Re: Sausage Sunday!

[Guest guest]

-

>So whattaya think?

Whatever fat you use, don't render it before making sausage! Just cut it

up and grind it along with the meat.

-

[Guest guest]

At 05:09 PM 9/10/04 -0400, you wrote:

>-

>

>>So whattaya think?

>

>Whatever fat you use, don't render it before making sausage! Just cut it

>up and grind it along with the meat.

Ah, but the meat is all already ground. I've not had good luck grinding

fat by itself (tends to get all bound up in the blades). But .... good

point. Probably better to deal with a clogged grinder for an hour or so

than cook the fat to death, huh? Unless the cooking would get rid of

any nasties from conventional meat/fat source ...

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

-

>Probably better to deal with a clogged grinder for an hour or so

>than cook the fat to death, huh? Unless the cooking would get rid of

>any nasties from conventional meat/fat source ...

I suppose it's always worth experimenting, but I doubt the results will be

especially good with rendered fat. It won't have any body, and I'd imagine

that when you cook the sausages, you'll have a lot more leakage than if you

used unrendered fatback.

-

[Guest guest]

> Ah, but the meat is all already ground. I've not had good luck grinding

> fat by itself (tends to get all bound up in the blades).

Any reason you can't run the meat through the grinder one more time along with

the fat? That might be the best way to get a good texture.

Bruce

[Guest guest]

Greetings,

I am new to this list, but I may know some of you from the kefirmaking list

and rawdairy.

I render fat to make tallow for soap all the time, and I do run my fat

through my grinder. I have never had a problem doing so. Just make sure

your fat is good and cold when you start.

I joined the list hoping to find recipes for lacto fermented sausage as

mentioned on the Weston Price home page. I have checked the files section

and not seen anything there.

My husband and I own a small sustainable farm in Texas and do home butcher

with our own animals, so making sausage fits with our lifestyle. I would

like to do something healthier that the standard recipe loaded with

nitrites and nitrates.

Bright Blessings,

Kim

At 04:43 PM 9/10/2004, you wrote:

>-

>

> >Probably better to deal with a clogged grinder for an hour or so

> >than cook the fat to death, huh?

[Guest guest]

At 04:17 PM 9/10/04 -0600, you wrote:

>> Ah, but the meat is all already ground. I've not had good luck grinding

>> fat by itself (tends to get all bound up in the blades).

>

>Any reason you can't run the meat through the grinder one more time along

with

>the fat? That might be the best way to get a good texture.

>

>Bruce

Mostly because growing up Polish, I tend to like my sausages a little

chunky. Or certainly not very finely ground, which is what would happen

if I put that meat through the actual blades again.

I'm pretty familiar with the mechanics of sausage-making (even though I

screw up once in a while by not running a taste-test like the last time),

I've done it quite a bit in the past. had a good point, though - in

the days of my married " youth " , when low-fat, no saturated fat was the

order of the day , olive oil was the added fat of choice. But it DOES

leak a lot more when cooking, so, ya know.

This is one of the first few times I'll be doing lots of sausage WAP-way,

though, which is why I asked about the whole " is there anything really icky

about using conventional fat and how can I minimize it " question. If I'd

known earlier that I couldn't get more lard ... *sigh* ... it tastes so

GOOD!

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

I too would love a recipe for a lacto-fermented sausage!!! , how do you

stuff your casings? Do you have some kind of gizmo? Where does one buy

casings anyway?

I have grass-fed suet. What is the ratio of suet to meat for a sausage?

Also, i don't have pork. Will beef work just fine?

The current issue of the New Yorker is about food and there was one bit

about traditional Italian cooking. The author describes some kind of aged

meat wrapped in bladders and hanging from the ceiling growing mold, but very

tasty. I would love to learn how to prepare meat in a way that doesn't

require freezing or refrigeration.

