Anybody else try to make their own sausages?..

[TB63]

My first batch, bit of a cunt looking, but tasted fine..so they were named twats...

So many mistakes made. Mostly to do with the temperature of the meat, next batch, on the weekend, anyone got tips?

Apart from Jake...

[Ymx]

Any pics to see your handy work?

Oh shit, I just asked for sausage pics …

[SaintK]

My first batch, bit of a cunt looking, but tasted fine..so they were named twats...

So many mistakes made. Mostly to do with the temperature of the meat, next batch, on the weekend, anyone got tips?

Apart from Jake...

Good man, well done
I’ve never been brave enough to try so no tips, sorry

[Rhubarb & Custard]

I spent time just playing around with the mix, i.e. what cuts of meat, how much fat, how coarse the grind, how many times to grind, what spices to add in, what binder, how much water and then just cooking those off as patties and considering texture and flavour. And then once happy with a base recipe for pork, for beef and pork & beef starting getting going on casing the blighters. I don't really do it often enough to be good at the casing part so I still pretty much go one link at a time, but I'm hardly looking to turn out commercial quantities, if taking a little bit of time getting the pressure right starts to get much easier fairly quickly. I do need to plan to have space in the fridge to allow the sausages to dry once cased, and to not have things that might flavour the sausages or be flavoured by the sausages

I've not tried smoking any of them so I've never had to worry about curing salts, and whilst chilling (putting the cubed meat and fat in the freezer pre-grinding for a short time) does give a cleaner grind cleaning the grinder is still a pain in the arse. I've also only attempted to produce something akin to a normal UK butcher's sausage, which is to say I haven't got around to any much denser European style products, not yet anyway

[Kawazaki]

I've never tried to make my own sausages but I do enjoy eating sausages. We recently bought a Ninja Foodie and it cooks sausages perfectly in about 10 minutes.

[Gav]

Thought this was going to be another trans thread.

[pjm1]

My first batch, bit of a cunt looking, but tasted fine..so they were named twats...

So many mistakes made. Mostly to do with the temperature of the meat, next batch, on the weekend, anyone got tips?

Apart from Jake...

Didn't spot the last line when I read this on my phone

I've made a couple of batches which were ok. Had some saffer friends come round so made some boerewors which seemed to go down well. Also made an Italian (non-cured) sausage which I really liked. Don't be afraid of curing salts, but make sure you follow a good recipe religiously (especially weighing out the curing salt amounts exactly). I haven't killed anyone yet.

You will need to visit this forum (if you haven't already) if you want to get properly hooked... https://forum.sausagemaking.org/ although the actual format of the forum is crap... but the content is good!

I got quite into bacon making and I have to say, homemade bacon is exceptional and very cheap. The only pain in the arse is slicing it. Well worth doing though.

Cheese is a real f*cking pain though... stank the house out and made some acceptable white stilton-a-like, but really... why bother?

[Niegs]

[TB63]

https://butchers-sundries.com/collections/sausage-mixes

Just ordered a selection of these.. Last recipe I used was to percentages of weight and found it too salty and over herbed, so going to try these ready made blends..

[TB63]

Yay!..



and cooked with onion, mustard and honey gravy..



Fucking delish, even if i say so myself!..

[Biffer]

My dad once made black pudding at home. Buckets of blood from the butchers and such like. I was too young at the time to remember it but my sisters tell stories of a kitchen covered in blood. Cooker, sink, worktops, walls, floors. Looked like Fred West's place on one of his horny nights. My mum was not very pleased, so I'm told.

[TB63]

Sounds like something I'd have a go at!..

[Sandstorm]

Yay!..


and cooked with onion, mustard and honey gravy..



Fucking delish, even if i say so myself!..

I’ll have the long one on the left please.

[TB63]

So..lessons learned today..

Keep the meat below 5c, fat grinds better. Coarse grind first, then add rusk etc in stand mixer, add very cold water (not ice cubes.., I added ice cubes, fuck). Between stages, slap it in the freezer.
Ignore the filling nozzles advertised for a electric grinder, took me an hour to make 10!

Frozen the rest of the mix in vac bags, just ordered a sausage stuffing machine..updates will follow...

But honestly, knocks most shop bought into a cocked hat..then kicks the hat..

[TB63]

Yay!..


and cooked with onion, mustard and honey gravy..



