A Beginner’s Guide To Making Sausage, Bacon and Jerky

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING

SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY This book was written to help redistribute what was once basic knowledge. The efficient use of meat and the preservation of meat products was once an economic necessity. These were skills possessed in most households and certainly on every farm. With the convenience of refrigeration and the ready availability of cheap, fresh meat, the need for this knowledge has diminished. As the need diminished we started to forget.

“How about we turn this thing around and start learning some really cool stuff” A Beginner’s Guide to making

by David Somerville

A Beginners Guide to Making SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY by David Somerville

Copyright © by David Somerville All Rights Reserved Five Forks, LLC, Publisher 14241 Coursey Blvd Suite A-12 #244 Baton Rouge, LA 70817

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher and author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. For permissions and rights information, contact the author: email: [email protected] Website: http://www.bbqdryrubs.com

The author and publisher of this eBook and the associated materials have used their best efforts in preparing this material. The author and publisher make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy, applicability, fitness, or completeness of the contents of this material. They disclaim any warranties expressed or implied, merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose. The author and publisher shall in no event be held liable for any loss or other damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. If you have any doubts about anything, the advice of a competent professional should be sought.

eBook formatting and cover design by Jean Boles http://jeanboles.elance.com

CONTENTS

Sausage Making for Beginners: 4 Meat Preparation: 5 Using Casings: 9 The Role of Nitrites: 14 Sausage Recipes: 17

The Wonderful World of Jerky: 28 Jerky and Food Safety: 29 Strip Jerky: 32 Extruded Jerky: 35 Drying the Meat: 38 Variations of the Basic Jerky Recipe: 39

Welcome to the Land of Bacon! 43 Preparing the Bacon: 44 Curing the Bacon: 45 Smoking the Bacon: 46

Three More Sausages: 50 A Note from the Author: 56

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Sausage Making for Beginners

Meat Preparation ———————————————————————————————————— All of the sausages in this book use pork butt (Boston butt) as the primary meat. You want your sausage to have a fat content between fifteen and thirty percent, and this is pretty close to what is present in an average pork butt. Another reason butts are so handy is that they usually weigh about five pounds, which is the perfect size for making a manageable batch of sausage. Butts are typically packaged with the meat side up. When you take the butt out of the package, flip it over and make sure there is still plenty of fat left on the bottom. The pictures below show a butt that is ideal for making sausage.

Boston Butt, fat side

Boston Butt, top

There are times when you will need to supplement your butt with some extra fat. Maybe the meat cutter was too aggressive in trimming; maybe the butt came from an extra lean hog, or maybe you bought the whole shoulder instead of just the butt. Most grocery stores (but not mega-marts) will have a supply of pork fat for sale. Quite often it is in the freezers, but sometimes you will need to inquire with the meat cutter. The most you ought to ever need is a pound, and usually a half pound will be plenty. Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Pork loins can also be used to make sausage. I mention this because they will often be on sale for a dollar a pound. There is some fat on a pork loin, but not enough to be significant. For every pound of pork loin I will add a quarter pound of pork fat.

Preparing the pork butt Start by getting things clean—really clean. Take your idea of clean and then make it cleaner. Use hot soapy water and clean your knives, cutting boards and hands. When you wash your hands make sure you clean under your nails. You will be using a meat grinder and stuffer later on, so now is the time to clean them as well. It is not required, but it is an excellent idea to sanitize as well. Add a tablespoon of bleach to a gallon of cold water, mix well, and pour this over every surface, utensils and pieces of equipment that will come into contact with your meat. Allow everything to air dry. If you get into the habit of sanitizing now it will be second nature if you decide to take things to the next level and start making air-dried cured sausages. These advanced dry-cured sausages are beyond the scope of this book. When everything is clean we can start working on the meat. The end product you want is rough cubes of meat approximately one to two inches in size. If you’re working with a bone-in butt, you will need to get that bone out of there. Don’t worry about doing a pretty job; all of this stuff is going to end up going through the grinder, so your boning technique isn’t important. Slice the butt into four or five steaks, each about an inch thick. At this point you will notice four distinct regions in the butt: the meat, the fat and what I call the slime. The “slime” is the membrane type stuff that’s hanging out between the different muscles that make up the butt. I cut out as much of the slime as possible. I think it looks ugly, and it’s not something I want to have in my sausage. Trim this stuff out

The good type of fat

This slime stuff does not have the same texture as the good fat and can sometimes get twisted around the shaft of your meat grinder or jam up your cutting blade. I don’t get too obsessed about the stuff; I just cut it out as I see it and move on. Don’t confuse the slime with the fat; fat is good and needs to be kept. Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