Elaine

[Guest guest]

At 05:27 PM 9/10/04 -0500, you wrote:

>I render fat to make tallow for soap all the time, and I do run my fat

>through my grinder. I have never had a problem doing so. Just make sure

>your fat is good and cold when you start.

Yeah, I learned very early that everything running through the grinder has

to be quite cold - partially frozen is even better, especially if I want a

coarser grind like I mentioned in reply to Bruce. No matter what,

though, there's always SOMETHING in there to gum up the works, but hey, as

long as most of it comes out okay, no matter.

>

>I joined the list hoping to find recipes for lacto fermented sausage as

>mentioned on the Weston Price home page. I have checked the files section

>and not seen anything there.

Okay, I'm REAL interested in that. For some reason I have the idea stuck

in my head that lacto-fermenting is for vegetables. But meat????

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

Elaine-

>I have grass-fed suet. What is the ratio of suet to meat for a sausage?

>Also, i don't have pork. Will beef work just fine?

There are plenty of beef sausages out there -- just look at recipes, try

some sausages if you can find them, and experiment! I've made plenty of

venison sausages myself, and they've been very good. The one thing to be

aware of with suet is that because it's more saturated than pig fatback

(which can be a good thing!) it can tend to give your sausage a grainy sort

of texture which isn't always pleasant. That's one reason beef sausages

are often dried, like salami, or very finely ground and even emulsified,

like hotdogs and balogna.

>I would love to learn how to prepare meat in a way that doesn't

>require freezing or refrigeration.

Me too, but drying sausages can require a dedicated (if small) fridge,

which I'm not able to spring for at the moment. Fermented sausages are

very common, though. Most hard sausages like salami are actually fermented

-- that's where the tang comes from.

-

[Guest guest]

At 03:42 PM 9/10/04 -0700, you wrote:

>I too would love a recipe for a lacto-fermented sausage!!! , how do you

>stuff your casings? Do you have some kind of gizmo? Where does one buy

>casings anyway?

I have a Maverick grinder, it's one of the most wonderful things in the

universe. I bought it because it was recommended to me as being able to

handle grinding bones (although I've not, and will not, test the actual

limits of that) - wanting to grind whole chickens etc. for cat food. It

works VERY well, very quickly (even on bones). It also comes with a nice

little sausage stuffer attachment that does NOT require running the meat

through grinding blades again, it'll work on its own. I highly

recommend it. HIGHLY.

>

>I have grass-fed suet. What is the ratio of suet to meat for a sausage?

That's a question of individual preference. I tend to go anywhere

between one quarter to one-third fat to meat ratio, one-third being optimal

because I'm a bit of a slut in terms of fatty sausage. That's also

assuming I have good ingredients to begin with. The last thing I want

is a dry sausage. PLEASE - learn from my last experience ... ALWAYS

taste test first! That last batch that I didn't taste-test not only

turned out dry, but also a bit more bland than what I was looking for,

since I wanted to use it right away. The longer it sits, even in the

freezer, the stronger the spices will get, so you gotta kinda know what

you're looking for and spice and keep accordingly.

>Also, i don't have pork. Will beef work just fine?

Sure. My experience has been that I can use much stronger spicing with

beef. But again, depending on the cut, etc., you need to use the same

parameters as far as fat content, etc.

>

>The current issue of the New Yorker is about food and there was one bit

>about traditional Italian cooking. The author describes some kind of aged

>meat wrapped in bladders and hanging from the ceiling growing mold, but very

>tasty. I would love to learn how to prepare meat in a way that doesn't

>require freezing or refrigeration.

I know there is SOME kind of sausage (whose name escapes me at the moment),

that requires minimal refrigeration (i.e. storage in the root cellar) ...

some sort of dry-cure, dry/cold smoked? That's way beyond my expertise,

though, maybe someone else on the list has a clue.

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

> >I have grass-fed suet. What is the ratio of suet to meat for a sausage?

> >Also, i don't have pork. Will beef work just fine?

