Homemade Sausage Making

I have decided to revisit my fresh beef, horseradish and mustard sausages. The taste is good, but they were dry or to fatty. After trying some combinations (brisket, chuck steak, pork shoulder in different ratios) I ended up using 1kg of lean beef and 200g of pork back fat. I do not have any back fat and I will not be able to get any until next week. I was wondering whether I should use pork belly or pork shoulder instead. I am not after the pork taste, just the moistness of the pork.

I know that pork belly (or the soft fat) has a lower melting point this has put me off using it. Last time I used pork belly in fresh sausages I found that when I go to cut the sausages fat squirted out. What are people`s thoughts on using either dry breadcrumbs (how much should I use?) or milk powder (how much should I use?) to hold the moisture in?

Mark

I am partial to brisket fat as an alternative to pork fat.

In a local chop shop saw some chuck steak which had a lot of fat marbling. I used it and it was fantastic. At the same place I bought some lamb chops. Saturday night people loved the sausages, but were not sure what the chops were as they were too white to be lamb!!!! They did taste bland. They were cheap and with a bit of fancy rub they tasted good.

On Sunday I went to a bbq. Except for my partner I knew no-one. I took some of my best sausages. These went down well. What blew my mind away was the steak (came from a 3 yr old bull that weighed in about 580 kg) and venison. A coaster who professionally hunts deer as well as farms them (he sells his venison through the top NZ label) and has "pet' Hereford bulls (just for his family and friends) grazing on his land brought along some steaks. I had not ever tasted such lovely tender steak. He wants to trade some of my spicy sausages for some steak at pound for pound. I recon I am the winner, yet he and his wife recon they are the winners. I have also had an offer to be shown how to fly fish.

Mark