After the meat has been cleaned up, go ahead and finish cutting the pork into the rough cubes. Put all of the cubed meat into a clean bowl and mix your seasoning into the meat. Don’t worry about an exact recipe at this point; we will get to those later. Here is what it will look like at this point:

Cubed and seasoned

What you will have to do now is decide if you want to grind and stuff your sausage today or if you want to finish things up tomorrow. Regardless of which you choose, it is time to get the meat COLD again. Yep, it is in bold because this step is important. During the time that you have been cutting and trimming the pork it has gotten warm from sitting out on the counter and from the heat of your hands. A critical aspect of making sausage is achieving a good emulsion between the protein and the fat. If the fat is warm it will separate from the protein instead of forming an emulsion; this is termed smearing. If the fat smears, the effect is non-reversible. Go ahead and make a pot of chili with your pork because sausage will not be happening. If you want to finish making your sausage today, then put the meat in the freezer for about thirty minutes. If you want to finish up tomorrow then go ahead and stick in the refrigerator. Either way, get the meat cold again before you even start to think about grinding.

Grinding the Meat At this point you are going to need a meat grinder. The biggest problem with meat grinders is choosing one. Let me walk you through some choices. 

I use the meat grinder attachment for my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. The grinder attachment works great and I absolutely love it. The last time I looked, the attachment cost about $40. If you own a stand mixer then this is by far the easiest option. The only down side is that this unit does not perform well as a stuffer.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________ 

You can also buy a hand cranked grinder that clamps onto a counter or table. This design works great and has been utilized for a heck of a long time. It has a classic look and was designed specifically for this job. I recommend the LEM #10 Hand Grinder which costs about $80. Weston also makes a combination grinder stuffer that comes in under $30. It gets mixed reviews on Amazon, but is an affordable entry point into a great hobby.



If you want to get a little more high tech, the electric grinder and stuffer combination is the way to go. The electric units can cost between $150—$250. I do not have direct experience with these units but will say that all of the other LEM products I have used have been excellent and that their electric grinder gets great reviews on Amazon.

Your meat grinder probably has two or more grinder plates. For the sausages we are making you will want to use the grinder plate with the smallest holes. If you are using a metal grinder, it would be ideal if you placed it in the freezer for thirty minutes. A cold grinder will help the meat stay cool while you are working. If this is impractical for you, then don’t worry about it. Assemble your grinder according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Make sure you pay attention to how the cutting blade is inserted. On some grinders the cutting blade will “fit” even if it is placed in backwards. If you start grinding with your blade backwards, you will have a miserable experience. This is an easy mistake to make; I have done this twice. Take the seasoned meat out of the freezer and run it through your grinder as quickly as possible. The meat will be extruded into worm-like strands as it passes through the grinder plate. You will notice that I am grinding into the mixing bowl of my stand mixer. I have the metal bowl sitting in an ice bath to keep the meat cool after grinding. You should be able to grind through five pounds of meat in a little over five minutes.

This looks about right

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

Keep it cold

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

“Just to drive the point home: I am grinding cold meat with a cold grinder into a cold bowl and I am doing it quickly.”

Mixing the meat Now that the meat is ground, you are going to add some liquid and turn the mixture into a paste. By making a paste you are going to make sure that the seasonings are well distributed, the meat is well lubricated and that the texture of the final sausage is smooth. For a five pound batch of sausage, you are going to add up to a cup of ice cold liquid. You will then mix the liquid into the meat for one to two minutes until a paste starts to form. This is pretty easy using my set-up, as all I have to do is put the bowl back onto my stand mixer and use the paddle attachment (setting 4). If you aren’t using a stand mixer then break out a sturdy spoon and get to work. I don’t really recommend using your hands to mix the meat and form the paste. Most folks never get their hands really clean enough, and your hands add a lot of heat to something you are trying to keep cold. The paste forms as the salt denatures the protein fibers in the meat and causes them to relax. The relaxed proteins will then bind to each other and form the paste. Paste formation is important as this determines the texture of the sausage. If you cooked the meat right after grinding, it would still be delicious but it would have a grainy texture. (If you prefer a sausage with a coarse texture then you would add the liquid prior to grinding and skip this step.)

