Cookaholics Bulletin Board

Made the French Garlic Sausage from Ruhlman's and Polcyn's Charcuterie yesterday morning and my wife served some of it with Yukon Gold potatoes all cooked in pork stock, with sauted apples as a side. We drank the same red as was in the sausage.

This is factory pork on special. I bought 30 pounds (@ $0.99) and netted 22 pounds plus a couple of gallons of stock (the stock iincluded bones from the freezer). Five pounds got used for this sausage with the remainder becoming dry cured sausage in a few weeks, it needs 3 weeks in the freezer.

I also tried frying the skin and decided it wasn't worth it.

The sausage contained home-ground pork, salt, pepper, garlic and red wine. It was then 'cooked', I roasted, to 155 F. In other recipes they specify hot water, blanch I think was the term used, so I figured they meant dry heat.

I'm sure it would have been better if the hog has lived more of a free range existance and I had bought it at Dietrich's. I know from experience that the difference between their fresh ham, dry cured, and a factory one is well worth the 250% price increase (plus transportation) but I just can't bring myself to do it to sausage. Maybe next year I'll try a little for the dry cure.

Did the skin not taste good or was the process too much?

I totally agree on the taste of this "happier" meat as we call it. That is probably my biggest food lesson of 08. I rarely buy the industrial meat anymore.

I just was indifferent to the skin and these aren't exactly 'good' calories. I'll try it with a piece of skin from one of the 'happy' bellies I have in the freezer.

Since I don't buy fresh hams on the spring meat run, perhaps I'll get 40ish pounds of fresh butt instead and do sausages from it.

A question about sausage stuffers:

Has anyone had any experience with using a "Jerky Gun" to stuff sausage. They take about a pound of sausage meat and may accept a standard sausage horn.



Thanks, I'm just having some weisswurst withdrawal symptoms.

Tim

I've not stuffed sausage casings with the gun but I have had very tasty / tender jerkey made with one. It looks quite feasable for a small batch.