>

> The one thing to be aware of with suet is that because it's more saturated

> than pig fatback (which can be a good thing!) it can tend to give your sausage

> a grainy sort of texture which isn't always pleasant.

Do you mean suet or tallow ?

I understand that suet is the hard very saturated fat that is found around

internal organs and tallow is the general deposits of body fat.

The meat cutter we take our wild meat to to have sausage made prefers to use

tallow because it doesn't have as greasy a feel as pig fat does. He said it is

easier to get the right consistancy with beef fat. A little to much pig fat and

it has a greasy texture according to him.

> >I would love to learn how to prepare meat in a way that doesn't

> >require freezing or refrigeration.

>

> Me too, but drying sausages can require a dedicated (if small) fridge,

The best thing I saw for this was a chest freezer that was converted into a

drying cabinet with temperature and humidity controls.

regards, Bruce

[Guest guest]

At 07:15 PM 9/10/04 -0400, wrote:

> I've made plenty of venison sausages myself, and they've been very good

Oh, see now THERE you have me. PLEASE share a recipe or twelve?

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

At 03:42 PM 9/10/04 -0700, you wrote:

>Where does one buy casings anyway?

I forgot to answer this part. I walk into the conventional butcher shop

and tell him I want enough casings for XX pounds of meat. I usually

tell him I want them for at least three times the amount of meat that I

actually HAVE, then I just freeze the extra casings for the next

sausage-making bout so I don't have to make lots of trips up there.

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

At 06:03 PM 9/10/04 -0600, you wrote:

>> >I have grass-fed suet. What is the ratio of suet to meat for a sausage?

>> >Also, i don't have pork. Will beef work just fine?

>>

>> The one thing to be aware of with suet is that because it's more saturated

>> than pig fatback (which can be a good thing!) it can tend to give your

sausage

>> a grainy sort of texture which isn't always pleasant.

>

>Do you mean suet or tallow ?

>I understand that suet is the hard very saturated fat that is found around

>internal organs and tallow is the general deposits of body fat.

*snort*

And here now I'm questioning everything. When I was growing up, suet was

something you put in the bird feeders for goldfinches and chickadees.

Fifteen years ago when I started getting interested in duplicating sausages

that I'd found that were WAY too expensive, suet was what you rendered to

get tallow.

>

>The meat cutter we take our wild meat to to have sausage made prefers to use

>tallow because it doesn't have as greasy a feel as pig fat does. He said

it is

>easier to get the right consistancy with beef fat. A little to much pig

fat and

>it has a greasy texture according to him.

Greasy feel (while making it) or greasy texture (while eating it)?

>The best thing I saw for this was a chest freezer that was converted into a

>drying cabinet with temperature and humidity controls.

I would love to know details of that.

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

> Okay, I'm REAL interested in that. For some reason I have the idea stuck

> in my head that lacto-fermenting is for vegetables. But meat????

>

Fermented sausages normally use a particular bacterial starter culture.

Penicillium mold is used for some traditional sausages.

This is a really good site for anyone interested in sausage making:

http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/index.htm

The fellow must be a real sausage-o-phile, there are over a hundred recipes

there in pdf format.

regards, Bruce

[Guest guest]

> >The best thing I saw for this was a chest freezer that was converted into a

> >drying cabinet with temperature and humidity controls.

>

> I would love to know details of that.

>

http://home.att.net/~g.m.fowler/frame/chillbox.htm

Let's begin......

A freezer, by design when powered on will cool until temperature setting of the

factory internal controller (thermostat) is met, typically -5 to +5 degrees. My

freezer modification first started with the need for an external control to

prevent the freezer from going to this temperature range and

cycle the freezer on when the temperature went above my desired temp range of

40-55 degrees. My solution was to use a " line voltage thermostat " which I picked

up online from McMaster-Carr http://www.mcmaster.com The thermostat I ordered

can be set to operate between -30 to +100 degrees and comes with a remote

temperature probe. By plugging the freezer power cord into the line voltage

thermostat and dialing the temperature of the thermostat to the desired

operating temperature you are essentially bypassing the internal temperature

control mechanisms by cutting power to the freezer when the set temperature is

reached. Once temperature is reached

the thermostat will then cycle on and off the power as needed to maintain the

temperature setting.