This was mixed about two minutes

Don’t go overboard on making the paste. If you think you are done, you probably are. Over mixing the paste can break the emulsion between the meat and the fat, resulting in a horrible sausage. Take a small portion of your seasoned meat paste and form a patty and place the remainder of the meat back in the freezer to cool off. Fry the test patty in a pan with just a little bit of oil and try it out. Need more salt, pepper, garlic, or paprika? No problem, mix some more seasoning into the meat paste, cook and resample. Once your seasoning is adjusted to your liking and your meat has gone back into the freezer, it is time to start prepping your casings for stuffing.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Using Casings ———————————————————————————————————— Traditional sausage casings are made from the cleaned intestines of sheep, pigs and cows. Sheep casings have the smallest diameter and are used for products like breakfast link sausage. Beef casings are by far the largest and are used for most air-dried cured sausages like salami. The sausages in this book will be made with pork casings which are the traditional size for bratwurst, Italian sausage, etc. There are two other types of casings available: collagen and fibrous. Both of these casings are manufactured products, and as their names imply, they are either made from beef collagen or from plant fibers. We will not have a need for fibrous casings in this book, but we might be interested in using the collagen casings. The hardest part about using natural casings is finding them in the first place. Go ahead and ask at the meat counter of your supermarket if they carry them; sometimes they get stored in odd locations where you would never consider looking. Hog casings are sold in small packages and typically contain enough casing to make fifteen to twenty pounds of sausage. The casings are packed in salt to keep them from spoiling.

When you are ready to use the casings you will need to unravel them from each other. Typically there are six or seven stands of casing that have inter-twined during storage. Place the casings in a bowl of warm water for about thirty minutes to let the salt soak out of them along with any funky smells. You will then need to flush the inside of the casing with cold, running water for about two minutes to make sure the inside is clean. This is accomplished by placing one end of the casing over the end of your stuffing horn and running water into the funnel. I will typically flush each casing for a little over a minute. You will probably only need about four stands of casing for five pounds of sausage. Natural hog casings

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Once the casings have been untangled and rinsed inside and out they are ready for use. When you are done making sausage you can dry off any unused casings, put them back into their container and pack with kosher salt. You can store these in the refrigerator until your next batch of sausage.

Collagen Casings The case for collagen casings over natural casings is that they are much simpler to use. Open the bag of collagen casings, slip one on your stuffing horn and start stuffing. No rinsing, no detangling. It is also much easier to find collagen casings as they are often sold in the meat processing section of most sporting goods stores. A final plus for collagen casings is that they are predictable and uniform.

Casings after soaking and rinsing

Despite their great convenience there are three disadvantages of collagen casings that keep me from using them. I don’t like collagen casings because I want to have curved sausages. Picture in your mind a bunch of sausages hanging up at a meat market. They have a slight curve to them, don’t they! If you pictured a rope of Polish sausage, you may have even imagined a “closed horseshoe.” That curve is something you can only get from a natural casing. Sausages made with a collagen casing are straight as an arrow, and to me that just doesn’t look right. Lesser reasons why I am not a fan of collagen is that while collagen casings are edible, they don’t give that little “snap” when you bite into them like natural casings do. Lastly, I found that when I used collagen casings I had to use twine to tie my links. With a natural casing you can make links simply by twisting the casing. I found that the twists simply wouldn’t hold for collagen casings. In summary, collagen casings are often much more convenient than natural casings. But, while you should use whatever feels right for you; I plan on sticking with natural casings.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Stuffing the Sausage Good news…this is much easier than it sounds and looks! The three biggest tips I can offer are: 1. Use liquids in your meat paste. 2. Keep things cold and move quickly. 3. Don’t stress out about pretty links.

Stuffing sausages can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be. You can do this with a plastic funnel and a wooden spoon or you can spend a few hundred dollars on a top of the line stuffer. Personally I use a three pound stuffing horn that a friend gave me several years ago. It would cost about $50 brand new. Some people despise this type of stuffer as sometimes the meat will squeeze back past the plunger. Cheap stuffer does a great job

If possible, pre-chill your stuffer in the freezer for thirty minutes or so. If this isn’t possible then dump some ice cubes into the body of the stuffer to help cool it off (remove the ice prior to stuffing though). Regardless of the equipment you are using the basic steps are the same. 

Place the nozzle on your stuffer.



Push the casing onto the stuffing horn (nozzle, funnel, etc).



Add the meat to the body of the stuffer and push the meat into the nozzle.



Tie off the end of the casing.



Gently keep pushing the meat into the casing.



Form the sausages as you go into links, ropes or spirals.

You will need a sterile pin when you are stuffing. It is inevitable that some air pockets will form in the some links and you will use the pin to prick the sausage and release the air. Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

To make links, gently pinch the sausage at the desired length then twist it clockwise two or three times. For the next link, you will need to twist the sausage counter clockwise to keep the first link from unraveling. Repeat the cycle, always making sure that consecutive links are twisted in opposite directions.

Put on the horn then the casing.

I give each length a little pinch, then twist.

Twist each link in the opposite direction of the last.

