Sausage Making (2 page)

To Cole Mayfield: Your recipe-testing skills and ability to fix all broken things is a skill few possess. You are a great man, sir. Thank you. Kent Schoberle, not only can you butcher and teach whole animal butchery skillfully, your graphic contributions to this book and 4505 Meats have taken our game to the next level. Thank you, my friend.

To Jessica Battilana: We have created a book to be proud of. From the beginning vision to the very end you have been a delight to work with.

To Lorena Jones, Vanessa Dina, Doug Ogan, Elizabeth Smith, Steve Kim, Peter Perez, David Hawk, and the whole talented team at Chronicle Books: You are known for creating exquisite books and this one is an excellent example.

To Ed Anderson: Your ability to capture beauty in something like sausage making is a true talent.

To Carole Bidnick: Thank you for the continued guidance and all your hard work. You are a great friend and agent.

To Bruce Aidells: Thank you for continuing to mentor me in all things meaty and, unknowingly, in life, too. You are the undisputed Sausage King.

To my Denver friends who have supported me from day one: Some of my best memories are of grilling sausages and steaks in our backyards. It all started with you and I love you all.

To all the amazing customers who support us every day: Without you and your love for sausage, it would be a sad, sausageless world.

Of course this only scratches the surface of all the people who have supported me on my journey leading up to today. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

As a butcher and a chef, I am passionate about whole-animal utilization. That philosophy was the guiding principle behind my first book,
Whole Beast Butchery
, which teaches how to butcher an entire animal and how to best utilize and cook the resulting cuts.

So it only seemed fitting that my second book be devoted to sausage, which originated as a way for butchers to turn odds, ends, and non-prime cuts of meat into something incredibly satisfying and delicious. When I started my business, 4505 Meats, five years ago, the first product that we made were our
chicharrones
—light, crunchy pork rinds that immediately developed a cult following. The second product I brought to market was hot dogs. In the early days, my process for making the hot dogs was, frankly, a bit of a disaster. I was working in several rented kitchens, so I'd butcher and grind the meat for the hot dogs in one kitchen, then drive the ground meat across town to a second kitchen, where there was a commercial-grade mixer, to mix the meat. Then I'd drive the mixed meat across town again, back to the first kitchen, to stuff and smoke the dogs.

It was completely inefficient, and the problem only worsened as the hot dogs became more popular. What I would have given to have a book like this when I was first starting out! Well, that, and an extra 48 hours in every week.

Part of the reason that I started making hot dogs was because most of the commercially available dogs on the American market were not something I wanted to eat or feed my family. Made with subpar meat and flavored with liquid smoke, the average hot dog is a very sad sausage. I wanted to make a dog that was snappy and juicy, with a real smoky flavor, made from sustainably raised meat.

Sausages have gotten a bad reputation. Though historically they were made with care, once mass-produced factory sausages became the norm, the quality of commercially available links suffered. Questions about what exactly was inside that casing caused many to shy away from purchasing and eating them.

So I set out to make sausages that I was proud to serve, sausages that I would feed my children, sausages that contained ingredients that were both pronounceable and that came from farms that I knew and respected. Not only did I enjoy coming up with new varieties, but I also was happy to restore integrity to well-known sausages, like bratwurst
(see page 74)
and chorizo
(see page 56)
.

With over a decade of experience in sausage, using my classical culinary training and good sourcing practices, I was able to create some really great sausage, finding more ways to utilize the whole animals that I was getting.
I created master ratios for different textures of sausage: coarse, firm, soft, and smooth. With those ratios in hand, I started to riff on flavor combinations, inspired by fruits and vegetables I'd find at the market, meat I had on hand, or time-honored pairings.

The fundamentals of sausage making are the same, though, whether you are crafting a coarse Italian-style sausage
(see page 64)
or a smooth boudin blanc
(see page 122)
, and there are techniques for grinding and mixing the meat, methods for stuffing the sausage meat into casings, and instructions for twisting those casings into links that are almost universal, no matter what type of sausage you're making. The first part of this book explains all the technical aspects of sausage making, from what tools you should have to how to successfully transform raw meat into finished, cased sausage. Before you attempt any of the recipes you should read the following primer and
chapter 1
carefully, as every recipe relies on that knowledge. There is also information about the various ways to cook your sausages, from grilling to poaching to smoking. Sausage should be treated with as much care as any cut of meat, and careful cooking ensures that the finished product will be juicy and delicious.

The rest of the book is divided into chapters based on what texture of sausage you'd like to make. Each chapter begins with the master ratio for that texture, so if you have some meat scraps on hand or are hit with some inspiration, you can create your own recipe, or you can simply follow the recipes that I've created. They make relatively small batches, so they're appropriate for a home cook, but the recipes can be easily multiplied if you'd like to make a bigger batch.

The overall goal of this book is to restore glory to the humble sausage; to inspire you to use every part of the animal to create sausages that are truly wonderful, and to enjoy the process of making them.