Now the one thing great about this design is that when I am not dry curing

sausage I can use the unit as either a refrigerator or a freezer....simply by

changing the temperature setting on the thermostat. Again this was another

reason I chose to use a freezer instead of refrigerator as a refrigerator is not

capable of being anything but a refrigerator.

Now the second factor that needed to be controlled was humidity. Maintaining

a relative humidity of 70-72% is critical to prevent case hardening which would

prevent internal moisture transfer. You will find that a refrigerator is a very

dry place with typical humidity of around 30 -

40% which is much lower than what we need to dry cure sausages. So how does one

introduce humidity in a controlled fashion. It has been suggested that one could

take a pound of salt and place it in a shallow pan with just enough water to

cover it. Indeed this does create humidity but my evaluation of this method

indicates inconsistent levels of humidity and not necessarily achieving the

desired humidity of 70-72%.

Problem stems from the fact that it is not controlled humidity. So challenge

becomes how do we introduce controlled humidity? The answer is a humidifier & an

" line voltage humdistat "

(which senses relative humidity and opens & closes contacts), operating on the

same principles in which we controlled the temperature. The humidifier is

plugged into the humidistat which provides power to the humidifier until the

preset relative humidity is reached. From there on in the humidistat will cycle

on and off the humidifier as needed to maintain the humidity setting.

There are many humidi-stats on the market, Nutone makes one, Green Air also

makes one (www.greenair.com). There are two types of humidifiers available at

just about any department store of home improvement center, one generates warm

moist air while the other generates cool moist air.

You want a cool moist air unit as you do not want to be generating heat

inside your cooler. Also you only need a very small humidifier. No need to by

one that will humidify 2000 sq feet for our application. I would also highly

recommend the use of distilled water in the humidifier.

One other thing you need to be aware of on frost free units is the defroster

will periodically cycle on (some units are timed so that the defroster cycles on

for 30 minutes for every 12 hours of compressor time). This may work differently

with different models and makes. Basically it is the job of the defroster to

remove moisture which is what we are trying to maintain. I found that it was

pretty simple to trace the wiring and disconnect the wiring to the defroster

(typically you will find the defroster is a separate tube that runs underneath t

he cooling coils at which one end will have wires connected). However my

observations are that the humidifier will also kick on during automatic defrost

negating the effects of the defroster. Not a big deal if you can't figure out

how to disconnect when using the humidifier method but I did find that the salt

and water method does not generate humidity quick enough to stay ahead of the

defroster. In this case, choice could

be a non-frost free model (manual defrost) but I found less hanging flexibility

because of the non-removable coiled shelves plus disadvantage of not having

absolute control of humidity levels. The other thing I liked about the frost

free model is that a small fan comes on when compressor activates providing a

little air circulation.

One other neat thing I found was a Cable-Free (wireless) thermo-hygrometer.

Sensor is placed inside cooling unit and transmits temperature & relative

humidity to a digital display you can mount of the outside of your cooler or up

to 100 feet away. This is available at http://www.time-weather.com. It's a bell

and whistle thing that eliminates having to open door to check humidity &

temp.....a simple thermometer & hygrometer placed inside unit will work fine

too.

Lastly you will need to drill a few holes (remotes probes, humidifier

power). Make sure unit is unplugged when you do this and make sure you know

where the coils & other wiring are to prevent damage to the unit.

[Guest guest]

Bruce-

>Do you mean suet or tallow ?

>I understand that suet is the hard very saturated fat that is found around

>internal organs and tallow is the general deposits of body fat.

