I Make Sausage; You Can Too.

[dsrtao]

Here's what you need to make unpreserved sausage :

Meat, fat, salt, spices.

Here's the ratio: for each pound of lean meat, you want an additional 4 oz of fat, a teaspoon of salt, and all the spiciness you desire.

I bet you can make a decent vegetarian sausage out of seitan and butter, actually.

The ground beef/turkey/chicken/whatever you can get at a grocery store is a good start, but it's too coarse. Whizzing it in a blender along with the fat, salt and spices is what turns it into sausage.

If you want a smoky sausage, add smoked paprika and/or BaconSalt.

• Italian: powdered onion, powdered garlic, dried basil, parsley, rosemary, ground or whole fennel seeds, red pepper flakes.


• Greek: powdered onion, oregano, sweet paprika, mint. Yes, mint. Lemon zest is good, too.


• "BBQ potato chip": powdered onion, powdered garlic, sweet paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne, black pepper, something sweet -- sugar or whatever.


• Sage and onion: powdered onion, black pepper, more dried sage than you think is a good idea.


• "Tastes like chicken": CostCo's Kirkland No-Salt seasoning contains everything you would put in chicken soup except salt and chicken. Remember to add salt.

After you've whizzed it all in the blender until it's a smooth consistency, scrape it into a freezer-grade ziploc. Label it, including the date. Refrigerate immediately. Use as you would use raw sausage -- that is, cook it, don't just sprinkle it on things.

Comments

[soteltie.livejournal.com]

Did you know you can form the sausage and wrap tightly in saran wrap? You can boil it right in the saran wrap, then remove the wrap before browning. Simpler than trying to put into casings, great for small batches…

For a large batch, you could try asking local meat manager if they'd make a batch to your custom recipe.