It will be hard to figure out if you are stuffing enough meat into the casings. If you severely overstuff the casings, they will burst while you are pushing the meat into them. If you mildly overstuff the casings, they will burst when you try to form links. If you under-stuff the casings your sausage will not look pretty. I wish I could be there with you on your first attempt but sadly I cannot. My best guidance is that you have a pretty good idea what these guys are supposed to look like; trust your instincts. If you really mess up, relax; we’re just making sausage here! Learn from your mistakes and keep going! After a few attempts you will get the hang of this! Learning to make pretty, uniform links does take some practice. If you get frustrated just tie each link off when it gets to the length you want. My favorite way of stuffing is making small horseshoes and manually tying the two ends together. This isn’t a particularly efficient use of casings, but I think the presentation of the final product is amazing.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

You can skip the whole linking process entirely and form your sausage into a large spiral. How cool is that? Imagine throwing that guy on the grill at a tailgate party! It is a little challenging cooking a whole spiral of sausage on a grill, but it can be done! Whole spirals are easy to cook on a cookie sheet in the oven.

You don’t have to make links.

Grill this for a crowd!

Once the sausages are stuffed you will need to cook them within a few days or vacuum seal and freeze for later use.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

The Role of Nitrites ________________________________________________________________ Nitrites are a controversial and misunderstood ingredient when it comes to sausages. Nitrites get introduced into sausages in the form of curing salts such as Morton Tenderquick or other products sold under the trade names of Cure #1 or Prague Powder #1. There is much disagreement over whether nitrites are bad for your health. What is certain is that, like anything else, too much will hurt you. Many “organic” sausage makers will play on this fear and will not add curing salts. Instead, they will add naturally occurring nitrite from vegetable extracts (celery, spinach) and produce sausage that actually has higher nitrite content than found in sausages made with curing salts. Nitrite is nitrite; it really doesn’t matter where it comes from. Nitrites perform two functions in a sausage formulation: they inhibit botulism, and they add a distinctive color to the meat. Let’s look at each function individually. Protection from botulism: The organisms that cause botulism absolutely thrive in a sausage type environment. Inside a sausage you have low oxygen, high moisture and plenty of nutrients. This is a classic botulism day spa! If the temperature of the sausage stays within the temperature zone of 40 F to 140 F for an appreciable amount of time (over several hours) these nasty critters can grow at an exponential rate. The presence of nitrites greatly inhibits the growth of the botulism-producing bacteria and helps make sure sausage is safe to eat. Is this important for the sausages we are making? Absolutely not. The extra protection against botulism provided by nitrites will not be needed for our sausages for three reasons. The first is that we thoroughly cleaned our knives, cutting boards, meat grinder, stuffer and hands; we did not contaminate our meat. The second is that we kept our extremely clean meat very cold; we stayed away from the danger zone. The third is that we are either going to cook these sausages immediately or freeze them for later use. When would nitrites be needed? Nitrites are ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL if you are making drycured sausages like salami or pepperoni. These are sausages that need to hang at room temperature for weeks at a time. Nitrites are also an extremely good idea if you want to make truly traditional smoked sausages, where the smoking takes place over the course of four to twenty four hours. These are advanced sausages that we will not be learning to make in this book.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Earlier in this book when we were preparing our meat, I performed an extra step that I didn’t talk about then because I didn’t want folks to get confused. I split the cubed and seasoned meat into two batches. I added a little less than ½ teaspoon of Cure #1 to one of the batches, but not to the other.

I ground and stuffed the batches of meat separately and let the sausages sit overnight in the refrigerator so the nitrite would have time to interact with the sausage. The next day, I cooked a sausage from each batch in the oven together and got the following results: The reddish sausage has nitrite. I split the batch and added nitrite to one batch.

The difference is nitrite.

Pretty cool! Which of the two sausages look more appetizing to you?

I am convinced that the nitrite containing sausage also tastes slightly different. I think it is a little juicier and more “porky.” That being said, it could all be in my head; I have a hard time believing that such a small change in seasoning could impact the flavor at a noticeable level. It might be that I think it looks better, so I also think it tastes better. This is another excellent reason to make your own sausage. If you want the color and flavor added by nitrites go ahead and use some. If you hate the idea of nitrites in your food, now you can eliminate them. It’s completely within your control.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

The maximum amount of nitrite legally allowed in sausages is 200 parts per million (ppm). Here is how the math works out for a five pound batch of sausage:

1. 5 lbs. = (5 lb.) x (453 grams/lb.) = 2265 grams of meat 2. 200 ppm = [ (X grams nitrite) x (1,000,000)] / 2265 grams of meat 3. X = 0.45 grams of nitrite

