So I had my first attempt at making my own sausages today. Figured I'd start a thread about it as I'll be trying some different flavours out in future and would like to share 
I had no idea how hard or easy this would be but to be honest, despite my noob skills resulting in much mess it was lots of fun and the results were bloomin marvellous.
So what meat?? - anything you want really! Of course Pork springs to mind, but we can use absolutely anything. Beef, Poultry, Lamb, Game. I believe you can mix the meats too, just be experimental.
I used shoulder of pork today.
Sausage making - you really need a machine. You can use a manual grinder but this is hard work. An electric grinder with sausage attachment makes life much easier for you. My grinder comes with three grinder attachments, coarse, medium and fine. Today I used medium.
This is the grinder I use. It was £65 and you can get much cheaper models. I only have this one as I wanted something powerful enough to grind bones (to feed my cats).
I cut the rind off the shoulder, you don't want this as it will just be hard and chewy in the sausage. Leave the fat on though, you need this to keep the sausage juicy and prevent it from drying out. I grinded the pork into a bowl.
To the bowl I then added "chef measures" of sea salt, ground black pepper, garlic and hot paprika. If you look up sausage recipes they will stipulate say 2 table spoons of salt, 1 of pepper, 4 of paprika etc. I don't subscribe to this logic. Throw as much as you think necessary and see what comes out (chefs measure)
I then ground star anise, fennel seed and dried chilli in a spice grinder along with a liberal measure of olive oil.
Mix this into your bowl of pork mince.
For the casings I got lamb (I think) casings from the butcher. He gave them me for free and that pile there is more than enough to do 100 sausages! They're slimy, messy and a bugger to handle, but I was assured by the butcher that I do not want collagen artificial casings. So if he says so then that's the be all and end all in my book!
I threw the mix back into the top of the blender, placed my sausage attachment over the grinder and slipped the casing over that. This is my first attempt at a sausage. I crimped the casing off, tied it in a knot and cut it off.
After my first sausage I then decided to just mince the whole lot through and create a super sausage. I then twisted at intervals along this long sausage to create lots of individual pieces. I haven't read any guides or watched any vids, so I don't actually know what I'm doing. This method seemed easiest at first, but then the twisting and snipping off resulted in some sausages spewing out at their ends.
I made a right mess
After much fun, dirty innuendo and twisting, I have a lovely looking bunch of sausages.
The best way to cook sausages? In a pan, coat them lightly in oil, and put them on a very low heat. Fry them slowly allowing them to cook in their juices and ingredients. If the pan is spitting oil out over your cooker then your heat is too high. Roll them to ensure they are cooked on all sides. 20mins in there isn't too long to cook. Like I said, cook them really slowly so they don't burn, burst or dry out. NEVER PR1CK THEM - Gary Rhodes says.
The finished product, compared to supermarket sausages, is not comparable. Yummy!
Next time I will be trying to improve my twisting method, making less mess and experimenting with different flavours. I think my next lot I will try for a traditional sausage using the herbs out of the garden.
I had no idea how hard or easy this would be but to be honest, despite my noob skills resulting in much mess it was lots of fun and the results were bloomin marvellous.
So what meat?? - anything you want really! Of course Pork springs to mind, but we can use absolutely anything. Beef, Poultry, Lamb, Game. I believe you can mix the meats too, just be experimental.
I used shoulder of pork today.
Sausage making - you really need a machine. You can use a manual grinder but this is hard work. An electric grinder with sausage attachment makes life much easier for you. My grinder comes with three grinder attachments, coarse, medium and fine. Today I used medium.
This is the grinder I use. It was £65 and you can get much cheaper models. I only have this one as I wanted something powerful enough to grind bones (to feed my cats).
I cut the rind off the shoulder, you don't want this as it will just be hard and chewy in the sausage. Leave the fat on though, you need this to keep the sausage juicy and prevent it from drying out. I grinded the pork into a bowl.
To the bowl I then added "chef measures" of sea salt, ground black pepper, garlic and hot paprika. If you look up sausage recipes they will stipulate say 2 table spoons of salt, 1 of pepper, 4 of paprika etc. I don't subscribe to this logic. Throw as much as you think necessary and see what comes out (chefs measure)
I then ground star anise, fennel seed and dried chilli in a spice grinder along with a liberal measure of olive oil.
Mix this into your bowl of pork mince.
For the casings I got lamb (I think) casings from the butcher. He gave them me for free and that pile there is more than enough to do 100 sausages! They're slimy, messy and a bugger to handle, but I was assured by the butcher that I do not want collagen artificial casings. So if he says so then that's the be all and end all in my book!
I threw the mix back into the top of the blender, placed my sausage attachment over the grinder and slipped the casing over that. This is my first attempt at a sausage. I crimped the casing off, tied it in a knot and cut it off.
After my first sausage I then decided to just mince the whole lot through and create a super sausage. I then twisted at intervals along this long sausage to create lots of individual pieces. I haven't read any guides or watched any vids, so I don't actually know what I'm doing. This method seemed easiest at first, but then the twisting and snipping off resulted in some sausages spewing out at their ends.
I made a right mess
After much fun, dirty innuendo and twisting, I have a lovely looking bunch of sausages.
The best way to cook sausages? In a pan, coat them lightly in oil, and put them on a very low heat. Fry them slowly allowing them to cook in their juices and ingredients. If the pan is spitting oil out over your cooker then your heat is too high. Roll them to ensure they are cooked on all sides. 20mins in there isn't too long to cook. Like I said, cook them really slowly so they don't burn, burst or dry out. NEVER PR1CK THEM - Gary Rhodes says.
The finished product, compared to supermarket sausages, is not comparable. Yummy!
Next time I will be trying to improve my twisting method, making less mess and experimenting with different flavours. I think my next lot I will try for a traditional sausage using the herbs out of the garden.
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