Salami & Sausages
Meat processing
Sauce making
Cheese making
food Preparation
BBQ and Meat Smoking
Other Food Processing
Food Preserving
Food Equipment Spare Parts
Brewing & Cider Equipment
Spirits & Distillation
Fruit Presses & Crushers
Fermentation Vessels (Storage capacity)
Valves, Fittings & Couplings
Beer Brewing Ingredients
Wine Fermentation Additives
Wine Maturation & Fining Agents
Cleaning Aids & Equipment
Juice Testing & Laboratory
Beverage Transfer & Pumps
Vinegar Production
Olive Curing & Oil Production
Fermentation Accessories
Barware & Drinking Style
Bottle Closures & Packaging
We know you’re as excited as we were on our first sausage project, but before getting started it’s important to get familiar with all the equipment and read carefully. This will ensure your food preparation knowledge to be as good as an expert. Now, let’s get the fun started!
Equipment Setup
Take a sit and don’t miss any step!
- While unboxing the box, there’s a drawing that shows how to assemble “the mincer”. Be sure the blade cutting surface is facing out in the direction of the mincer plate.
- The hand operated grinder in this kit represents the best value item for its category and it is suitable for mincing small quantities of meat. We suggest for better performance to upgrade to Premium Italian Mincer Knives / Plates.
TAB TIP: If you only want to fill your casings, you must remove the blade and the plate. Replace it with the “Funnel Clamp” to support the worm. Place plastic funnel against the threaded end and screw on the retaining nut.
Cleaning
Neat is our middle name!
Even though the equipment is new, it still has to be washed (plastic parts are dishwasher safe). Metal items should be hand washed, towel dried or air blown immediately.
The Ingredients
And we just can’t get enough because we LOVE IT!
- One of the greatest parts of home sausage making is that you are “The Producer”, this means you have full decision of what goes in your one and only Perfect Sausage.
- From spices, salt content (our spice pre-mix uses 15g/kg). It’s important the quality of meat cut you are going to use (leg and shoulder) and percentage of back fat (15-20%). The back fat is needed to balance the flavor and keep the sausage moisture during the cooking process.
TAB TIP: The quantity of fat may vary if you use leaner meat like beef or venison. Pork, shoulder, lamb leg, chicken thigh or beef bolar roast are generally the best cuts to use thanks to their fat marbling. Ask your butcher if you need help.
The Use of Filler Mixers
and why this is essential?
- We don’t tend to suggest the use of any, but some recipes require them. Breadcrumbs 2-5% combine with white wine or some chilled water, minced with the finest plate (4-6mm).
- Stay away from protein powders and nitrites preservatives (unless you’re thinking of hot smoking the sausage; in this case temperature and bacteria will need to be monitored), if the 95% of the ingredients are premium, your sausage will be perfect!
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Natural Fat Content |
Mincing Tips |
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Fat undoubtedly gives flavor to our sausage, this will render down in the pan/BBQ while cooking. For example, if you are making a total of 2kg of sausage mince, you’ll need to deduct 20% = 0.4kg of pork fat. That will be minced twice with 30-50% of the other 1.6kg of lean pork shoulder. |
To avoid the fat from blocking up your mincing plate, be sure that the fat is: solid, clean and in 2 cm cubes. It should be easy to cut with a knife. Beef fat and lamb fat will also work. However, they do have a distinctive taste. This may not be appropriate for the flavor you’re looking for. |
TAB TIP | Make sausages with less fat content: To reduce the fat content, you can also use: cooked rice, mushrooms, fresh herbs, tofu, raisins, apple and other moist fruits and vegetables, breadcrumbs, low fat powder milk, olive oil (up to 2tsp per 1kg of lean).
Casing Options
Traditionally, the intestinal tract of pig, cows and sheep were used to make sausages. These are also sold today as “fresh natural casings” packed in salt. In our starting kits we use dried collagen, these casings have a shelf life of three years when stored in dry ambient condition.
