Spices & Equipment for Sausage Making

Making sausages is easy.

Making sausages is not as hard as you might think. There are countless recipes that are easy to follow; the main challenge is finding the right equipment that will be suitable for your needs. Once you've got that sorted out, creating your own blend of spices to add to sausage meat is fun and easy to do.

Meat Grinder

There are two types of meat grinder: manual and electrical. The manual ones are best suited if you're not intending to make huge batches of sausages, which requires a fair bit of effort, and have the advantage of not needing a power supply. Electric grinders are sold in different sizes, from smaller models suitable for the home to industrial-sized ones.

Sausage Stuffer

Sausages have a casing to contain the meat, therefore you will need a sausage stuffer. As with grinders, there are manual ones and more sophisticated stuffers for larger operations. The manual ones are usually made of steel or aluminium and consist of a plunger and several sizes of tubes. With manual stuffers you can make around 3 pounds of sausages at a time. Automated stuffers can be electric, hydraulic or vacuum-operated, but these are really only found in commercial kitchens. Somewhere in the middle are larger-capacity manual stuffers that employ a hand-operated piston rather than a plunger; some models make up to 50 pounds of sausages at a time.

Other Tools

You will need a set of good knives, particularly if you're making sausages from animals that may require you to deal with a carcass. A narrow boning knife and a sharp, wider chef's knife are essential. You'll need some containers to mix the sausage meat and scales to ensure you get the measures of meat right.

Spices

Numerous ingredients and spices are used in sausage. Sage is a popular pairing for pork sausages, as is fennel to make Italian-style sausages. If you want to make German bratwurst, veal and pork are required along with cumin, coriander, caraway, ginger, paprika, nutmeg, marjoram and pepper. You can of course experiment and make your own, adding chili powder and/or garlic for spicy sausages and onion for a sweeter taste. Thyme and cayenne pepper are also commonly used, and if you want to try making South African droewors, use cloves, coriander, nutmeg and brown sugar.

Casings

There are different types of casings which each suit a different type of sausage. Their purpose is to bind and contain the sausage meat. Sheep casings (made from the small intestines of the sheep) are used for frankfurters and bratwurst, and beef casings are used for salami. Additionally, cases can be made out of pig's intestines, fiber and plastic -- the latter is commonly used for cheap sausages.

References

• Let's Make Sausage
• Schmidling: Sausage Making
• Practically Edible: Brawurst Sausage
• 3 Men: Sausage Recipes