Is it customary to use pigs pluck to make sausages?
Looking to start raising my own pigs and researching how I want to process a pig I am aware of the pig's pluck (larynx, trachea, lung, heart and liver) and I'm a huge fan of making sausage (I'll be grinding and stuffing).
I do realize I will need to add fat but is it common for the pig's pluck be used for making sausages? Upon my recipe research I didn't see anything mentioned and I was curious to know why people do not use those parts of the pig. I do believe the use that for hot dogs but I may be wrong.
Best Answer
Historically, absolutely pig organ meats were used for sausage making. (The old joke "everything but the squeal" comes to mind.) In fact, I suspect that the notoriety of pig organs, due to their association with food adulteration, is largely responsible for them going out of fashion so entirely.
Pigs liver has a strong, distinct taste. It's used in a number of sausage recipes, but largely those which are based around it (e.g. scrapple). Lungs are illegal to sell for human consumption in a number of jurisdictions, but hearts show up in a lot of "industrial" sausages I've seen.
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What part of the pig is best for making sausage?
The ideal cut of pork for sausage making comes from the shoulder area of the hog because it will generally offer you that ideal meat to fat ratio of 80/20.How did they make sausage in the old days?
Traditionally, sausage makers salted various tissues and organs such as scraps, organ meats, blood, and fat to help preserve them. They then stuffed them into tubular casings made from the cleaned intestines of the animal, producing the characteristic cylindrical shape.Why are sows used for sausage?
Boars (male) and Sow (female) are older hogs that are used to raise more pigs. The meat they provide is often low quality because of their age (around 3 years) and weight (around 700 lbs). It is overly fatty and tough. This is why sow meat is usually used for sausage.What is a pork pluck?
Description. Full pig pluck ( larynx, trachea, lung, heart and liver). Taken from pigs under 12 months of age, free from imperfections. Passed as fit for human consumption and frozen within 24 hrs of slaughter.The Pigs Pluck! What exactly is Offal used for?
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Answer 2
Generally, Americans are disgusted by organ meats, and it seems that the majority of English-language recipes one finds on the Internet are American. And even recipes which come from other English speaking countries aren't all that big on organ meat (although you might find the occasional black pudding recipe on British sites).
I would suggest that you try French, Eastern European or Italian (in that order) charcuterie books or online recipe sources. There you're much more likely to find recipes that use organ meat. You might have to search a while to find some which use exactly the pluck, as opposed to other organ meats, but once you have a good recipe, that's all you need.
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