The Thousand Variants of Homemade Sausage
In the beginning were the ribs. So different from those singed out of local festivals, so inviting and delicious, lacquered in their barbecue sauce. Then came the Pork, irremediably associated only with its “pulled” version, so irresistibly attractive in its ability to collapse structurally under the power of our manly cooking. Then it was the Brisket, in constant balance between lean mass and collagen, quickly became a new rite of passage to become a “real” pitmaster. And then …. stop. The evolution that the concept of American Barbecue has had in Italy ends practically here, with the further exception perhaps of the only Beef Ribs that in recent years seems to be cutting more and more their own space in the spotlight. Yet it is enough to reread the story that our Faustino made of his exploratory journey through the barbecue meccas in Texas (First Episode, Second Episode, Third Episode, Forth Episode, Bonus Track) to realize how from the typical dishes of any joint, in Texas in particular, there are at least two missing barbecue preparations: the chicken (in some cases turkey) or the Smoked Sausage.
Regarding the chicken, let an Italian enter the order of ideas to throw it into a smoker in low & slow, is an almost desperate undertaking and I will not even try. I have a lot more hope for smoked sausage. I do not intentionally use the Italian term “salsicce” because it would be misleading. Although there are also several regional variants, we automatically mean by this word a very specific thing: mixed pork and salt in gut. Stop. Here, on the other hand, we are talking about something much more articulated both in terms of ingredients (famous the texan sausages with jalapeño), and of composition, but above all formulated to give the best in that type of cooking. If you have never tried to cook a continuous thick sausage in a smoker in slow & slow, I assure you that you missed one of the pleasures of life.
Living in Europe is also a great opportunity to live an authentic Smoked Sausage Party because many northern European countries, unlike us, have a great tradition on this topic and a vast breadth of recipes, unfortunately almost unknown in our borders. So why not do it? It seems clear that here we are talking about grinding the meat at home and stuffing it into the casing by hand because clearly there is nothing similar to our latitudes and longitudes, although it must be said that now the meat grinders that also work as baggers are easily available in any shopping center, just as natural gut is no longer a prerogative of only butchers. But if you have already tried to make a sausage at home or if you could even have the right tools, you might be interested in tackling this new experience. So let’s try to define some characteristics of smoked sausage, before proceeding to give you some recipes that you absolutely must try to throw in a smoker:
Suggestions
- The smoked sausage to make the best in barbecue cooking must have a percentage of fat between 25 and 30%, so no noble sausages with a knife cut. On slow cooking, a low percentage of fat inevitably leads to a dry and unpleasant result.
The amount of salt must be commensurate with the type of processing, but especially with the storage period within which the sausages are smoked. As mentioned with reference to fat, this is a type of cooking that tends to dehydration, which inevitably leads to an increase in the savory perception. The limit of acceptability considered as normal of 3.5%, in our case is excessive. We fix a percentage of 2-3% as a range, advising you to take it more to a 1.8-2% if you intend to make the sausage rest for a few days, as even the short seasoning also contributes to dehydration. The ideal results, except for specific recipes, is made with freshly made sausages.- In recipes that provide for product curing, the instacure #2 assumes importance, not to be confused with #1 which contains only nitrite and is intended for meat or fish then destined for cooking. Instacure #2 contains nitrites and nitrates and is a product destined to be seasoned RAW.
- Even sugar has its importance. For Smoked Sausage from a fresh product about 10% of the amount of salt helps to mitigate the impact of the latter, for those from seasoned product contributes to feed the work of bacteria and to give the characteristic reddish color.
The Recipes
Kindziuk
ID Card:
Origin: Poland
Difficulty Grade: 3/3
Typology: Fermented and Cold Smoked Sausage
Composition: Bovine – Swine
Grain: 2-3 mm.
Ingredients (per Kg of meat):
850 gr. Pork Loin
150 gr. Beef Chuck
Salt 2,5 gr.
Instacure #2 0,2 gr.
Sugar 2,5 gr.
Grounded Green Pepper 1 gr.
