Homemade Sausage Making

Just taking a break. I am cooking for 8 tonight. I am doing a Cassoulet. It is a french style country cassorole. Instead of pancetta (mine is not ready) I am using cured pork belly (not cooked or smoked). I am also using my cooked cured chorizos and duck breast insted of duck leg confit I am using four duck breasts (bought). There is also some pork filet and heaps of white beans, herbs and vermouth to give it a bit of a kick. I am also using home made pork rather than chicken stock. Oh yes the meat is browned in duck fat.

Serving it with loads of crusty home made bread which just come out of the oven. Others are doing the starter, dessert bring the wine and doing the dishes. It is 10 degrees outside the rain is traveling horazontal and the max was 11 degrees. A good late Autumn day.

Anyway. I have now got about 150 grams of fatty duck breast skin trimmings. What type of sausage can I use the duck in. Idealy cured, smoked and cooked (can be poached or cooked in the smoker). I cannot get hold of any other wild game.


Mark

Ps. I hope no one has a heart attack tomorrow.

Hi Mark,
Got room for one more? The menu sounds inspired. You must be a sensational cook!
Have a great evening. (It's raining here too).
Regards Ursula

I love comfort food (does not always = fat). What I want to explore is using basic ingredents to create filling food.

The idea for the meal I produced was French (it could have been any nationatly 'peasant food'). It was ironic as I had no idea that one of the guests mother was French. She said to me that the meal reminded her of what her Grandmother made. She also said that her Grandmother would have been the first in line for seconds. It contained cured cooked sausages and cured pork belly.

I am into what I call grunt and satisfaction food. I am not very good at producing fancy food. I am in awe of anyone who produces cakes and desserts; particularly if it involves golden syruy, choclate, ice cream etc.

Hi Mark,
Wow, this sounds interesting. You asked:

I have now got about 150 grams of fatty duck breast skin trimmings. What type of sausage can I use the duck in. Idealy cured, smoked and cooked (can be poached or cooked in the smoker). I cannot get hold of any other wild game.

Mark, why not try just a basic recipe then add your favorite spice if you like. I would suggest the following to start with:

800 grams chicken
150 grams your duck trimmings
50 grams chicken fat and skins
18 grams salt
2.5 grams Cure #1
2.0 grams freshly ground black pepper
3.5 grams garlic
100 ml icewater

Grind the meat using a 3/16" (5 mm) plate and the fat and skins using a 1/8" (3 mm) plate. Emulsify the second grind (skins-fat) using a food processor, or you can simply re-freeze and grind it again through the 1/8" plate. Next, mix the first grind with the second, folding in the icewater and mixing in the remaining ingredients. Blend the mixture thoroughly then stuff it into hog casings (32 to 36 millimeters). Hang the rope on smokesticks an hour or until it is dry to the touch. Hot smoke the coil for two hours at 150°F (66°C) until it blooms. Finally, poach the sausage at 167°F (75°C) until the IMT reaches 160° F (72°C) in about 80 minutes. Cool the sausage in ice water and store it in the refrigerator.
Just a note: I really like chopped parsley or chives in this type of sausage. I've even used finely chopped spinach in it. (Be sure to blanch it to sterilize it). Also, a little dash of white pepper gives it a snap too. Just an idea. You might like it too.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Hi Chuckwagon,

What do mean/how can I tell when "it blooms"?

Chuckwagon wrote: Hot smoke the coil for two hours at 150°F (66°C) until it blooms.

Thanks,

Tom

Tom wrote:

Hi Chuckwagon, What do mean/how can I tell when "it blooms"?

Great question 86CJ. When a sausage has been stuffed and the casing is dry to the touch, it will develop a "pellicle" or hardened skin. This protective film will turn dark red in a few hours time, and eventually it will become deep-mahogany colored as it is exposed to the air. In a smoke house the time is shortened as the mahogany color will be helped along by the smoke. This developing of the pellicle along with the change in color to deep reddish hues, is called "blooming". The casing on a sausage must be dry to the touch before it will take on any smoke.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Ah, I know what your are talking about. Thank you very much Chuckwagon.

Tom