I mean suet, but my understanding is that suet is the fatty tissue and

tallow is the fat rendered from that tissue, as lard is fat rendered from

fatback and other fatty tissues from a pig.

>The meat cutter we take our wild meat to to have sausage made prefers to use

>tallow because it doesn't have as greasy a feel as pig fat does. He said it is

>easier to get the right consistancy with beef fat. A little to much pig

>fat and

>it has a greasy texture according to him.

I make some of the fattiest sausages you're likely to find, and I don't

know what he's talking about unless his tastes run towards the lowfat

cardboardy-y sausages that have become popular in today's " heart healthy "

world. I suppose compared to that sort of thing traditional sausage might

seem greasy or fatty -- I'm reminded of my grandfather, who thought Hagen

Daaz ice cream tasted " greasy " and hated anything with so much as a hint of

fat in it (and he died of cancer) -- but I like it.

-

[Guest guest]

>Mostly because growing up Polish, I tend to like my sausages a little

>chunky. Or certainly not very finely ground, which is what would happen

>if I put that meat through the actual blades again.

I like chunky sausage too ... sorry for coming into this late, hopefully

you are happily sausage making today not reading emails ... but I

agree, don't render the fat. If it doesn't grind will, just get a good

big knife and chop it. They were making sausage for a long time

before they invented meat grinders ... it chops faster than

you would think.

Organic fat is always better, but if you can't get any, using regular

fat still gives you better sausage than commercial because you

don't have all the nitrates. Many butchers will give you the fat,

or sell it very cheap. The laws in this state are rather strict,

you are not allowed to have someone's discards from " custom

butchered " animals, but sometimes you can talk to the person

who's animal it is and they are happy to give you the organs

and fat, or you can buy them for your dog.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

>Me too, but drying sausages can require a dedicated (if small) fridge,

>which I'm not able to spring for at the moment. Fermented sausages are

>very common, though. Most hard sausages like salami are actually fermented

>-- that's where the tang comes from.

>

>-

I haven't made " real " lactofermented sausage, but I have found that if I

mix some ground meat with spices and kefir and let it set in the fridge

for a couple of days, then dehydrate it, it makes a very sausagy tasting

jerky (much like German Jaegerwurst). If you made it a little thicker, it

would be Jaegerwurst, sans casing. I lack a smokehouse, but I'd guess

they would do something similar then hang it in the smokehouse for

a month or so while it dried ... drying it in a casing would take a long

time, I think.

Anyway, you CAN get that nice tangy taste just with kefir, and it's

a real easy way to go. Letting it ferment in the fridge pretty

much gets rid of the chance of botulism (my understanding is

that botulism only grows over 50 degrees F, and once the kefir

takes hold good it's acidic enough to be safe, IMO but I'm no

expert). I'm leery of trying it with anything else but kefir, because

of the botulism risk ... which is why you don't seem many lactofermented

sausage recipes, people have gotten botulism from homemade sausage.

I trust my kefir though, more than I would one of those wimpy commercial

cultures. You do want to make sure the ground meat is well mixed in

with the kefir.

Another way to preserve meat is to salt it ... that was done at room

temp in the old days (tho I think usually in the fall, when temps

were cooler). I made a really nice prosciutto from a beef roast.

For 10 days, I did the following:

1. Coat the roast with molasses.

2. Rub a coating of salt on the molasses.

I kept the roast " up " on dish so it didn't set in the juices.

After 10 days, I sliced it really thin and froze it in slices on

paper for easy serving, but they used to hang them in the

smokehouse to smoke, then wrap in paper (to keep the bugs

out) and hang them from the ceiling.

You can also dunk the meat in a good brine to store it,

or in a box filled with salt. For a salt box you need holes in the

bottom to drain out the liquid ... but it's a quick way to preserve

extra meat or fish with no fridge. If you don't use nitrates,

the meat is brown rather than pink, but it tastes fine (albeit

salty ... you want to use it in recipes for salty meat, like " salt pork " ).

