Meaty goodness in the form of fine, chunky links sounds like a delicious idea for a quick meal, doesn’t it? The thing about sausages is that you can roast, steam, fry, bake, or grill them. They are a delightful crowd pleaser in any form, aren’t they? So here are some of the best tips from the pros on making sausage at home.
Sausages are tasty and flavorful. You wouldn’t be reading the article if they weren’t. Every culture has its unique style of cooking sausages. But just when you think of preparing them all by yourself at home, it seems like an impossible task. Am I right?
At such times, what you require are a few essentials to get started. Equipment like a refrigerator, which you already have. Then you get ingredients such as meat and casings. And lastly, some expert advice!
MAking sausage at home
Tips from the Pros on Making Sausage At Home
If you want to create as well as enjoy the best homemade sausage recipe ever, then you should know how to make sausages at home. So let’s find out!
#1 Start with texture
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It’s always a better idea to know the basics of making sausages first before moving on to the more complicated process. In this case, let’s talk about the texture of sausages. Sausages can be soft, coarse, firm, or smooth.
Each texture requires you a different method to prepare, but they all have one thing in common. And that is the use of four essential ingredients. These include meat, fat, salt, and a little bit of liquid. It’s the different ratios of the ingredients that bring about the desired change in texture.
How much of the ingredients to use depends on your formula and recipe. Once the texture and ratio are in place, you can make any sausage you want. So now you know one of the most useful sausage texture tips to begin with.
#2 Move on to the meat
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Now, the next factor to take into consideration is temperature. Place the meat on any sheet pan or plate and keep it in your freezer, uncovered. Once you spot icy, hard edges, you know the meat is cold enough. The most suitable temperature of sausages is 40 degrees Fahrenheit. So please keep that in mind when making sausages at home.
What the cold temperature does is preserve the structure of the cells. A hard structure is crucial if you want to enjoy a juicy sausage. Otherwise, the thing becomes crumbly and dry.
#3 Get proper equipment
The first appliance you’ll need is a grinder. And a sharp one at that! If you don’t have a sharp grinder and cold meat, the chances of smashing the sausage’s cell structure are pretty high. So it’s necessary that you get high-quality, super-sharp blades.
The next and the most important appliance is a stuffer. And not just any; but the good sausage stuffer. With a vertical model, you add the sausage in the canister, pull down the handle, and that’s about it. The machine squeezes out the mixture into its casing.
Once the sausage texture problems no longer exist, it’s time to cut up the meat. Make sure that the pieces are smaller than the grinder’s opening. The goal is to drop them into the machine, not stuff them.
This is why vertical sausage stuffers are a favorite on the market. They provide better control over the appliance and the meat. On the other hand, electric stuffers just shoot out the sausages. You don’t get to keep a check on the pressure of the unit and process. More often than not, this leads to overstuffing or bursting a casing.
Check this article to find out what's the best sausage stuffer in the market right now.
#4 Use your hands and don’t rush
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One of the best tips from the pros on making sausage at home is to mix small batches by hand. A grinder might create too much heat, but your hands don’t. In fact, warm hands do an excellent job at combining the liquid, salt, meat, and fat.
You can start mixing the four ingredients in a bowl. The result should be a thick, sticky paste.
Then you make a small patty from this and cook it to check the seasonings. For the procedure, use a small pan (the non-stick kind) on low heat. The patty will take about 10 minutes to cook. There’s no need to caramelize the thing as that might add additional flavors. And you don’t want that to happen now, do you?
Once the patty is ready, taste it to make sure that everything is alright. If yes, then you can begin the stuffing process.
#5 Cook the sausages right
Making those sausages was not an impossible task, but it wasn’t easy either. So you need to make sure that you cook them properly. It doesn’t matter what you do; keep the process going low and slow.
Preparing a sausage on high heat causes the juices to boil. This, in turn, results in the meat expanding and pushing out. So the skin of the sausage might burst. Such a tragedy usually takes place when you’re using the grill.
In that case, you need to keep some pointers in mind. When working with the grill, don’t opt for high heat. Cook the sausages on low flame while making sure that they’re not exposed to direct heat. And whatever you do, don’t cut them until after the cooking is complete.
Slow and low; that’s the way to go!
Conclusion
Sausages are delicious, juicy, meaty, and packed with flavor. Who wouldn’t want to eat that, right? And with so many diverse homemade sausage recipes exploding on the internet, you can savor different flavors every time.
All the more reason to get hands on expert tips from the pros on making sausage at home!
Do you have any more to discuss with us here? What method do you follow when making sausages at home?
You can share your tips and recipes in the comments section below. And please don’t forget to drop in your feedback as well.
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About the author:
Barbara Davis is a mom blogger that finds inspiration in every aspect of her life. As a mother, she understands the struggles of parenting. So she created this blog to share her thoughts, valuable tips, and useful baby and mom care product recommendations. Davis is also equally enthusiastic about cooking. So don’t be surprised to across many posts that talk about being both a working mom and super-mom.