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Whether you're new to sausage-making or an expert, our tips and tricks will ensure you get the best, tender, juicy flavor from your sausage-making experience. Sausage made by one's own hands is even more satisfying. From preparing the meat and seasoning it to stuffing and preserving it, every step of the effort is worth documenting.
You will need to freeze the meat grinder parts overnight before you are ready to make sausage. On the day of making sausages, place the prepared meat in the refrigerator for a while to allow it to cool to a lower temperature without freezing, to prevent the meat from becoming hard and to maintain a good texture and obvious fat separation in the finished product. Separating the fat helps the sausage achieve a tender, juicy texture.
Seasoning the meat before grinding allows the meat grinder to do some of the mixing work for you. Depending on the seasoning, you can mix the meat and seasoning before grinding the meat for the first time, or you can season the meat after the grinding is complete. If you are using the seasoning as a whole piece, then you should add the sausage seasoning at the end.
Some sausages require varying degrees of stirring. Bratwurst and other fresh sausages should be stirred well so that seasonings, liquids and other add-ins are evenly bound together. Hot dogs and other emulsified sausages need to be stirred until thick to fully extract the protein.
Before you start stuffing, you should try the sausage flavor. You don’t want to put a lot of effort into making sausage that doesn’t taste great at the end. So before loading the sausage into the stuffing machine, fry up a piece of seasoned sausage and taste it to see if it suits your taste requirements. For experts who regularly make their own sausages, this step is not necessary, as they probably already have the exact recipe they want.
Soak the purchased sausage casings in warm water. If you are using fresh casings, you will also need to use white wine or onion and ginger water to remove the fishy smell. After soaking for a period of time, rinse the casings with running water, which can open the end of the casings and lubricate the inside so that the filling can be easily penetrated.
Put the minced meat into the hopper and first press out the excess air inside. Then put the rinsed casing on the sausage stuffing machine and tie a knot at the end of the casing. Now you can start stuffing the sausages. If you notice air bubbles forming during the filling process, you'll need to stop and poke a few small holes in the sausage with a spike or toothpick to release the gas inside. This will prevent the sausage from exploding due to the air bag.
Place some ice cubes or bread crumbs in a sausage stuffer or meat grinder to get out any last bits of sausage left in the machine. This method is very convenient if your filler does not have a cleaning tube or push tool. You can also just remove the remaining meat from the stuffing tube with your hands, but don't throw the meat away! It’s a great ingredient for burgers.
Use the prepared thick cotton thread to tie the sausage at the appropriate length, or use a special method to tie the sausage into a short section. Next, hang the entire sausage link in a ventilated place and let it dry naturally, which helps the flavor of the sausage develop.
There are many ways to prepare dried sausages, including smoking, grilling and poaching.
If you are smoking the sausage, you should have a smoking container in which to hang the sausage, and the sausage should not be heated above 175°F or 180°F.
If you plan to grill, use medium heat. Don't grill the sausage too hard to avoid the sausage meat expanding too quickly and bursting. You'll want to wait until the pan is hot enough before adding the sausage, and once one side of the sausage is toasted, pick it up with tongs and flip over until the sausage is fully cooked.
If you are boiling sausages, add cold water to the pot first, then add the sausages after boiling. In this way, the sausage will not absorb more water during the cooking process and maintain the original taste of the sausage.
Making your own sausages at home requires knowing some tips and tricks, otherwise you may end up spending a lot of time making unwanted sausages that won’t be worth it to you! Read this article, it might inspire you.