If you decide to add curing salts to your sausages then you need to understand that all curing salts are not equal. Cure #1, also known as pink salt, contains 6.25% nitrite by weight. The remaining 93.75% is salt. A commercial producer would be legally allowed to use up to 7 grams of Cure #1 for a 5 lb. batch of sausage. Seven grams of Cure #1 is roughly equivalent to one heaping teaspoon. Morton Tender Quick contains 0.5% nitrite and 0.5% nitrate by weight. The remaining 99% is a mixture of salt and sugar. A commercial producer would be legally allowed to use up to 45 grams of Tender Quick for a 5 lb. batch of sausage. Forty five grams of Tender Quick is about 3 level tablespoons. You do not need to use the maximum legal amount of nitrite to get the desired curing effect. You also need to remember that if you are using Tender Quick for a five pound batch of sausage then you are adding about 44 grams of salt and sugar, so your base recipe should be adjusted accordingly. I try to keep things simple. I use just under a teaspoon of Cure#1 per 5 lbs. of sausage. DO NOT CONFUSE THE PRODUCTS. If you add 3 tablespoons of Cure #1, the meat is unsafe for consumption and MUST BE DISCARDED. Sausage that has had a curing agent added should not be cooked immediately. Let the sausage rest in the refrigerator overnight to make sure the cure has had time to interact with all of the meat.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Sausage Recipes ________________________________________________________________ The Basic Recipe This part is a LOT easier if you have a kitchen scale that reads in grams. The basic recipe for sausage is: 

1 part meat and fat



2.5% salt



1% other stuff



Up to 10% liquid

So how do you take this and actually use it? This is where having weights available in grams is very handy (if you don’t have a scale, keep reading, estimates are given below). One pound equals 453 grams. This means your five pounds of cubed meat and fat will weigh about 2265 grams. 

Multiply 2265 grams by 2.5% and you see that you need 56 grams of salt (about 3.5 tablespoons).



Multiply 2265 grams by 1% and you see that you need 22 grams of “other stuff” (about 1.5 tablespoons).



Multiply 2265 grams by 10% and you see that you can use up to 226 grams of liquid (about one cup).

The “other stuff” will define your sausage. These are things like black pepper, paprika, garlic, sage, onion and chili powder. The liquid portion can be anything wet (water, wine, stock, milk) and serves four purposes: (1) It adds moisture to the meat resulting in a juicier sausage. (2) It lubricates the meat making stuffing much easier. (3) It adds flavor to the sausage if you choose to use wine or stock. (4) It helps disperse the other seasonings throughout the rest of the sausage. Make sure any liquid is ice cold before adding to the meat.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Using this framework we can develop a pretty tasty recipe as follows:

Basic Sausage Recipe 

5 lbs. of meat and fat (1 pork butt)



3.5 tablespoons of salt



½ tablespoon garlic powder



½ tablespoon black pepper



½ tablespoon chili powder



1 cup ice water

I want to add a quick note about using garlic in these recipes. I really like using fresh garlic over powdered or granulated. When using fresh garlic you have to remember that it is mostly water, and the basic recipe above must be adjusted. One tablespoon of granulated garlic is equivalent to four tablespoons of fresh garlic. In my first attempts at making sausage, I refused to add a liquid component. I was under the impression that adding water was a nefarious technique commercial sausage makers used to lower their cost per pound. I can’t describe how incredibly hard it was to push these sausages through my stuffer. My arm was sore for two days and I hated the thought of making sausage. Once I started adding water in my recipes, I wanted to kick myself for having been so stubborn! Well lubricated meat will glide through your stuffer and is a joy to work with! Once you get comfortable with the basic technique and proportions, feel free to play around and create your own signature sausage. As you will see with the last recipe I offer, once you get the basic technique down you can take all of the rules and throw them out the window. In the recipes that follow, I make no claim that they are “authentic” or “authoritative”. These are recipes that are pretty close to what most of us would recognize as being indicative of the style. There are hundreds of variations on each of the following sausages. My recipes are not the best. The best recipes are the ones that you will come up with and that you prefer to make. My recipes are only a guide.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

American Breakfast Sausage I have included this as the first recipe for a few reasons. This is the first type of sausage that many of us ever experienced, so it just makes since to learn how to make this one first. Secondly, this is a sausage that is typically stored in bulk and formed into patties prior to cooking. This lets you get some experience with making sausage without worrying about a stuffer and casings.

