Sausage Seasonings & Spices
Sausage making, or the process of salting and processing ground meats, is one of the oldest forms of meat preservation. Sausages get their distinctive tastes in part from the method of preparation -- especially if they are smoked -- but mainly from their seasonings and spices. Butcher supply houses and meat processors sell pre-mixed spices and seasonings; these can be added to create the common types of sausage, or you can make your own seasonings. Does this Spark an idea?
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Fresh Sausages
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Fresh sausages include breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, and bulk pork sausage. Fresh sausage can include any type of ground or seasoned meat, either stuffed into a casing or left in bulk. Typical seasoning blends for breakfast or pork sausage include salt, sage, black pepper, white pepper, red pepper, cloves or nutmeg. Sweet Italian sausage is made with salt, sugar, fennel, paprika, black pepper, red pepper, garlic powder and basil. Hot Italian sausage is made with garlic, cayenne pepper, fennel, thyme, bay leaves, salt, black pepper and nutmeg.
Cooked Sausages
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Cooked sausages include those cooked in a casing with or without smoke. One common cooked sausage is liverwurst, or braunschweiger, which is flavored with onion, nutmeg and spiced bacon. Hot dogs are also a cooked sausage and are typically flavored with black pepper and nutmeg, and occasionally coriander. Different seasonings are added to hot dogs based on the main meat used, as well as the region in which it is made. Garlic is a common seasoning for beef hot dogs, while onion is more common in chicken hot dogs.
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Uncooked Smoked Sausages
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Some sausages are smoked but not cooked and must be fully cooked before eating. A basic smoked sausage is seasoned with black pepper, a little bit of red pepper, and coriander. Polish sausage, or kielbasa, is commonly seasoned with salt, pepper, mustard seed, marjoram and garlic powder. Andouille, a Cajun sausage, is seasoned with cayenne, paprika, garlic, black pepper, salt, thyme and red pepper.
Dry or Semi-Dry Sausages
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Dry or semi-dry sausages are fermented, smoked and then air dried. They may or may not be cooked and are also known as "summer sausages." Traditional summer sausage is mainly seasoned with black pepper and mustard seed, as well as nutmeg, salt and sugar. Pepperoni is seasoned with paprika, red pepper, black pepper, garlic and fennel. Salami typically gets its flavor from whole peppercorns, nutmeg and mustard.
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References
- University of Minnesota Extension; Processing Meat in the Home; Richard J. Epley, et al.
- Ohio State University: Meat Science: Spices for Meat Products
- Washington State University Cooperative Extension; Homemade Meat, Poultry and Game Sausages; Jan R. Busboom, Ray A. Field
- North Dakota State University; The Art and Practice of Sausage Making; Martin Marchello, et al.; 2004
- University of Connecticut Dept. of Animal Science; Home Sausage Making 2nd. Ed.; I. J. Ehr, et al.
Resources
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