Description
Discover how to make delicious homemade sausages with this easy step-by-step recipe. Using fresh pork, aromatic spices, and traditional methods, you can craft flavorful sausages perfect for grilling or frying. This recipe yields juicy, rustic links with customizable seasonings, ideal for any meat lover.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Meat and Fat
- 4 pounds (1.8kg) pork shoulder
- 1 pound (0.45kg) pork fat
Spices and Seasonings
- 40 grams kosher salt
- 35 grams sugar
- 20 grams toasted fennel seeds
- 6 grams cracked black pepper
- 4 grams ground nutmeg
Additional Flavors
- 1 cup minced fresh parsley
- 1 head garlic, peeled and chopped
- 3/4 cup dry sherry
- 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
Special Equipment
- Meat grinder with coarse and fine dies
- Kitchen scale
- Hog casings (about 15-18 feet)
- Sausage stuffer
Instructions
- Prepare ingredients and equipment: Freeze the meat, fat, bowls, and grinder for at least 2 hours to keep everything cold, which is essential for proper sausage texture.
- Cut meat and fat: Slice the pork shoulder and pork fat into chunks approximately 1-2 inches wide, keeping these cold in a bowl set on ice to maintain firmness.
- Mix and chill: Quickly combine the meat and fat in a bowl, add most of the spices (reserve some fennel seeds and pepper), then mix in the salt and sugar thoroughly. Cover and freeze the mixture for 30-60 minutes.
- Prepare sherry mixture: Mix the dry sherry and sherry vinegar, then chill in the refrigerator.
- Soak casings: Immerse hog casings in warm water for about 30 minutes to make them pliable and check for holes; set aside.
- Set up grinder: Remove the chilled mixture from the freezer, set up the grinder with the coarse die, and grind the meat mixture quickly into a cold bowl.
- Add remaining spices and bind: After grinding, return the ground meat to the bowl, add the remaining spices, and the sherry mixture. Mix thoroughly using a paddle attachment or by hand until the mixture is sticky and binds well (about 90 seconds).
- Prepare for stuffing: Chill the mixture again. Thread the soaked casings onto the sausage stuffer tube, leaving a 6-inch tail, and secure with a knot.
- Stuff sausages: Fill the casings with the meat mixture, rolling the sausage into a coil. Tie off the end, then pinch and turn to create individual links, twisting in alternating directions. Prick air bubbles and hang sausages in a cool place for 1-2 hours to dry, then refrigerate overnight or freeze.
Notes
- Always keep ingredients and equipment as cold as possible to prevent fat from melting and to ensure good texture.
- Adjust spice quantities to taste for different flavors.
- Pricking air bubbles helps prevent blowouts during cooking.
- Hang sausages in a cool, dry place before refrigeration to allow casings to dry slightly for better cooking results.
- This recipe makes about 15-20 links, or 5 pounds of sausage.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 link (about 0.25 pounds)
- Calories: 220
- Sugar: 0.5g
- Sodium: 950mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 9g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 2g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 12g
- Cholesterol: 70mg