American Breakfast Sausage 

1 Boston butt, about 5 lbs.



3 ½ tablespoons salt



1 tablespoon black pepper



½ tablespoon dried sage



½ cup ice water

Trim the pork and cut into cubes. Combine the pork with the seasonings and place the mixture in the refrigerator for an hour. Run the mixture through your grinder then mix with the ice water until a paste is formed. Test fry a portion of the sausage and adjust the seasoning as desired. Some folks like it a little hotter and add either more black pepper or a little cayenne. I have always liked a bit of garlic in this mix. Divide the sausage into one pound portions and form into logs. You can make your logs pretty by first roughly forming and then placing them on a sheet of plastic wrap. Roll the plastic wrap around the log then grab the ends of the wrap and gently spin the sausage causing the plastic to twist. This will compress the sausage into a more uniform shape. I will leave the sausage in the plastic wrap until I am ready to make patties. Vacuum seal and freeze any sausage that will not be cooked within a week.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Italian Sausage This sausage has two classic variations and is a great example of using the liquid component as a flavoring agent.

Spicy Italian Sausage

Spicy Italian Sausage



1 teaspoon dried oregano



5 lbs. pork butt



1 teaspoon dried thyme



3 tablespoons salt



1 teaspoon red pepper flakes



2 tablespoons minced garlic



1 teaspoon Cure #1 (optional)



1 tablespoon dried parsley



½ cup red wine



1 tablespoon black pepper



½ cup ice water

Sweet Italian Sausage Sweet Italian Sausage



½ tablespoon black pepper



2 teaspoons fennel seed



1 teaspoon Cure #1 (optional)

1 tablespoon dried parsley



½ cup red wine

1 tablespoon sugar



½ cup ice water



5 lbs. pork butt



3 tablespoons salt



2 tablespoons minced garlic

 

Trim and cube the pork into one to two inches pieces and mix with the other seasonings except for the water and wine. After the mixture has chilled in the refrigerator or freezer, grind it into a metal bowl and add the ice cold red wine. Mix the wine into the ground meat, adding just as much of the water as needed to form a paste. Once the mixture has chilled again it is ready for stuffing into casings. This sausage is also good stored in bulk for use as a pizza topping or in lasagna, etc.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Polish Sausage This sausage is defined by garlic and marjoram. I have seen this style of sausage referred to as both Polish sausage and as Kielbasa. I use the roasted, minced garlic you can find in jars in the produce section for this sausage. I would not use dried or granulated. When the theme of the sausage is garlic, use the good stuff.

Polish Sausage 

5 lbs. Boston butt



3 ½ tablespoons salt



4 tablespoons minced garlic



1 tablespoon dried marjoram



1/2 tablespoon black pepper



1 teaspoon Cure #1 (optional)



1 cup ice water

Trim the pork and cut into one to two inch cubes. Mix the pork with the remaining ingredients (except water) and allow it to chill in the refrigerator or freezer. Grind the seasoned pork into a metal bowl and add the ice water, a quarter cup at a time, while mixing until a smooth paste is obtained. Stuff the sausage into casings. Allow the sausage to rest in the refrigerator overnight—if Cure #1 was use— to allow the nitrite time to interact with the meat. I strongly suspect that the use of curing salts is traditional with this sausage but cannot say with certainty. This is a type of sausage that was often slow smoked, so in those cases the cure would have been used. I suspect the cure would have been retained for the fresh sausage like we are making.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Bratwurst Put this guy on a bun with some mustard and you have defined happiness. If you are going to learn to make sausage then you have to know how to make bratwurst. This sausage is cool because we are really switching things up with the liquid component. For the liquids, we are using heavy cream and eggs; this is a very rich sausage. I will state up front that this is not the “classic” bratwurst, as it does not contain veal. My sausage, my choice. This is typically a pale white sausage, so I would not use any curing salts.

Bratwurst 

5 lbs. Boston butt



3 ½ tablespoon salt



1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (freshly grated makes a huge difference)



1 teaspoon granulated onion



1 teaspoon white pepper



1 teaspoon powdered sage



1 egg



½ cup heavy cream (ice cold)

Trim and cube the pork and mix, with the other ingredients (except for the cream and egg) and allow the mixture to cool in the refrigerator or freezer. Grind the pork into a metal bowl and mix in the egg and heavy cream until a smooth paste is obtained. Sometimes this will result in a mixture that is too wet to deal with. If this happens to you, blend in some bread crumbs, a quarter cup at a time, until the desired consistency is achieved. Once the sausage is at the desired consistency it can be stuffed into casings. If you wanted to get your sausage a little paler, you could substitute a pound or two of the pork with either chicken or turkey breast. There is enough fat in the cream to compensate for the substitution. If you do include poultry, make sure you cook your sausage to an internal temperature of at least 165 degrees

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Andouille I have seen many recipes for Andouille, and while living in Louisiana I have tasted many versions. The two constants among all of them is the texture of the sausage and the strong flavor profile. You will note that the recipes deviates strongly from the “Basic Sausage Recipe” I gave earlier, which results in an extremely intensely flavored sausage. This sausage is typically used as a component in another dish, such as gumbo or jambalaya. There is nothing wrong with eating this sausage by itself, but most folks don’t.

