Homemade Sausage Making

Hi folks,

I've made various fresh sausages at home about 20-30 times now. I use natural lamb or hog casings from a local supplier, they look like very clean and fresh products.

Here's the thing: whether I pan fry, grill or oven roast them, they often come out with a soft skin. What I mean is when you bite into the sausage you get a feeling of "softness" or "sagginess". I'm looking to achieve a crisp skin and a kind of bursting sensation when you bite through.

I've thought that maybe I am not filling the sausages enough, and tried harder to pack them fuller, but then they burst so maybe it's not that! Also tried various types of stronger or direct heating to crisp up the skin (including a blowtorch!). But often they still come out a bit soft.

Any suggestions for how to get that perfect crispy-skin on my snags?

Hi Nico,
Try poaching the sausages first, not boiling though and then pan fry or BBQ them. A lot of members do this with great results.
Regards,
Jan.

Hi Jan,

Thanks for that tip, I tried it out tonight. I still didn't get the exact results I wanted, but crikey! poaching the fresh sausage for about 10 minutes prior to grilling them produced SUCH a tender and juicy result! It really blew me away!!! This is how I am going to prepare them from now on!

I think my sagginess problem must be that I'm not stuffing them full enough. Must be a fine line - not enough and they end up soft, too much and they burst when you twist them into links... Ah, more practice next time.

All the best,
Nico

Hi Nico.

We bake our (Hungarian) sausages in the oven, till crispy, because that's the way my wife likes them. I think they get over baked.......beside when you do that, the paprika gets kind of bitter. My sausage is very simple.

1000 gr. pork butts, 80/20, or 70/30. (something in between)
20 gr. kosher salt.
15-20 gr. paprika.
10 gr. garlic.
3-4 gr. black/white ground peppers.

Cut the meat, mix it with seasoning, grind with 8-10 mm. plate.
Mix till sticky, stuff, and bake....or fry in pan, or grill.

******I like this sausage even more the next day, cold, except it isn't crispy.