homemade sausages (merged)

ravylesley

yep I make my own sausages and burgers.But I've found that with six of us they are nice as a treat but its cheaper to buy ones for every day use.I usually buy 1/2 a pig and when I go I use the belly pork for sausages.I dont use a hand mincer as its just too much hard work.I invested in one of the electric ones from Lakeland and it has a sausage stuffer attachment as well as various mincing discs.You will need to make the decision about your casings as to whether you use natural or artificial casings and what size you want your finished sausage to be will determine whether you want hog casings (large thick sausages) or sheep casings (thinner more like normal butchers sausage). I use bought seasoning mixes for my sausages but thats down to personal taste and trial and error.But good luck you will thoroughly enjoy the experience.I make my sausages with my OH and have such a laugh doing it

Lesleyxx

a11waysindebt

Ha ha,Made some tonight what a laugh.

Made 9 rather large sausages but the dog knicked 3 the little sod :mad: .

I will try some more during the week.:T

vixtress

sorry if this has been done but i couldnt find a thread.

i have recently (well i havent actually got it yet) aquired a cuisineart sausagemaker/grinder i havent got a clue what to do with it, i have had a little nosey online and it seems i have to choose skins and buy stabiliser stuff

does anyone have any tips on recipes, what to buy, whats a waste of money etc. i would also like to know how to keep them as low fat as possible as i am trying to lose weight. i know they do neeed fat though.

any help would be great, thanks x

newleaf

I have been making my own sausages for a few years now, since I got me a sausage stuffer for Xmas .
I buy my casings and seasonings from either here http://www.weschenfelder.co.uk or here http://www.sausagemaking.org/ but you can buy casings from a friendly butcher and make up your own seasonings if you prefer. You can also get some good books - have a shufty on Amazon. The sausagemaking.org forum has lots of helpful people with advice and recipes.
I use pork shoulder and belly pork, which I mince myself with my kenwood chef.
Once you have tasted home made sausages you will never want another bought one

MRSMCAWBER

Hi there

I make my own sausages and
www.designasausage.co.uk

are good for casings etc..I don't use stabilisers and the like and use collagen skins as they have a longer shelf life and don't need washing before using.
It can get addictive though...but much cheaper and nicer than ready made ones
I have a good recipe book too although some recipes are a bit more adventurous..moose, turtle dove etc lol

vixtress

brilliant, thanks :T
how much fat do they need? whats the minimum you can get away with?
i am (sadly) really excited about getting going
i have looked at a couple of books on amazon but its always nice to get first hand opinions as it were.
how hard is it to master? someone has told me its more trouble than its worth it doesnt sound like you share that view

vixtress

sorry for all the questions but has anyone tried turkey sausages? i have bought these from asda and i love them, they are low fat too. i would love to re-create them. they seem to have topped selling them so i cant check out the ingredients :mad:

newleaf

Sorry, I can't really help with the low fat thing, as it's not a consideration of mine - they need to be fatty to be succulent. The sausagemaking.org forum might be a good place to ask this question.
I usually use roughly 2/3 pork shoulder and 1/3 belly pork (with skin & gristle removed), and make a huge batch - 25 or 30lbs, and freeze them in packs of four. They last us a few months. It is a big job, and if you have a manual stuffer like me, really needs two people once you get to the stuffing stage.
I definitely think it's worthwhile though. We ran out recently, and I bought some Tesco 'Finest' ones, but we didn't enjoy them at all.

vixtress

thanks for that, if the fat is really needed then thats fine. i will just have to (try to) eat less of them.
its an electric mincer i'm getting so i hope it might not be too bad.
thanks again and any other tips or recipes would be very much apreciated :beer:

Penelope_Penguin

Try this thread - homemade sausages I'll merge this one to that later to keep ideas together.

I've read that thread right through as I'm about to buy a sausage-attachment for my Kenwood :j

Penny. x