Andouille 

5 lbs. of Boston butt



3 ½ tablespoons salt



3 tablespoons minced garlic



2 tablespoons smoked paprika (Use the good stuff that actually has flavor.)



2 tablespoons black pepper



1 tablespoon ground thyme



1 teaspoon cayenne



1 teaspoon Cure #1 (optional)



1 cup ice water

This is a sausage where you do a little extra knife work to get some impressive results. The key to this sausage is that you do not grind all of the meat. Retain about a quarter of the cubed pork and keep it in the freezer while you grind the rest. Place the ground meat into the freezer and remove the cubed meat. Dice the cubed meat into small pieces, between a quarter and half inch in size; they do not need to be uniform. Add the diced meat to the ground meat then add your liquid and mix to evenly incorporate and stuff as normal.

The contrasting texture of the resulting sausage is beautiful. I will always use Cure #1 with this sausage as I think it makes the sausage even prettier. If you use nitrite make sure the sausage rests in the refrigerator overnight before cooking. Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Boudin I include this sausage because it is delicious and a real mind opener as to how far the boundaries of sausage making can be stretched. Boudin is a true regional sausage of southern Louisiana and has cooked rice as a primary ingredient. I love this sausage because it just makes sense for this rice growing region of the country. Place one pound of pork (butt, country style ribs, etc.) in a pan and cover with three cups of water. Add a quartered onion, a stalk of celery, and a few cloves of garlic. Season the water with a little salt and pepper and simmer the pork until it is cooked through, about 45 minutes. Remove the pork from the water and cut into rough cubes. Strain and reserve the water used when cooking the pork. Next, cook a pot of long grained rice. Combine two cups of water with two cups of the reserved cooking liquid and bring to a boil. Add two cups of long grained rice and simmer for 20-30 minutes until the rice is done. The classic rice sausage

Take your cubed pork and a quarter cup of green onions and run them through your meat grinder. Add the ground pork to the cooked rice and season the mixture with salt and pepper until it meets your satisfaction. You can spice this stuff up with some chili powder or cayenne, and that would be pretty good too. Add a quarter cup of chopped parsley for some nice color. At this point the mixture ought to taste great but will be too dry for easy stuffing. Add some more of the reserved cooking liquid to the rice mix until it becomes wet enough to easily go through your stuffer. Now, you can load the mix into your stuffer and stuff into casings as usual. Traditionally, this sausage is made with a mixture of pork butt and liver. However, I am not a fan of liver, and since I can make my sausage any way I want to, I choose to not use it. Boudin can be cooked in many different ways, but all you really need to do is make sure the casing gets cooked and the rice mixture gets warmed. Traditionally, the sausage is steamed but I think it is even better when smoked. Boudin is an excellent addition to any breakfast. Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

A Few Words About Equipment When I first published this book the number one question I received was, “What equipment do I need to get?” Understandably people didn’t want to spend too much nor did they want to buy useless equipment. The quick answer is that I am not aware of a “perfect” all in one sausage machine. Personally I use the meat grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer and a 3 pound stuffing horn. The better answer is to not let the lack of equipment stop you from making sausage!!! Grinders and stuffers are “nice to have” items that make the process easier but are not essential. Sausages were being made long before grinders and stuffers were invented. To illustrate here is a small batch of sausage I made using a sharp knife and a funnel. Total active time was 30 minutes; half was spent chopping and the other half was stuffing. I started with a couple “country style ribs” which were actually slices of pork butt. I cubed the meat into approximately 1 inch sections. This was fast (3 minutes).

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

I then came back and sliced the cubes into quarters. This was tedious (12 minutes). The minced meat was seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, Tenderquick and red wine. I was just throwing stuff together and having fun. Come on, it’s only sausage!

I grabbed a plastic funnel with a wide opening and slipped a on a casing. Then it was simply a matter of putting the seasoned minced meat into the funnel and pressing it through with my thumb. This took about 15 minutes and was pretty fun.

I tied off the casing and let the sausage rest in the refrigerator for a day so the cure would have time to work. I baked the spiral in a 300F oven for 45 minutes until an internal temperature of Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

170F was reached. I let the sausage cool for easier slicing then cut the bad boy up. I really love the texture you get when you use this technique. The end result is a delicious sausage that looks pretty impressive. It has a little more “chew” than what you might be used to simply because the meat in minced instead of ground.

