Learning How to Make Sausages

I did not expect to be so taken with pig intestines, or sausage casings, as they are more decorously known. I think they're rather lovely: translucent and delicately patterned, and they move in unexpected ways when you run water through them. They remind me of some sort of sea creature; they almost seem to have a sense of humour. And they truly are a miracle, these discerning little organs that are able to turn refuse into the most versatile of meats.

For this month's Charcutepalooza sausage challenge, it took me a while to locate them, but in Toronto, sausage casings are regularly to be had at The Healthy Butcher and Cumbrae's, among other spots (neither Fiesta Farms nor Rowe Farms had them in stock when I checked).

I am cheered to see that, like jam, sausages are rigorous as to method, but allow considerable freedom as to ingredients. In future, I could quite see myself making up all kinds of interesting variations. For the first time, though, I thought I should stick to someone else's guidelines, so I made the basic Fresh Garlic Sausage recipe from the Charcutepalooza Bible, Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn.


I also used a recipe from Home Sausage Making by Susan Mahnke Peery and Charles G. Reavis. I found this book to be a wonderful complement to Charcuterie. Because it's more specialized, it goes into great detail, and it offered a few pointers that I didn't spot in Charcuterie, like waiting for the ground meat to start to emerge, then tying a knot in the end of the sausage casing, and wetting or greasing the funnel to make it easier for the casing to slide on and off. (I'm not sure that either book gave the excellent suggestion that I was given by Manny of Cafe del Manolo: chill the removable parts of the meat grinder and/or sausage stuffer before you start to work!)

I was astonished and inspired by all the recipes in Home Sausage Making, but finally settled on Luganega, which is apparently an ancient Roman recipe. (Since I actually have a Classics degree, anything ancient and Roman is apt to appeal to me). Luganega is a basic pork sausage with orange and lemon zest, pepper, coriander, garlic, nutmeg and Parmesan cheese. It also calls for Madeira, but I didn't have any around, so – as I expect the ancient Romans were occasionally out of it too – I just used wine.

One of my personal challenges with Charcutepalooza is that I live in a small house, and we don't even a have full-size fridge with a freezer. (I foresee difficulties this summer in trying to carry out meat projects during a heat wave, as we certainly don't have air conditioning.) I'm very happy with my modest carbon footprint, but I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to make sausages successfully without some specialized equipment, which I was loathe to acquire for reasons of space, economy and liking to do things the hard way. (Home Sausage Making was very helpful on this topic.)

After much deliberation, I bought a reconditioned Waring Pro Electric Meat Grinder, which comes with sausage stuffing attachments. It tends to retail around $125. I got mine for $80 and am very glad I didn't pay more. It is possible that my cutting blade needs sharpening, but it failed every half-pound or so due to fat and fibre buildup. It was fine if I kept cleaning it, and the motor didn't seems to be overworking, but even when I preground the meat with my Victorian-style cast iron hand-cranked grinder, it was a grinding FAIL – it simply stopped extruding meat every minute or so. It's supposed to grind and stuff in one step, and I'm delighted I didn't attempt that, as I'd have been disappointed.

I will happily accept any advice out there about what I may be doing wrong, but in future I plan to grind the meat by hand (quieter, faster, more energy-efficient, easier to clean) and use the Waring Pro as a stuffer. It is, I must say, a top-notch sausage stuffer, and I had a lot of fun winding up the gradually lengthening coils. Sausages are inherently cheerful and funny, and I really enjoyed the stuffing process.

Tonight we had spaghetti with one of my last few jars of tomato sauce from last summer and chunks of the Luganega. Absolutely delicious. As soon as I post this, I'm biking the rest of my haul over to my mom's place to freeze until needed (possibly to be reclaimed as soon as this weekend). All in all, one of my better Charcutepalooza experiences.