Smashed Fresh Garlic 3 gr.
Instructions:
Cut the beef meat coarsely, add proportionally salt, sugar and Instacure, cover with a cloth and store at 3-4° C for 3 days. Cut the pork coarsely. Grind both with 2-3 mm disc, add them together with the rest of the ingredients and size about 12 cm sausages. Store at 2-4° C for two months. Cold smoked with beech wood for 8 hours. Kindziuk are preserved for a long time. If you use aged beef you will have a significant added value.
Judgwurst
ID Card:
Origin: Germany
Difficulty Grade: 1/3
Typology: Smoked Sausage
Composition: Bovine – Swine
Grain: 3-10 mm.
Ingredients (per Kg of meat):
900 gr. Pork Shoulder
100 gr. Beef Chuck
Salt 2 gr.
Instacure #1 0,2 gr.
Sugar 1 gr.
Grounded Black Pepper 2 gr.
Juniper 1 gr.
Smashed Fresh Garlic 1 gr.
Instructions:
Cut both meat coarsely, add salt, sugar and Instacure in proportion. Place them in two separate containers and cover with a cloth and leave to rest in the fridge for 48 hours. This will help in avoiding bubble formation in the mixture. Grind the pork with the 10 mm disc. and the beef with the 3 mm disc, leave the beef in the freezer for 1 hour and re-mix it adding 5 cl of cold water for each Kg. Combine the ingredients together and size to about 20 cm sausages. Smoke at 125 ° C until it reaches 69° C internal, smoking with oak. To obtain a traditional and characteristic note, combine some wood with some juniper berry.
Kielbasa
ID Card:
Origin: Poland-Ukraine
Difficulty Grade: 1/3
Typology: Average temperature smoke sausage
Composition: Swine
Grain: 10 mm.
Ingredients (per Kg of meat):
1000 gr. Pork Shoulder
Salt 2 gr.
Instacure #1 0,2 gr.
Sugar 2 gr.
Grounded Back Pepper 1,5 gr.
Cloves 2 gr.
Marjoram 0,5 gr.
Instructions:
Cut the meat coarsely, add salt, sugar and Instacure. Place them in a container and cover with a cloth and leave to rest in the fridge for 72 hours. This will help in avoiding bubble formation in the mixture. Grind with the 10 mm disc. and add 9 cl. of very cold water for every kg and the rest of the ingredients continuing to mix until a very homogeneous mixture is obtained. Size sausages of about 35 cm. about by puncturing with a sterilized needle any bubbles that could form in the gut and let it rest in the fridge for one night. Smoke at 80° C until it reaches 72° C internal, smoking with beech wood. Rinse under cold water until the internal temperature drops to 45 ° C, allow to stand for 1 hour at room temperature and then keep in the fridge.
Texas Beef Sausages
ID Card:
Origin: Texas USA
Difficulty Grade: 1/3
Typology: Smoked Sausage
Composition: Beef
Grain: 10 mm.
Ingredients (per Kg of meat):
1000 gr. Beef Chuck
Salt 2 gr.
Instacure #1 0,2 gr.
Sugar 2 gr.
Grounded Black Pepper 2 gr.
Sweet Paprika 2 gr.
Mustard 2 gr.
Cayenna Pepper 1 gr.
Coriander Seeds 1 gr.
Instuctions:
Cut the meat coarsely, add salt, sugar and Instacure. Place them in a container and cover with a cloth and leave to rest in the fridge for 48 hours. This will help in avoiding bubble formation in the mixture. Move to the freezer for about 30 minutes until it is stiff on the outside but still soft on the inside. Grind with the 10 mm disc. and add 4 cl. of very cold water for every kg and the rest of the ingredients continuing to mix until a very homogeneous mixture is obtained. Sack sausage in a size of about 25 cm. by puncturing with a sterilized needle any bubbles that could form in the gut. Smoke at 125° C until it reaches 68° C internal, smoking with Pecan wood.
You have enough to get around, during your smoked sausage party. Then I want to see who will still call them “salsicce” …!
