Homemade Sausage

Changing the spices and liquids used to make each sausage allows you to create regional flavors.

Sausage can be made from any mix of meat, fat and spices that pleases your palate. The most common sausage blends use ground pork, beef or turkey mixed with salt, pepper and sage. Clifford A. Wright lists 80 types of sausage with origins in the medieval era in the Mediterranean, using ingredients that might otherwise have been thrown away. Most sausage in the medieval era was heavily salted, dried, pickled or smoked.

Things You'll Need

• Meat grinder
• 2 to 3 bread slices
• 25 lbs. any 85% lean meat of your choice
• 5 large mixing bowls
• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 cup lime juice
• 1 cup vodka
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup rum
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 3 tsp. cayenne pepper flakes
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. dried cilantro
• 3 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tbsp. lemon grass
• 1 tbsp. lemon mint
• 1 tsp. ground clove
• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1 tsp. tarragon
• 1 tsp. marjoram
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp. anise
• 1 tsp. white peppercorns
• 1 tsp. ground sage
• Optional: sausage stuffer, casings and food dehydrator

Instructions

1. Attach your meat grinder to the table if it is a vise-type. Feed two to three bread slices through the grinder to clean it. Discard the bread crumbs.

2. Cut all 25 lbs. of meat into 1-inch cubes and feed them through the grinder into a large mixing bowl.

3. Divide the ground meat into 5 equal portions. Place each in a separate, large mixing bowl.

4. Add 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp. chili powder, 2 tsp.paprika, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper flakes, 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tbsp. dried cilantro, 1 tsp. garlic powder and 1 tsp. onion powder to the first bowl. Mix well. This will become chorizo. If desired, you can stuff the chorizo into casings and hang it to dry or place the sausages in a food dehydrator.

5. Add lime juice to the second bowl of ground meat. Spice with 1 tbsp. each lemon grass and lemon mint, 1/2 tsp. ground clove, 1 tsp. black peppercorns and 1 tsp. tarragon. This recipe works best with ground poultry or lamb. Serve this sausage fresh for best flavor.

6. Mix 1 cup vodka into the third bowl of ground meat. Add 1 tsp. cumin, 1 tsp. garlic, 1 tsp. dried marjoram, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1 tsp.ground black peppercorns and 1 tsp. turmeric. The Russian spice blend in this sausage goes well with pilaf dishes. This sausage can be used to make a stuffed cabbage dish called "golubtsi."

7. Mix 1 cup orange juice, 1 tsp. ground ginger, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp. clove, 1/2 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. anise, 1/2 tsp. black peppercorns and 1 tsp. white peppercorns into the fourth bowl of ground meat. This sausage blends well with Asian dishes, especially stir-fry. It should be kept fresh or frozen rather than stuffing it into casings. It can be used to stuff mushroom tops or make potstickers.

8. Mix 1 cup rum into the fifth bowl of ground meat. Add 1 tsp. each black and white peppercorns and sage. Mix well to make classic sausage. This sausage can be stuffed into small casings to make links or served as patties.

Tips & Warnings

• None of these recipes contain salt, nitrates or nitrites. None of these recipes should be eaten without cooking the sausage first. The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service recommends that you cook sausages made from ground pork, beef, lamb or veal to 160 degrees F. Sausages containing ground turkey and chicken must be cooked to 165 degrees F.

References

• Clifford A. Wright: Sausage Peddlers, Vagabonds, and Bandits: Part 1
• USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: Sausages and Food Safety

Resources

• All Recipes: Potstickers
• Schmidling: Sausage Making
• Russian Spice Company: Golubtsi Recipe