Breakfast sausage recipe

[etpm]

I know folks are always learning how to cook. And even though fewer people these days cook from scratch I know that young(er) people still do so and want to learn. Fresh sausage is a great way to learn how to make something that is usually only store bought. Especially since you can make something that is significantly cheaper to make and tastes so much better. My wife will not eat store bought breakfast sausage, yet she loves the stuff I make. I cannot guarantee your spouse will feel the same after eating sausage made according to the following recipe. But who knows? Anyway, a non-gender specific recipe is below.
BREAKFAST SAUSAGE
AMOUNTS IN GRAMS FOR 1 POUND OF SAUSAGE
1 Pound Pork Shoulder
Salt 7.43
Garlic Powder .45
Parsley .23
Rubbed Sage 1.24
Black Peppercorns 1.04
Red Pepper Flakes .45
Coriander Seeds .59
Cayenne 1.26
MSG 1.375
Extra Fat
Put the sage, peppercorns, and coriander seeds into a spice grinder and grind them together. Then mix all the spices together except use only 1/2 of the cayenne. This is because cayenne can be quite variable in how hot it is. Very fresh can be considerably hotter. I like hot stuff so I am careful because I am not the only one who will be eating my sausage. Add the spice mixture to the meat, test cook a bit, and add more cayenne if desired. Of course more of the other spices can be added too. Fat may need to be added. I ask, and get for free, pork fat from my local grocery store. They usually just toss it.
If you don't have a meat grinder then you will need to buy ground pork. You will have no idea how much fat has been ground into the meat. Really, the best thing for folks on a tight budget is to buy a cheap meat grinder, the cheapest pork, and cheapest pork fat, and make sausage.
So, I have done the hand powered meat grinder thing. It is not really that difficult. The meat grinder I have been using for nearly 40 years is the one that plugs into my 1935 Kitchenaid mixer. I still have it and it still works great. But the meat grinder is kinda slow so I am shopping for a new meat grinder.
The upshot is that a hand cranked meat grinder from a thrift store will get you by until you can save enough to buy a motorized unit.
Please private message me if you want more info.
Eric

 

[workinonit]

That recipe is pretty close to what we do. We don't use garlic, peppercorns, coriander or MSG. We just use ground plack pepper and red pepper instead of Cayenne for the reasons you mentioned. I have a commercial meat grinder that has a sausage stuffer. I get real casings and we stuff our sausage. We then link them and hang them on the clothes line for a day or two before packaging and freezing. I package them with my vacuum sealer. My grandma taught me to make sausage when we butchered hogs back when I was younger. We made sausage in a tin tub probably 100 pounds at a time. She would taste the sausage for correct spicing as she made it by just touching it to her tongue. I still do all of that though I don't butcher hogs anymore. I use shoulders, whole shoulders.

 

[Thomas]

Looks good tray some maple syrup on top.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

Our favorite spice blend is Buck Board breakfast sausage spice mix.. Only use about 2/3 the recommended amount of spice per pound or kilo of meat..

We routinely use several Buck Board brand spice mixes, but I'm not sure where all they are available..

 

[jyoutz]

Looks great. Where I live, we would also add roasted, peeled and chopped green chile to the sausage.

 

[tacticalturnip]

That sure does sound good.

 

[Rustyiron]

Good post, now to get people to understand what real country, home made or breakfast sausage tastes like after only knowing the grocery store jimmi dean type "sausage" for years.
I've made quite a few converts that can't believe how tasty and lean good sausage can be and what they've been missing.

 

[jyoutz]

Good post, now to get people to understand what real country, home made or breakfast sausage tastes like after only knowing the grocery store jimmi dean type "sausage" for years.
I've made quite a few converts that can't believe how tasty and lean good sausage can be and what they've been missing.

We usually buy a pig from 4h kids and take it to the packers. They always make both breakfast sausage and green chile sausage for us. I have all the tough cuts ground into sausage.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

I have all the tough cuts ground into sausage.
--- ---
One time years ago, my dad, uncle, and grandpa had a whole hog deboned and ground into sausage by the processor.. The key to this being the meat processor had a mixer big enough to mix all the various ground cuts well..

As fresh sausage or spiced in many different ways it is somewhat different than trimmings sausage..

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Some of you may remember when the Jimmy Dean sausage came out; it was whole hog sausage and was excellent. The company was later bought out by Sara Lee, and IMHO they lowered the quality, so now it's probably just average.

I once made the remark that "Jimmy Dean had a really great sausage until Sara Lee got hold of it". I instantly regretted my choice of words, and had some embarrassing 'splainin' to do.