How to Make Sausage (2024)

FAQs

What makes the best sausage? ›

Good sausage is all about balance. Balance of salt and savory, balance of meat and fat, balance of spices and herbs within the whole. Knowing a proper ratio of salt to meat (and fat) is essential, but once you understand it you can adjust to your own perception of saltiness, which varies wildly among people.

Sausages can be made by grinding meat from beef, pork, poultry, or game meat, mixing with salt and other seasonings followed by stuffing into a container or a casing. The word sausage is derived from the Latin word salsus, which means salted or preserved by salting.

Gather your Equipment and Ingredients

Most traditional sausages are made of meat, fat, flavorings and casings. You'll need a meat grinder and a sausage stuffer, both of which are available as attachments for a stand mixer. For pork sausage, the best cut is the picnic shoulder, but it's often hard to find.

Boiling. Boiling is one of the easiest ways to make sausage links at home. To boil sausages, simply place them one by one into a pot of boiling water and let them simmer. Pre-cooked sausages take around 10 minutes, whereas raw ones may take up to 30 minutes.

Bring ½ inch water to a boil in a pan. Add links; cover and simmer for 6-8 minutes or until heated through, turning once.

Remove the sausage meat from the packaging. Preheat your oven to 200°C for fan assisted or 210°C for ovens without a fan. Place onto a roasting tin in the centre of the oven. Roast for 30 minutes until the stuffing has a golden crust & thoroughly cooked to a minimum of 72°C.

Salt: Salt enhances flavor and acts as a preservative. Sugar: Sugar can be used to balance the saltiness in sausage and add a slight, tasty sweetness. Spices: Various spices give a sausage its robust flavor. Commonly used sausage spices include black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley and paprika.

Pork. Butt/Shoulder: Boneless pork butt is very common for making sausages. It contains 20-30% fat so is perfect for sausages as this is the perfect fat to meat ratio (or you can add another 5% fat for extra tenderness and juiciness). If buying from the butcher, request 'boneless shoulder/butt'.

Let's start with the ingredients! To make a proper pork sausage, you should use a pork butt or pork picnic shoulder. Both come from the pig's shoulder area and naturally have the appropriate ratio of meat to fat. Picnic shoulders cost less per pound but have more connective tissue and sinew to remove than a pork butt.

Types of Sausage

Sausages are made from beef, veal, pork, lamb, poultry and wild game, or from any combination of these meats. Sausage making has become a unique blend of old procedures and new scientific, highly-mechanized processes.

What do butchers put in sausages? ›

"Sausages from specialty butchers use primal cuts like topside, chuck and brisket instead of trimmings. They're more expensive but they have a better flavour." "Cheaper sausages also contain filler known as sausage meal, usually made of wheat or rice flour," Puharich says.

Off-Cuts and Byproducts

Fillers can include breadcrumbs, rice, or other starchy ingredients that help to bulk up the sausage and reduce the overall cost of production. These components are typically less desirable and, therefore, less expensive than the prime cuts of meat used for steaks and roasts.