Sausage (21 page)

Authors: Victoria Wise

BOOK: Sausage

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Beef

Look for blade roast, flatiron steak, stew meat, or cross-rib roast. All are cuts of beef chuck and have just the right ratio of meat to fat. Use a grinding plate with ¼- or ⅜-inch holes.

Lamb

The shoulder, either as shoulder roast, shoulder chops, or sirloin chops, is the most versatile cut for lamb sausage. Occasionally, as in the case of the
lamb and bulgur meatballs
, the leaner meat from the leg is desirable. Use a grinding plate with ¼-inch holes.

Poultry

Purchase either breast meat or thigh meat. An advantage of grinding chicken yourself is that you can include the breast skin, which adds tasty fat. Turkey breast or thigh meat is the choice for sausage making, though I seldom use either cut because turkey is so lean it is not a good candidate for sausage (see the recipe for Turkey and Pistachio Meatballs for an exception). Both chicken and turkey usually require added fat of some sort for succulence. Use a grinding plate with ¼- or ⅜-inch holes, depending on how much texture you would like in the sausage.

Fat

See the
Fats
section in the Ingredients chapter for the types of animal fats to use for sausages. For grinding, use the same-size plate as you do for the meat, and put the fat through last, so it can push out any meat left behind in the tube.

Casings

In shaping sausages, function determines form to a certain extent. That is, in terms of its substance, no difference exists between a patty and a meatball, between a tiny meatball and a large one, or between a link, a patty, and a meatball. But there is an aesthetic difference in the way the dish is perceived, and therefore in the way it is tasted. Following are the options for natural casings and a substitute that is acceptable in a pinch.

Hog casing and sheep casing

These are the intestines of pigs and sheep, respectively. Hog casing, 1 to 1½ inches in diameter, is used for most sausages, such as sweet Italian, Polish, and so on. Sheep casing, about ½ inch in diameter, is used for small links, such as little
breakfast links
and
Creole sausage
. One foot of hog casing holds 8 to 10 ounces of sausage; one foot of sheep casing holds 4 to 6 ounces. They can usually be purchased from butchers who make their own sausage, or both can be ordered on the Internet. They come in salt-encased bundles that will keep almost forever in the refrigerator. Cut off the length you are going to use and rinse thoroughly inside and out by fitting one end on the nozzle of the kitchen sink water spout and gently running water through the casing.

Caul fat

Also known as veil fat, caul fat is the lining of the lower stomach and upper intestine of pigs or sheep. Pork caul is traditionally used for wrapping
crépinettes
and pâtés, as well as roasts that need some moistening as they cook. Sometimes, you can find a specialty butcher who has it for house use and is happy to sell some to a customer. You can also order it on the Internet in 2- to 5-pound packages. One half pound of caul will wrap about 3½ pounds of sausage in 4-ounce patties. To use caul fat, soak it briefly in lots of water, with distilled white vinegar added if necessary to whiten it, then rinse again. Unravel the caul and spread it out, taking care to handle it gently, as it is quite delicate. Store any caul you haven’t used in the freezer indefinitely. If thawed and not used up, caul fat can be refrozen.

Cheesecloth

For when you want links, not patties or balls, but don’t have the casings or equipment for stuffing them, cheesecloth can substitute. It works, with the proviso that it does not lend the unique, desirable flavor that an animal casing does.

To make cheesecloth-wrapped links, divide the sausage mixture into 3- to 4-ounce portions. Press and roll each portion into a log ¾ to 1¼ inches in diameter, depending on the size you want the links. Place each portion in a length of cheesecloth large enough to enclose it, and roll it up snuggly, tucking in the ends as you go. Place the wrapped links on a plate and refrigerate for at least 4 hours; overnight is better. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. If you are boiling or parboiling the sausages, leave them in the cheesecloth. Otherwise, unwrap them before sautéing, grilling, or baking.

Sausage
Stuffing

You will need some type of sausage-stuffing device for stuffing sausage mixtures into hog or sheep casing. Various types are available, from simple, hand-cranked countertop models to state-of-the art, highly mechanized apparatuses. When cooks routinely ground their meats and stuffed sausages at home, a hand-cranked meat grinder with a sausage stuffing attachment was part of the kitchen equipment. An electric version of that anachronistic home model makes the job easier and more fun because you don’t need to struggle to push the meat through the plate or to fill the casings. For home sausage making, I use an inexpensive electric combination grinder and stuffer. The Internet is full of options in this regard, some with more horsepower, some with less, some taking up a lot of counter space, some more svelte that can be tucked away when not in use. Purchasing one is worth the modest expense if you’re avid about stuffing sausages.

For the occasional sausage making impulse, a less expensive way to fill casings is to use a funnel specially designed for sausage stuffing. It has a long nose, so you can thread the casing onto it, and a fairly wide mouth to accommodate a handful of filling at a time. Or, if you want to stuff sausage into casing without employing any special equipment, the ultimate home solution is to use a large-tube regular home funnel or, even more jury-rigged, a plastic bottle with its bottom cut off so you can feed the sausage through. Those are stopgap measures, however; I don’t recommend relying on them if you want to stuff sausages more than once or twice. Whichever device you use, thread as much casing onto the funnel end as it will accommodate. Leaving the casing end open—not tied or the sausage will clump, causing air pockets in between—push the sausage through the device into the casing. Smooth out the casing as you go, so the sausage is evenly distributed along its length. Once it is stuffed, smooth out any remaining air pockets and tie a knot at each end. Coil the length or twist it into individual links. If making links, twist each link the opposite way from the one before, to prevent them from coming untwisted.