Fucking delish, even if i say so myself!..

I’ll have the long one on the left please.

Ok Jake..

[Ymx]

I bet that would be great with a couple of yorkshires

[TB63]

Terriers?

I'd go with that, yappy little twats...

[fishfoodie]

So..lessons learned today..

Keep the meat below 5c, fat grinds better. Coarse grind first, then add rusk etc in stand mixer, add very cold water (not ice cubes.., I added ice cubes, fuck). Between stages, slap it in the freezer.
Ignore the filling nozzles advertised for a electric grinder, took me an hour to make 10!

Frozen the rest of the mix in vac bags, just ordered a sausage stuffing machine..updates will follow...

But honestly, knocks most shop bought into a cocked hat..then kicks the hat..

At a unit cost of £10 each, they really ought to

Well done

[Blackmac]

Yay!..



and cooked with onion, mustard and honey gravy..



Fucking delish, even if i say so myself!..

Blimey, they look bloody impressive. Well done.
Can I ask if they are significantly better or cheaper, because my own thoughts would be that if it's not, then why????

[TB63]

Taste and texture wise, vast improvement on supermarket version.
Costwise..

3Kg of pork trim..£12
Ready made rusk..£5
Skins..£2

Makes 4.5Kg of sausage.

Pork trim I get from a meat wholesaler, they're all happy to sell it.

Main thing when making is temperature, keep at 5 or below, all ingredients including the water must be cold.
I did a coarse mince first, stuck it in a stand mixer, added rusk and water then put it through finer mince. Then stuffed the skins, as I said, the attachment for my grinder was crap so just ordered upright stuffer..

[Blackmac]

Taste and texture wise, vast improvement on supermarket version.
Costwise..

3Kg of pork trim..£12
Ready made rusk..£5
Skins..£2

Makes 4.5Kg of sausage.

Pork trim I get from a meat wholesaler, they're all happy to sell it.

Main thing when making is temperature, keep at 5 or below, all ingredients including the water must be cold.
I did a coarse mince first, stuck it in a stand mixer, added rusk and water then put it through finer mince. Then stuffed the skins, as I said, the attachment for my grinder was crap so just ordered upright stuffer..

You are obviously like me. I will never ever pay for anything to be done that I can't do myself of learn to do. If I need to pay a tradesman say £500 to do a job requiring a £400 specialist tool I would rather buy the tool and learn how to use it in the future for myself.
My cooking skills are sadly so bloody bad that I would never attempt this.

[TB63]

Taste and texture wise, vast improvement on supermarket version.
Costwise..

3Kg of pork trim..£12
Ready made rusk..£5
Skins..£2

Makes 4.5Kg of sausage.

Pork trim I get from a meat wholesaler, they're all happy to sell it.

Main thing when making is temperature, keep at 5 or below, all ingredients including the water must be cold.
I did a coarse mince first, stuck it in a stand mixer, added rusk and water then put it through finer mince. Then stuffed the skins, as I said, the attachment for my grinder was crap so just ordered upright stuffer..

You are obviously like me. I will never ever pay for anything to be done that I can't do myself of learn to do. If I need to pay a tradesman say £500 to do a job requiring a £400 specialist tool I would rather buy the tool and learn how to use it in the future for myself.
My cooking skills are sadly so bloody bad that I would never attempt this.

It's surprisingly really easy! Just need the kit, you chop meat. Weigh it, grind it, mix it and stuff it. Then give them to your missus to cook!...

[TB63]

ybaymy Sausage Stuffer 6LBS/3L Sausage Maker Machine Homemade Stainless Steel Horizontal Meat Stuffing Fillers Manual Sausage Filler with 4 Filling Tubes for Kitchen Home Commercial Use https://amzn.eu/d/4EsRd8l

[vball]

Wife bought me a .. make your own Chirizo kit. Just needed to add the meat. Were quiet tasty but at a little dry.

Have local butcher in the village and he makes his own ... really nice beef ones, Toulouse are superb in a cassolette.

[TB63]

Fuck me that was so much easier with a stuffer!..

[pjm1]

Nicely done, although a couple of those need reknotted :) Fat vs lean mix looks superb... I'll bet those will be delicious!

Also a great (and economical) way to eat decent quality food... shop and often even butcher-bought sausages are processed to f*ck.