At its most basic, sausage is a pretty simple product: just ground meat and fat combined with salt, spices, and liquid, formed into patties or stuffed into casings. Sausage is a handy way to utilize meat scraps efficiently, but it has the added benefit of being totally delicious.

I've created dozens of different varieties of sausage at 4505 Meats, from boudin blanc studded with cubes of fresh nectarine to coarse, spicy lamb merguez links to traditional breakfast sausage flavored with maple syrup and sage.

When I set out to make a new sausage, I think first about the texture of the final product, which is why I've organized this book by texture. Do I want a smooth sausage, with a texture like a hot dog? Or am I looking to make something that has a coarse, rustic texture, like chorizo? Would I prefer a soft sausage with a fluffy texture, such as a boudin blanc, or something firm, like a smoked linguiça?

The texture of a sausage is determined by the amount of meat, fat, and liquid that it contains and how the ingredients are combined. For each of the four textures (coarse, smooth, soft, and firm) there is a master ratio, an equation that can be adjusted based on how much sausage I want to end up with or how much meat I have to use up.

Though the recipes in the book don't require an understanding of these master ratios, which are presented at the start of each chapter, they're helpful if you want to create your own recipes, experiment with different flavor combinations, or vary the type of meat you're using. You'll see that I've given you formulas for each recipe that show the ratios of every ingredient as a percentage of the total, in addition to U.S. measurements. The formulas are based on the yields of the recipes in grams and enable you to accurately scale the recipe up (or down) so you will able to make sausages for a crowd as easily and as successfully as you would make a single batch.

In the interest of preventing waste and making these recipes user-friendly, I've made them completely adaptable, based on the weight of the meat being prepared. All that's required if you want to maintain the consistency of the recipe is to multiply the percentage of the ingredient by the total weight of the recipe in grams. This formula is always based on the yield of the recipe in grams. The process is far more intuitive when working in grams, but I've also included volume measurements (cups and tablespoons), as well as the percentages for each ingredient. It works like this:

Desired weight of recipe in grams × % of ingredient = weight of ingredient

Example: Recipe yields 1,000 grams × 10% salt = 100 grams of salt

(Remember: to convert a percentage into a decimal, shift the decimal point two spots to the left (10% = 0.10). This will make your calculations much easier.)

There are not a lot of necessary tools for sausage making, but the few that you do need are critical for the success of your finished product. Calculating the ingredients for a recipe, weighing carefully, grinding cleanly, and proper stuffing are essential parts of making great sausage. Always make sure your tools are clean and in good working order before you begin.

A standard calculator is an invaluable tool for home sausage making. It's especially key when you start developing your own recipes, or if you are trying to utilize trim from butchering a whole animal.

By weight, casings are the most expensive ingredient in sausage making. Almost without exception, natural casings are hand-cleaned and sold by the hank, which is a measurement of length. Natural casings come packed in either salt or in brine; before using they should be soaked in cold water for 24 to 48 hours, refreshing the water periodically. Casings will keep, packed in salt and refrigerated, for up to a year; rinse them well before using. Just before stuffing, run warm water through the casings. You can also purchase ready-to-stuff casings on flow line tubes, which are plastic tubes onto which the casings have been threaded, making it easier to transfer the casing to the nose of the stuffer; these are typically sold packed in brine and still need to be soaked overnight before using.

Hog casings
are the small intestine of the animal and can be purchased in multiple sizes. They're typically used for country-style linked sausage, bratwurst, and any other sausages with a diameter larger than a hot dog.

Sheep casings
are thinner than hog casings and come in different grades and sizes. We typically use what is known as “frankfurter size,” which isn't the largest but is the most common, popular size. We use only Grade A sheep casings, which have fewer holes; these are the casings most typically used for hot dogs and will give you a snappier sausage than B- or C-grade casings.

Beef casings
come in three sizes: beef round, the small intestine of the animal; beef middle, the large intestine of the animal; and beef bung, which is the largest of the three. Beef rounds are only slightly smaller than middles and can be substituted for each another; I use the middles as casings for summer sausage and liverwurst. Middles are most frequently used for dried salami. The bung is used to case mortadella and bologna. Beef casings are thicker and more resilient than hog or sheep casings, making them a good choice for coarse sausage that will be smoked or dried. They have a pronounced aroma and should be soaked for several days before using.

Synthetic casings
, made of collagen, are also available. They are sold by the piece and adhere nicely to the meat within, making them a good choice for meat sticks. Store in a resealable bag in a dry place. Do not pack them in salt or put them in salt brine, which will cause them to melt.

Caul fat
can also be used in place of casings. Derived from the stomach lining of cows, sheep, and pigs, this lacy membrane has a web of fat strands that dissolve when the caul fat is heated, basting the enclosed meat as it cooks. Caul fat is usually sold frozen. To leach out any impurities, soak it in water, refrigerated, changing the water frequently, until the caul fat is white, 24 to 48 hours.