This page gives a brief description of how to make fresh sausage. For further information about this process we recommend you read one of the books listed on the Resources page. The basic requirements are some form of meat and a little seasoning. In order to produce a tasty and juicy sausage you will also need to add a certain amount of fat (pork back fat is best). Although this may jar with the dietary restrictions of certain people, we subscribe to the "eat anything in moderation" credo and are proud that our tasty, mouth-watering sausages taste better than any commercial sausage.

Basic Recipe

(taken from Charles Reavis' "Home Sausage Making")

1½ m hog or sheep casings
1½ kg lean pork shoulder roast
1½ tsp salt
¾ tsp finely ground black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
1½ tsp dried sage
¾ tsp sugar
½ tsp sweet paprika powder

Method

Special note: please refer to any of the books listed elsewhere for appropriate warnings about proper hygiene

Cut off required amount of casing and place in a bowl of cool water to rinse off the salt. Leave to soak for half an hour while you prepare the meat. After soaking, slip one end of the casing over the water faucet and run water inside the casing to flush out salt inside the casing. Place the casing in a bowl of cool water and vinegar (tablespoon vinegar per cup of water) to soften the casing and to help remove any strong aroma. When ready to use, rinse again with running water and drain before stuffing

Before I used the grinder, a tip from my Dad (a master butcher) was to run some fat through the mincer first to clean it out (my butcher cheerfully gave me some beef fat). Sure enough, despite the fact that I cleaned the mincer with hot soapy water, the fat picked up some black grease from the mincer. Warning: ground pure fat looks disgusting!

Cut refrigerated meat into 2 cm cubes, trimming off and saving the fat. Grind meat and fat separately with a coarse disc (8 or 10 mm). Mix the ground meat, fat and ingredients together for 5-10 minutes. Grind again using the fine disc (4 mm) and roll into balls for ease later on. Attach the sausage funnel onto the mincer (remove the blade-knife and disc) and slide a length of prepared casing over it. Start pushing the meat through the funnel but stop just before the mixture exits. Tie a knot in the casing. Continue to force the mixture through into the casing until all the mixture has been used and tie a knot at the end.

Carefully twist the sausage into links of the desired length (if the sausage has been stuffed too firmly then the casing may rupture). My Dad also taught me how to link up the sausages into threes like the professionals - it takes a bit of practice and a lot of patience. In the future I want to take a series of photos to show how this is done

Sausages should be placed in the refrigerator for a couple of hours prior to cooking or freezing to allow the flavours to soak through Afterwards, I carefully washed the mincer with hot soapy water and rubbed canola oil over the discs, bladed-knife and threaded parts of the mincer to prevent them from rusting. 

Cooking & Eating

Since these sausages contain very little fat, some extra care should be taken with cooking. I usually cook them very slowly over a low heat. Eating my own sausages with a bottle of home brew is just about the best meal I can think of (except for my wife's pumpkin lasagne ). Stay tuned for more of my triumphs in the kitchen.