Sometimes half salt and half sugar are used instead (sugar cured ham).

You can also use a brine with kefir in it ... NT has a recipe using

whey to make corned beef. I made a corned beef with just brine,

and it was good, but it comes out a lot more tender if you use

kefir and spices in the fridge. You can use kefir on any tough

meat and it will tenderize it nicely.

Heidi Jean

[Guest guest]

At 09:57 AM 9/12/04 -0700, you wrote:

>I haven't made " real " lactofermented sausage, but I have found that if I

>mix some ground meat with spices and kefir and let it set in the fridge

>for a couple of days, then dehydrate it, it makes a very sausagy tasting

>jerky (much like German Jaegerwurst).

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but I did that, thanks to your

suggestion. Other than the fact that I didn't particularly care for the

spice I used, it came out really good. I'll be doing it again.

>Anyway, you CAN get that nice tangy taste just with kefir, and it's

>a real easy way to go. Letting it ferment in the fridge pretty

>much gets rid of the chance of botulism (my understanding is

>that botulism only grows over 50 degrees F, and once the kefir

>takes hold good it's acidic enough to be safe, IMO but I'm no

>expert). I'm leery of trying it with anything else but kefir, because

>of the botulism risk ... which is why you don't seem many lactofermented

>sausage recipes, people have gotten botulism from homemade sausage.

>I trust my kefir though, more than I would one of those wimpy commercial

>cultures. You do want to make sure the ground meat is well mixed in

>with the kefir.

And as noted in my last reply, this is what I get for not planning far

enough ahead. I'm going to go ahead and mix up at least a little kefir

with the meat (most of it's pork) - as far as the whole botulism idea, do

you think that only one day of kefir-ing would make much of a difference?

Just curious.

>

>Another way to preserve meat is to salt it ... that was done at room

>temp in the old days (tho I think usually in the fall, when temps

>were cooler). I made a really nice prosciutto from a beef roast.

>For 10 days, I did the following:

>

>1. Coat the roast with molasses.

>2. Rub a coating of salt on the molasses.

>

>I kept the roast " up " on dish so it didn't set in the juices.

>After 10 days, I sliced it really thin and froze it in slices on

>paper for easy serving, but they used to hang them in the

>smokehouse to smoke, then wrap in paper (to keep the bugs

>out) and hang them from the ceiling.

And as usual, you go and send one of those " keeper " emails. Bad, BAD

Heidi! You're cluttering up my archives with all those pesky recipes!!!

(By the way - what was the roast cut you used?)

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

At 07:51 PM 9/11/04 -0400, you wrote:

>>The meat cutter we take our wild meat to to have sausage made prefers to use

>>tallow because it doesn't have as greasy a feel as pig fat does. He said

it is

>>easier to get the right consistancy with beef fat. A little to much pig

>>fat and

>>it has a greasy texture according to him.

>

>I make some of the fattiest sausages you're likely to find, and I don't

>know what he's talking about unless his tastes run towards the lowfat

>cardboardy-y sausages that have become popular in today's " heart healthy "

>world. I suppose compared to that sort of thing traditional sausage might

>seem greasy or fatty -- I'm reminded of my grandfather, who thought Hagen

>Daaz ice cream tasted " greasy " and hated anything with so much as a hint of

>fat in it (and he died of cancer) -- but I like it.

Well, I've accidentally made some of those lowfat cardboard-y sausages.

I either give them away to someone who lives in today's " heart-healthy "

world, or go back and spend another day fixing them (the sausages, not the

people heh).

Out of curiosity, , what's the fattiest sausage you ever made -

proportion-wise? I don't think I've ever managed QUITE a 50-50 split

between lean meat v. fat, but I may have come close a few times.

