into ¼-inch (6 mm) cubes. Place the cheese in the refrigerator until the sausage paste has been prepared.

Prepare 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of pork butt; cut the meat into ¾-inch (2 cm) cubes. Refrigerate the meat for at least 30 minutes. While the meat is being prepared, refrigerate the meat grinder and stuffer.

Grind the meat with a coarse plate—about a ¼-inch (6.35 mm) plate. Return the ground meat to the refrigerator while the seasoning and other ingredients are being prepared.

THE SEASONING AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

2 tsp. (10 ml) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

1 tsp. (5 ml) black pepper, finely ground

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) granulated garlic

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) oregano

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) thyme

6 Tbsp. (90 ml) fresh milk

½ cup (120 ml) powdered skim milk

MIXING AND STUFFING

1. 
Mix the seasoning, milk, and powdered milk in a 5-quart (5 liter) mixing bowl. Refrigerate this seasoning mixture for about 15 minutes.

2. 
Blend the meat and the seasoning well by kneading for about three minutes.

3. 
Sprinkle the cheese cubes on the sausage paste, and knead again until the cubes appear to be evenly distributed in the paste.

4. 
Stuff the sausage in hog casings, and twist the sausage rope into links.

5. 
Refrigerate overnight.

Steaming or poaching, followed by grilling or frying, is suggested. Please see the cooking suggestions in Chapter 6.

Krakowska

This “sausage” is similar to the
Hot and Spicy Ham
presented earlier in this chapter. Krakowska, too, is a ham-in-a-casing sausage; it is named after the city Krakow in southern Poland. The fact that the meat hunks are stuffed in a casing seems to be the only reason it is called a sausage. In the case of Krakowska, the lean pork is cured and changed to ham within the casing, but the pork for the other product earlier in this chapter is cured outside of the casing. The seasoning, also, is very different for the two products. But if you like ham, you are certain to like one of them, and you will probably like both. Krakowska, by the way, is pronounced
krah-KOV-skah
.

A good point to keep in mind about these products is that they are very low in fat. Therefore, they are much lower in cholesterol than conventional sausage. Consequently, they may be among the few varieties of sausage edible by a person on a low cholesterol diet.

MEAT FOR 2
¹
⁄2 LBS. (1,150 G) OF KRAKOWSKA

Prepare 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of
lean
pork. (Usually meat for sausage making should be about 25 percent fat, but Krakowska is an exception.) The pieces of lean pork can be any shape, but the thickness of each piece should not exceed ½ inch (13 mm). The easiest way to accomplish this is to cut the large hunks of meat into ½-inch (13 mm) slabs, and then cut the slabs into smaller pieces. (Pieces thicker than about ½ inch, or 13 mm, would require a longer curing time, which is undesirable.)

Traditionally, the well-trimmed hind leg of the pig is used (well-trimmed, fresh, uncured ham), but any lean pork will do. For example, the ½-inch (13 mm) thick pieces may be cut from pork sirloin, pork loin, or even from the lean parts of pork butt. (I usually use pork sirloin because it is lean, economical, boneless, and similar to fresh ham.) Refrigerate these hunks until they are well chilled. Keep the meat chilled while the seasoning and other ingredients are being prepared. Stuffing the sausage by hand is recommended, but if the stuffer will be used to stuff these large meat chunks, refrigerate the stuffer while the meat is being prepared.

THE SEASONING, CURE, AND OTHER INGREDIENTS

2¼ tsp. (11.25 ml) salt

½ tsp. (2.5 ml) Cure #1

1½ tsp. (7.5 ml) mustard powder—packed in the spoon

1 tsp. (5 ml) garlic granules

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) white pepper, finely ground

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) coriander, ground—packed in the spoon

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) marjoram

¼ tsp. (1.25 ml) allspice

1 Tbsp. (15 ml) light corn syrup

2 Tbsp. (30 ml) cold water

CASING

Any size of fibrous casing may be used, but you likely have 2½-inch (6.35 cm) casings on hand, and these work well. For 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of sausage, two of these casings—each 12 inches (30 cm) long—will be required. Prepare the casings by soaking in warm water for 30 minutes. Be sure to flood the inside of the casing with warm water.

DAY 1: MIXING AND STUFFING

1. 
Mix the seasoning, corn syrup, and water in a large mixing bowl, and stir the ingredients until the mixture is uniform. Refrigerate the slurry until it is well chilled.

2. 
Add the pork hunks to the seasoning mixture and stir well. All surfaces of the cubes must be coated with the seasoning cure.

3. 
Stuff the ham hunks into fibrous casings by hand, or use a large stuffing horn.
Make sure that all of the leftover curing slurry is divided equally and put into the two casings.
Insert the cable probe of an electronic thermometer in the open end of one of the sausages, and close the casing around the probe with butcher’s twine. Refrigerate again until Day 3, morning. During this curing period, the chunks of pork will become chunks of cured, raw ham.

DAY 3, MORNING: SMOKING (OPTIONAL) AND COOKING

On the morning of the third day, the sausage chubs may be optionally smoked. (Either cold smoking for several hours and then steam cooking, or cold smoking followed by hot smoking until the meat is fully cooked is recommended.) Please see Chapter 7 for smoking suggestions. If the sausage will not be smoked, steaming or poaching is recommended. Cooking by steaming or poaching is explained in Chapter 6.

Linguisa (Portuguese)

This well-seasoned and flavorful sausage is a Portuguese classic. It is particularly popular in Hawaii where there are many people of Portuguese descent. This sausage contains vinegar. If you have never used vinegar in sausage, you might consider reducing the vinegar in the first batch; some people love it, and others can’t stand it.

THE CASINGS

Prepare 7 feet (210 cm) of hog casing; rinse thoroughly. Soak the casing in a little water, and refrigerate overnight. Rinse again before using.

THE MEAT

Prepare 2 lbs. (910g) of lean pork and ½ lb. (225 g) of back fat—or 2½ lbs. (1,150 g) of pork shoulder. Cut into ¾-inch (2 cm) cubes, and chill this meat for at least 30 minutes. While this meat is being prepared, chill the grinder and sausage stuffer. Grind with a medium plate.