[TB63]

Yeah, re twisted a few, overstuffed a few as well.. Practice makes perfect, I know the mistakes I made so will correct on next batch, gone for a coarser grind for that batch, tasted great and had right texture as well, so happy..

They're all going out today to various family members to try..

[TB63]

Getting good at this..

[Enzedder]

Why? Don't you have shops?

[Tichtheid]

Getting good at this..

They look great, well done

[TB63]

Why? Don't you have shops?

Taste mate, taste..

Although yours might have left you years ago...

[TB63]

Getting good at this..

They look great, well done

Thank you, looking forward to trying them in a few days..

[Ymx]

Why? Don't you have shops?

Taste mate, taste..

Although yours might have left you years ago...

Ooooo burn



I can categorically say that I didn’t know what I didn’t know in NZ. The sausages there are absolutely dreadful.

The stock sausage over there goes by the label “beef flavoured meat” or similar. It’s all I knew.

I nearly spat out laughing when I saw sausages and mash on a restaurant/bar menu over here.

But I learned.

[Tichtheid]

Why? Don't you have shops?

Taste mate, taste..

Although yours might have left you years ago...

Ooooo burn



I can categorically say that I didn’t know what I didn’t know in NZ. The sausages there are absolutely dreadful.

The stock sausage over there goes by the label “beef flavoured meat” or similar. It’s all I knew.

I nearly spat out laughing when I saw sausages and mash on a restaurant/bar menu over here.

But I learned.

The sausage game was seriously lifted here a good few years ago by a South African journalist. He was a sausage fan and couldn't believe the shit that passed for sausages in the UK, the supposed home of the sausage, when he arrived, so he started making his own.
It is a pretty sordid tale of him getting ripped off by partners and them selling recipes to supermarkets, but the overall effect was that the sausages have become better.

You could always get really good stuff from little independent butchers, but it wasn't the norm

[Torquemada 1420]

My dad once made black pudding at home. Buckets of blood from the butchers and such like. I was too young at the time to remember it but my sisters tell stories of a kitchen covered in blood. Cooker, sink, worktops, walls, floors. Looked like Fred West's place on one of his horny nights. My mum was not very pleased, so I'm told.

And the smell.............. like an abattoir.

[Tichtheid]

Re the above

From Wiki

William "Bill" O'Hagan (né William Bastard; 4 June 1944 – 15 May 2013) was a British journalist with The Daily Telegraph and a butcher, known for his virtuosity in the making of top-quality sausages. He is credited with revitalizing the British sausage industry.[1]

He was the son of Ebbo Bastard, a South African rugby union player,[2][1] and took his mother's maiden name after Ebbo Bastard was murdered in 1949, when Bill was only four.

https://archive.ph/9qYDZ

[Simian]

Sausages you get in Scotland (even from otherwise good butchers) are pretty dreadful. I order ones from a butchers in Boston (Lincolnshire) that my mums family have bought them from for generations. They’re superb.

[Simian]

Sausages you get in Scotland (even from otherwise good butchers) are pretty dreadful. I order ones from a butchers in Boston (Lincolnshire) that my mums family have bought them from for generations. They’re superb.

That’s ‘imo’ of course

I’ve a mate who runs a posh butchers in Glasgow. He did sell very good sausages with a high meat/fat content and little filler. People didn’t like them and said they both tasted weird and took too long to cook.

So I guess it depends what you like.

[Dinsdale Piranha]

Re the above

From Wiki

William "Bill" O'Hagan (né William Bastard; 4 June 1944 – 15 May 2013) was a British journalist with The Daily Telegraph and a butcher, known for his virtuosity in the making of top-quality sausages. He is credited with revitalizing the British sausage industry.[1]

He was the son of Ebbo Bastard, a South African rugby union player,[2][1] and took his mother's maiden name after Ebbo Bastard was murdered in 1949, when Bill was only four.

https://archive.ph/9qYDZ

I met him at the Great British Beer Festival many, many years ago where he had a stall. The sausages were definitely a step up from anything else available at the time. By modern standards I don't think they'd show so well.

[TB63]

Honestly would find it hard to go back to shop bought ones now, saying that, some local butchers here make some cracking ones..

Secrets I've found is keep everything very cold, below 5 c, even the filler and the water, though I've made some with home made chicken stock and some with beer..

Mince the meat from part frozen if possible, makes it easier to cut and the fat grinds better..