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

At 09:42 AM 9/12/04 -0700, Heidi wrote:

>I like chunky sausage too ... sorry for coming into this late, hopefully

>you are happily sausage making today not reading emails ... but I

>agree, don't render the fat. If it doesn't grind will, just get a good

>big knife and chop it. They were making sausage for a long time

>before they invented meat grinders ... it chops faster than

>you would think.

>

>Organic fat is always better, but if you can't get any, using regular

>fat still gives you better sausage than commercial because you

>don't have all the nitrates. Many butchers will give you the fat,

>or sell it very cheap. The laws in this state are rather strict,

>you are not allowed to have someone's discards from " custom

>butchered " animals, but sometimes you can talk to the person

>who's animal it is and they are happy to give you the organs

>and fat, or you can buy them for your dog.

We didn't do it Sunday, but we've rescheduled for tomorrow. I've gotten

my hands on about 15 pounds of suet, so I'll be chopping or grinding that

today, plus I'm going to render some of it to use for cooking later, given

my current lard shortage. It's not organic, but as you said, it's better

than nothing or something with a bunch of nitrite or nitrates in it. My

sissy pointed something out to me once, and I checked myself, and it was

true ... go to a grocery store, and if you can find lard at all, they've

added hydrogenated oils to it!!!!!!!!!!! (Man, I was pissed when I

discovered that).

Of course, this is all my own fault for not preparing ahead on the sausage

date.

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

At 10:34 AM 9/20/04 +1000, you wrote:

>Do you get natural or manufactured casings?

>

>Tas'.

You know, it never occurred to me to question that. Since I was getting

them from the butcher, I just always assumed they were natural. Went

back up this morning to get more and asked just to be sure, and yep,

they're real. No fake casings here.

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.

[Guest guest]

-

>Out of curiosity, , what's the fattiest sausage you ever made -

>proportion-wise? I don't think I've ever managed QUITE a 50-50 split

>between lean meat v. fat, but I may have come close a few times.

Hmm, I've probably tipped past 50-50, but by exactly how much I couldn't

say. Unfortunately, past a certain point the extra fat just tends to cook

out of the sausage, and if like me you don't eat potatoes or other starches

which can soak up the grease, the extra is hard not to waste.

-

[Guest guest]

At 01:58 PM 9/13/04 -0400, you wrote:

>

>-

>

>>Out of curiosity, , what's the fattiest sausage you ever made -

>>proportion-wise? I don't think I've ever managed QUITE a 50-50 split

>>between lean meat v. fat, but I may have come close a few times.

>

>Hmm, I've probably tipped past 50-50, but by exactly how much I couldn't

>say. Unfortunately, past a certain point the extra fat just tends to cook

>out of the sausage, and if like me you don't eat potatoes or other starches

>which can soak up the grease, the extra is hard not to waste.

Ah. See, I think you just helped me figure out what I REALLY was doing

wrong. I haven't made a LOT of sausage since discovering WAP/NT, so I

guess it was taking me a while to get over the old " OMG MUST BE LOW FAT! "

habits - while I was mixing the meat. For some reason I think I still had

a bit of a subconscious thing going on that I didn't want to have TOO much

fat in there. Eeesh. However, thanks to everyone's help, and since

I now have the means, I'm going to try for an actual 50/50 split on these

next batches. If I start cluttering up the list raving about this really

great sausage later, it'll be all your fault, and y'all should be proud of it.

While I DO eat potatoes and sech, I don't usually eat them at the exact

same time as whatever sausage I'm consuming. I just tend to pour

whatever cooked-out grease there is onto the plate and treat it like gravy,

swirl the meat around in it and hope I can get it into my mouth before it

drips all over my shirt. Or if there's REALLY too much (like if I've

just pan-fried a piece of meat with even more butter than usual), I just

save it and cook eggs or something in it later. Actually, I have a

little jar of " mixed grease " in my fridge for exactly things like that -

cooking something real fast that doesn't have a lot of flavor on its own.

MFJ

Everything connects. The Universe is not THAT chaotic. Beauty can

still be found in the most amazing places.