Italian Sausage

jiggerjams · November 30, 2013, 12:20:27 PM

Hi all,

Just seasoned up 9 lbs. of pork shoulder + 1lb. of bacon trim as I do not have back fat. I am using the Charcuterie hot Italian sausage recipe.

Stuffing tomorrow after the flavours have time to penetrate the meat. Can't wait.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

RedJada · November 30, 2013, 01:28:29 PM

Looks great. This is something I want to try.

Thompsoncentre · November 30, 2013, 02:01:49 PM

Looks awesome!

wkahler · November 30, 2013, 03:08:59 PM

Is this recipe on the recipe site?

jiggerjams · November 30, 2013, 05:16:35 PM

Not sure if it is on the site or not. It very well could be. This is where the original recipe came from.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Saber 4 · December 01, 2013, 05:48:31 PM

Can't wait to see how these turn out.

jiggerjams · December 01, 2013, 07:31:25 PM

Sausage is stuffed. Awesome flavor. Just a tad salty or these would be perfect. Packaging them up tomorrow.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Saber 4 · December 01, 2013, 07:38:12 PM

Looks good, there is a discussion on here somewhere about what type of salt to use in sausage recipes instead of the course ground kosher that might help with the next batch on the saltiness, I think TenPoint5 started it, if I can find it tomorrow I'll post a link here.

Habanero Smoker · December 02, 2013, 02:39:34 AM

That recipe is not on the recipe site. If you find it difficult to read the recipe from the photos, though it is slightly different, you can find his recipe by clicking on the below link;
Italian Sausage

The saltines is most likely do to the amount of extras salt from the bacon you use. I have not tried this, but I have seen a recipe that recommends if you use salt pork fat - for each .5lbs. of salt pork used, reduce the recipe by 1.5 teaspoons of Morton's Kosher salt. I figure salt pork will be around the same salt level as bacon. So according to this tip, you would reduce the salt in your recipe from 3 tablespoons to 2 tablespoons.

For salt I like to use pickling/canning salt. It is a small grain salt that dissolves faster then the larger grain kosher salts; especially in cold water. I also use the finer grain salt for brining and curing, because it dissolve much faster. You just have to be careful to find out what type and brand of salt the recipe is using, and when you convert salts measurements with different grain sizes. Ruhlman uses Morton Kosher salt. In the recipe he uses 3 tablespoons of it, or 40gr; that would be about 6.5 teaspoons of pickling salt.

Note to our Canadian members: Pickling salt in the U.S. is the same grain size as table salt.

wkahler · December 02, 2013, 03:32:50 AM

Thanks Hab!

jiggerjams · December 02, 2013, 05:36:49 PM

Habs you are correct. I thought the same thing at work today, the bacon added the extra salt. Will remember for next time. It is still really good though and got the thumbs up from the fam. A lot of the time I like to sear Italian sausages and then let them finish in the pasta sauce to flavor the sauce. I think the extra salt might/will be enough to salt the sauce without adding more. Thanks for the info and support.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Habanero Smoker · December 03, 2013, 01:20:03 AM

I'll have to give that recipe a try. So far the best recipe I've tried in the book is the Turkey Sausage with Tart Dried Cherries. It has to be the tart cherries for this recipe to work. I have tried sweet cherries and I was not pleased with the outcome.

jiggerjams · December 09, 2013, 06:00:23 PM

You won't be disappointed if you do try the recipe. That turkey and tart cherry sausage sounds really good. I am going to look that one up. Another recipe that sounds good is the chicken sausage recipe that flows the Italian sausage recipes so keep an eye open for it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Habanero Smoker · December 10, 2013, 01:35:39 AM

Quote from: jiggerjams on December 09, 2013, 06:00:23 PM
You won't be disappointed if you do try the recipe. That turkey and tart cherry sausage sounds really good. I am going to look that one up. Another recipe that sounds good is the chicken sausage recipe that flows the Italian sausage recipes so keep an eye open for it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The chicken sausage does look good.

pjplovedog · January 15, 2014, 12:26:31 PM

This is an older thread, but I wanted to comment. I have made several sausages from this book, including the Italian, the Chicken with Basil and Tomato, and the Brats, Jaegurwurst, Polish, more.
I find that Ruhlman's recipes have all been a little on the salty side, for my taste, and I have a pretty good "salt tooth". I don't use bacon, either. I use Morton Kosher salt, and to 5 pounds of pork/meat for the Italian, I found that about 2 tablespoons was perfect, instead of 3.
Now when I make his recipes, I usually start with a reduced amount, then do a small patty test for salt and flavor, then add as necessary. Every time, I used much less salt than he calls for.
By the way, the chicken sausage is absolutely delicious as well. I've made several batches of it and share with family and friends and they adore it.