TAB TIP: Collagen Casing as all casing, also tend to burst if you fill to fast or cook to fast. Try to cook sausages on a low heat, use a sufficient amount of fat. Keep an eye on them and rotate once in a while, try to prick any bubbles (not too many to keep it moisturized), avoid the center area, this fat is good! Refrigerate your sausages overnight before cooking.
| Using our prepared Spice Mix into your minced meat. | Making your own Sausage Spice Mix |
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TAB TIP | Herbs and Spices: using spices is important in defining the type or style of sausage you are going to make. You can always use from fresh to dried, just ensure chopped or pestled finely. Dispersed it with wine or water so you won’t get lumps. Adding peppercorns, sugar, white/brown honey or maple syrup, spice and salt may encourage you to get a delicious sausage!
NOW IT’S MAGIC TIME!
Let’s start cooking.
- Preparing your meat:
As this is the first step, you have to be sure to prepare the meat by trimming off all the hard bits of gristle. Cut the meat (lean and fat) into 2-4cm cube size pcs or larger meats strips are fine too. Place the mincer plate and knife into the freezer for about 30 min to cool before grinding. You can use icy water for less time. - Preparing your equipment:
Make sure all the pieces of your mincer have been thoroughly cleaned before use.Assemble your mincer as explained earlier. - Mincing the sausage meat:
Grind the meat by feeding it into the top of the mincer and turning the side handle clockwise.TAB TIP: You can use a plastic plunger for pushing the meat down the hopper.
Add the seasonings and ingredients to the minced meat according to your sausage recipe. Mix through quickly with your hands fully clean. Take a small sample (tbsp) of the minced meat, form it into a patty and fry it in a pan. Make sure to taste it, if needed add extra seasonings. - Stuffing the sausage into casing:This step is one of the important, so please read carefully and follow our process. First you have to disassemble your mincer, and then reassemble using the sausage stuffing attachment configuration.Use approx. 1.5 to 2 m (1.5 to 2.5cm shirred section) of sausage casing per 1kg of sausage meat. Cut this length and slide onto the nozzle attachment, tie a knot in the casing at the opening end.Slide the casing back to the tip of the nozzle, place a prick 1-2 times with a skewer to bleed initial air that will start to push through the nozzle once you start rotating the handle and feeding the meat into the casing.
At an even pace, stuff the casing while gripping and allow the sausage casing to slip through your thumb and fore-finger tension as the casing appear flowing evening at 85-95% of its intended full diameter. Try filling workable lengths of 60-100cm, then start again. It can be helpful having someone feeding in the meat into the hopper as you are rotating the handle.
TAB TIP: If you over stuff the casing, it’s as simple as just squeeze out the last 10cm of meat from the burst section and place it back to the feed hopper. Tie off a fresh end of casing and start filling again until all mix is used. Try not to waste anything!
- Twisting casing into sausages:Take the filled casing closed at one end. Spray a bit of water to the outer casing if it seems dry to work with. If you want to make a larger sausage into several smaller sausages, pinch casing at desired size with thumb/forefinger.Twist 2-3 revolutions clockwise, repeat and pinch again 8-12cm ahead, and twist in a counter-clockwise motion. Continue to the end, then tie off with a final knot.
- Time to cook or preserve in a vacuum pack:Place the sausages in the refrigerator to cool so the flavor is able to develop for at least 2 hours before cooking. Or best, overnight.Cook and eat within 2 days or vacuum pack and place in the freezer to be used later.
- And now, it’s time to cook:This is the final step of our sausage making. In a cold frying “non-stick” pan, place a little water (2mm) and a few drops of oil. Allow on low heat to cook / steam internally for 10-15 minutes (this helps keep casing moist).At this point the water will have evaporated, and some of the fatty juices will lubricate the pan. Rotate until fully cooked. Or place it in thin foil to allow internal heat to complete, leaving it moist and full of flavor!And this is it! You should be enjoying at this moment your first home made sausage! Congratulations! Now you are an official “sausagelicious maker”.
If you make this recipe don’t forget to tag us on our socials @artisans.bottega. Let us know what you think of it! We love getting in touch with our TAB family!
