Do you love to bite into a juicy, full-flavor link of sausage? What is your favorite spice combination? Is it savory or sweet and spicy? Maybe you like dragon fire flavor as you bite into a sausage link.
Making homemade sausage is a fun and rewarding project. You may think, “making homemade sausage sounds so complicated.” Not complicated at all we are going to give you tips and recipes to make the sausage. Then step by step instructions on how to cook the sausage so you can put your signature on the world of homemade sausage.
Homemade Sausage Boot Camp Begins Here
Are you ready to begin our sausage-making boot camp? Today we will be equipping you not only with proven recipes, but we will teach you how to formulate your homemade recipes into tantalizing sausages. Let us begin with the basics. Let us dive into some of the more traditional sausage recipes.
Traditional Sausage Recipes
There are three basic traditional recipes we will talk about today. The famous breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, and homemade German sausage. Who does not love a grilled Bratwurst? So here are some helpful recipes to use in your sausage making endeavor.
Breakfast Sausage
- 10 pounds ground meat
- 3/4 cup freshly chopped sage
- 5 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
- 5 tablespoons Himalayan salt
- 3 tablespoons freshly ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground white pepper
- 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
- 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- ½ cup maple syrup
Mix all the spices and then add to ground meat in a kitchen stand mixer. It will take about 2 to 3 minutes to distribute the spices evenly. Refrigerate until meat is thoroughly chilled.
Authentic Homemade German Sausage
- 12 1/2 pounds ground meat
- 5 tablespoons kosher salt
- 4 teaspoons ground white pepper
- 2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1 teaspoon caraway seed
- 2 1/2 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- 5 teaspoons ground mace
- 2 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground ginger
- 2 1/2 cup cold milk
- 5 whole eggs, beaten
- 2 1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
Combine all of the spices with the milk and the beaten eggs. Add to ground meat and thoroughly distribute all of the spices. Now you can add the powdered milk to absorb the moisture and bind the sausage. Refrigerate until meat is thoroughly chilled. Please note that for this recipe, beef and veal are the authentic choices of meat. The meat mixture combination is 75% beef and 25% veal.
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Authentic Homemade German Sausage
Ingredients
- 12 1/2 pounds ground meat
- 5 tablespoons kosher salt
- 4 teaspoons ground white pepper
- 2 teaspoon dried marjoram
- 1 teaspoon caraway seed
- 2 1/2 tablespoon ground nutmeg
- 5 teaspoons ground mace
- 2 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground ginger
- 2 1/2 cup cold milk
- 5 whole eggs, beaten
- 2 1/2 cup non-fat powdered milk
Instructions
- Combine all of the spices with the milk and the beaten eggs.
- Add to ground meat and thoroughly distribute all of the spices.
- Now you can add the powdered milk to absorb the moisture and bind the sausage.
- Refrigerate until meat is thoroughly chilled.
- Please note that for this recipe, beef and veal are the authentic choices of meat.
- The meat mixture combination is 75% beef and 25% veal.
Nutrition
Italian Sausage Recipe
- 5 teaspoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 5 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 3 teaspoons marjoram
- 3 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 teaspoon toasted fennel seeds
- 1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (for spicy add 5 or 6 teaspoons)
- 5 teaspoons pink Himalayan salt
- 3 tablespoons freshly minced garlic
- 3 teaspoon freshly minced onion
- 5 tablespoons dry sherry cooking wine
- 5 pounds of ground meat
Mix all the dry spices. Mix the meat and the spices until the spices are evenly distributed. Then add the dry sherry cooking wine. Refrigerate until meat is thoroughly chilled.
We have discussed the basic components to make the iconic sausage recipes. Fresh herbs and spices are always the preferred choices for great sausage. Now it is time to get to the meat. What kind of meat is the right to use?
Home Made Sausage Boot Camp Choosing the Best Meat
Sausages can contain a wide variety of meats. Creating recipes using both traditional and gourmet types of meat make quality full flavor homemade sausages. Let us start with a list of the more common meats that are used.
- Pork
- Beef
- Turkey
- Chicken
Now let us get into a few more gourmet ideas. Some of the gourmet meat ideas are a bit on the “wild” side.
- Veal
- Bison
- Ostrich
- Elk
- Venison
- Pheasant
The best way to use gourmet meats is to add more traditional meat to them. The reason for that is most of the gourmet meats are super lean. Take for example ostrich meat; you must add butter or oil to the pan if you are going to cook or sear an ostrich steak. Ostrich meat has virtually no fat.
When you are creating your meat combinations, it is essential to know this basic sausage rule.
Sausage Fat Content = 25-40%
The fat content of your sausage is imperative to scrumptious links. Sausage is basically a balance of savory flavor, salt, and fat. Select your meats and add up the fat. The best choice of fats to use is pork fat, beef fat, or even bacon. Most sausage makers prefer pork fat because it is softer. So when you bite into a cooked link, there is a full-bodied flavor. So that’s enough on fat. You add the fat to the meat and grind it together. Next you add all the spices. Then you stuff those casings, and you have homemade sausage. Let us move on to cooking the sausage after it is made.
Home Made Sausage Boot Camp Steps to Cooking Homemade Sausage
Let us go step by step on how to cook the sausage. If your sausage is in links, you could grill the links using this method.
- Heat the grill to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit and then put the links on the grill – turning them often so they do not burn.
- Shut the lid of the grill between turns to keep in the heat and moisture.
- The links should expand from the juice of the fat and will slightly split as they are finishing up.
- The internal target temperature is 160 degrees Fahrenheit. No pink should be left inside the sausage.
Links or sausage patties can also be cooked on the stovetop using this method.
- Heat your frying pan on medium heat.
- Sear the sausage links on each side.
- Take about ¼ to ½ cups of water and dump it in the hot pan.
- Immediately put the lid on and turn the heat down to low.
- Let the links cook until there is no pink inside.
- Take the lid off and cook off the water for about 5 minutes after the links are cooked.
The links or sausage patties are beautifully made, and now it is time to serve them up. So what are some serving ideas? Let us start with our breakfast sausage.
- Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, and Cheese served with Crispy Hashbrowns
- Sausage Breakfast Casserole
- Spinach, Sausage and Parmesan Omelet Muffins
- Sausage Croissant Rollups
- Sausage and Egg Burrito with Fresh Salsa
Moving on from sausage let us talk about some German sausage recipes.
- Grilled Homemade German Sausage with peppers and onions
- German Sausages in Ale with Sauerkraut
- Sausages with Mustard Cream Sauce
- Fried Potatoes and German Sausage
Now how should we serve Italian sausage? There are just so many ways to choose from, but here are a few ideas.
- Homemade Italian sausage, Onions, and Peppers
- Italian Sausage in a Cream Sauce over Penne Pasta
- Shakshuka with Italian Sausage
- Spaghetti Sauce with Italian Sausage
- Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers
Are you hungry yet? Of course you are, it is time to get cooking — time to have some fun in your kitchen and make homemade sausage for your family and friends. Making your sausage is fun, and as we learned today, it is not difficult. You can make a bunch ahead of time and freeze it. Then the homemade sausage will be available just when you need it. Imagine coming home from work and making a quick spaghetti dinner. Do you want to feed your family plain ground beef spaghetti or sweet and savory homemade Italian sausage spaghetti? Your next family barbeque serve-up your delicious creation of sausage. Your friends and family will rave about you for weeks.
