Category Archives: Sausage

Pork and Apple Sausage

I don’t write much about fresh sausage, mainly because we generally stick to the two recipes I’ve already put online, my Thurlaston sausage and Lincolnshire sausage. However, I thought I’d do something different for a change and chose to make Pork and Apple sausages. Now I’ve tried these before and wasn’t happy with the results so I trawled the web to see what I could plagiarise from other people! The results received rave reviews from the family, so here’s my recipe with thanks to Welsh Wizard and Parson Snows from the sausagemaking.org forum on whose recipes’ it’s loosely based:

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Mortadella with Pistachios

It’s great to get back to doing some real sausage making. We’re fast running out of ham, bacon and sausage from my last mammoth session, so it’s time to clear all the frozen meat out of the freezer to make way for the next lot.

Given that the meat’s been frozen, it shouldn’t then be refrozen unless it’s been cooked – making fresh sausage is, therefore, a no, no. I was going to make hot dogs but the weather looked a bit iffy and I’m very much a fair-weather smoker, so that left a choice of the many and various other cooked sausages/luncheon meats.

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Chorizo

When I started making my latest batch of ASDA clone chorizo it was my intention to photograph everything and create a sort of mini-tutorial. Needless to say when I got involved with making them I forgot to take most of the photos!

I started off with a big chunk of pork collar, also known as shoulder spare rib, and cut it into strips. If you have a small mincer you will have to cut it smaller. I prefer strips to chunks as the screw in the mincer pulls them through with very little need to use the pusher.

The meat with plenty of fat attached was cooled right down and then minced through an 8mm mincer plate.

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Far-Famed Cambridge Sausage

When I came across a sausage called the “Far-Famed Cambridge Sausage” in a 1938 ‘Handy Guide for Pork Butchers’, I couldn’t resist making it? But what type of sausage was it?

I’m guessing that it was far better known in those days: I’d only ever heard of it in passing. A quick online search told me that the best know brand was Palethorpe’s ‘Royal Cambridge sausages’, though they were made in Shropshire, and that there were 2,500lbs of them were aboard the Titanic when she sailed on her maiden voyage!

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The Not Lincolnshire Sausage

This sausage formulation was posted on the sausagemaking.org forum. It has had a slight alteration by me. It was developed from a recipe that was originally supplied by the butcher Phil Groth to forum member Parson Snows with some adaption by another forum member, Oddley.

Sausages
Stock photo

I have since been informed that the only herbs and spices in a ‘true’ Lincolnshire sausage are sage, salt, and pepper. This was supported by The Lincolnshire Sausage Association’s (failed) application for EU PGI status. So, this recipe is ‘technically’ not a true Lincolnshire. It is, however, a great recipe and a Lincolnshire sausage in spirit.

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Rusk for Sausage

Most British sausage contains some form of binder. Prior to WWII this was usually in the form of breadcrumbs but following the introduction of modern bread baking methods, most producers changed to using rusk. Good breadcrumbs from well-cooked homemade bread can still, of course, be used, or rusk can be bought online from suppliers such as Scobies or Weschenfelder.

Alternatively, you can make your own using this recipe which was posted by Parson Snows on the sausagemaking.org forum:

Rusk
500 g plain/all-purpose flour or bread/strong flour
pinch of salt
20g baking powder
250g water (approx)

Method
Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C)
Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder together.
Mix it to a smooth, pliable dough using only enough of the water to do so.
Roll it out lightly to approximately ½” (12 mm) thick, then place it on a lightly greased tray. Keep it so that it only takes up half of the tray. Use two trays if necessary.
Place the tray into the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 10 minutes at 450°F (230°C).
Remove it from the oven and, using the tines of a fork or a large knife, split it in half horizontally along it.
Place it back on the tray with the opened faces upwards. – that’s why it could only take up half the tray before!
Return it to the oven.
Reduce the heat to 375°F (190°C) and bake it for a further 10 minutes, or more, until it seems dry.
Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool a little on a wire rack.
Whilst it is still warm, grind it in a food processor and then dry it further on trays until really dry.
Store it in an airtight container and use it as required.