How can I improve the texture of my home-made sausages?
I am experimenting with home made sausages. Grinding chuck to make the sausage. Typically I pass it through the grinder 2-3 times (kitchenaid grinder, small die).
I've gotten the flavor nice, but when cooked the sausages are mealy and soft. When I reduce the number of grinds I get a sausage that is grainy and feels like hamburger in the mouth.
No matter what cooking technique I use (steaming, simmering, sloooow grilling, fast grilling) I get a sausage that is so flimsy it falls apart on the way to the plate.
What am I missing?
Best Answer
Chuck? As in beef chuck? Not that it won't work, but it'll be slightly different taste and texture wise than the more common pork sausage.
I don't think the # of grinds is the issue. I'd be looking more at:
temperature. Do you put the meat in the freezer for an hour or so before grinding, and are your bowls/grinder/etc cold? If your meat gets too warm, it'll separate from the fat, resulting in a mealy sausage.
are you beating the ground meat & spices with the paddle blade and a bit of liquid at the end? You want to do that to produce a bind and end up with a tight (not crumbly) sausage.
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Quick Answer about "How can I improve the texture of my home-made sausages?"
Keeping the meat thoroughly chilled is essential. If the meat warms, the protein and fats in the sausage can separate, causing the sausage to break when it cooks, resulting in a coarse, grainy texture. It's also a good idea to chill the grinder and stuffer attachments before using.How do you improve the texture of a sausage?
The texture of sausage may be improved by freezing the fat then cutting it into larger dice by hand, rather than passing it through a grinder. The frozen fat is then folded gently by hand, into the primary bind. 10.How do you make homemade sausage more moist?
How to Moisten Dry SausageWhat determines the texture of fresh sausage?
Both unsaturated fat and including oil during processing resulted in softer texture of fresh sausage, while increased unsaturation in bologna resulted in firmer or unchanged textural properties.Why is my homemade sausage crumbly?
Crumbly cooked sausage is usually the result of not enough fat or not enough water in the mix. Meat, fat and water are all important ingredients in making a quality finished product.How To Make Your Own Sausage
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Answer 2
Pinhead rusk in the right quantities makes a huge difference as does keeping the meat virtually frozen while preparing it. It took a long time for me to get it right but I would say 10% of the weight needs to be proper sausage rusk. Also, when I grind my meat up I throw in some ice cubes, but I make my ice cubes fresh with filtered water and chopped fresh sage.
Answer 3
Are you using enough salt? Salt has a massive effect on meat proteins, and when you grind meat and get salt involved it makes the meat cohere much more than it would without. This then leads to a sausage which stays together rather than crumbling apart when it's cooked.
From my (admittedly limited experience) you either have to go for the hamburger route (handle the ground meat as little as possible so it stays fairly distinct) or the sausage route (use salt and mix it thoroughly to get it to stick to itself). In between has never worked well for me at all.
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