I wouldn’t want to use this technique for a ten pound batch of sausage but it is the perfect way to introduce yourself to the hobby on a small scale with no extra investment.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Sausage Making for Beginners The Wonderful World of Jerky ________________________________________________________________ I have some great news! Making your own jerky is easier than making your own sausage. Many of the principles are the same, but you get to skip the whole hassle of dealing with casings. Another difference between sausage and jerky is the fat content of the meat. A great sausage needs a fat content of at least 20%. Great jerky requires that we use as little fat as physically possible. This means that your homemade jerky will actually be a low calorie, low fat, and high protein snack. What’s that, it sounds like healthy diet food? Shhhh…don’t tell anyone! There are two basic types of jerky, extruded and strip, and we will cover both. It is possible to make great beef jerky without any specialized equipment. You can make delicious jerky using only a sharp knife and a kitchen oven, and that is not a bad way to introduce yourself to the hobby. Below is a recipe from a 1918 text that illustrates the point:

This is not a method or recipe that I practice or recommend. I just wanted to show that even though I use lots of different pieces of equipment it is really out of convenience and not necessity. The one thing that you will absolutely want to have is either a food dehydrator or stackable drying racks for your oven. Once you start making lots of jerky you will want to upgrade your equipment, as it makes the process much easier. Some equipment (especially the jerky cannon) is not only convenient but a lot of fun!

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Jerky and Food Safety ________________________________________________________________ The greatest food safety issue related to jerky production is illness from eating jerky that is contaminated with Salmonella, Listeria, Staphylococcus or E. Coli. According to the US Department of Agriculture there are two important steps in the production of safe jerky. The first is heating the jerky to eliminate any bacteria and the second is drying the jerky to inhibit the future growth of any bacteria or mold. Let’s take a closer look at the heat treatment step. The table below gives the time required at different temperatures to achieve a 7-log(10) lethality for the bacteria of concern. A 7-log(10) lethality essentially means that everything nasty has been killed

Temperature (F)

Time (minutes)

130

121

140

12

150

1.2

160

0

The temperatures given are for the internal temperature of the meat, not the temperature of the oven. That is, you can’t just put the meat into a 160 F oven for one second. The temperature of the meat must reach 160 F for one second (or 150 F for 1.2 minutes, etc.). You only need to meet one time and temperature requirement, not all of them. The Department of Agriculture stresses that it is critical that the time and temperature requirements be met under conditions of high humidity (90%). They state that if the meat is heated at low humidity that some strains of Salmonella can become heat resistant and not be effectively eliminated using the guidelines above. In reality, very few people actually follow these guidelines. The part that is ignored the most is the guidance to heat the jerky under high humidity. One of the more science-based chefs, Alton Brown, of Food Network fame, skips the heating step entirely and dries his jerky with a box fan. So why do people not follow the guidance given by the Department of Agriculture? Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

The guidance is written to protect people from an absolute worst case scenario, not the most probable scenario. The guidance assumes that (1) the meat is contaminated and (2) it is contaminated with a strain that is capable of developing heat resistance when heated in a dry environment. This scenario is credible as it did happen at a jerky processing plant in New Mexico in 2003. The most probable scenario is that you are going to use clean meat and practice proper sanitation techniques as was outlined in the introduction to making sausage. The most probable scenario is that the salt, sugar and acidity of the marinade will inhibit meaningful bacterial issues. The most probable scenario is that even more protection can be obtained by using the curing agent that is provided with commercial jerky mixes. You are going to practice proper sanitation by washing your hands with hot soapy water. Wearing latex gloves would also be a good idea. You are going to clean and sanitize your knives, cutting boards and any other equipment (slicers, grinders, etc.). You are going to use clean meat by purchasing fresh cuts of whole muscles and either slicing or grinding them in your own home. You are not going to make jerky with meat that is off color, has a funky smell or has been marked down for fast sale at its expiration date.

You are NEVER going to make jerky with pre-ground meat. This is always the most contaminated meat in a grocery.

I will give instructions for how most people make jerky as well as how to make jerky and be in compliance with the Department of Agriculture guidelines. Both options are easy and make delicious jerky. Preparing the Meat Jerky is a dried and preserved meat product and as such the qualities we are looking for in the meat is very different than those we were looking for when preparing fresh sausages. It turns out that the high fat content which makes a fresh sausage delicious is completely unsuitable for the production of jerky. Fat does not dry very well and will turn rancid quite easily. Making jerky requires that we use the leanest possible meat to avoid this problem. If you do a quick internet search you will find many companies selling jerky made from buffalo, elk and venison. The meat from these animals is naturally lean and as such lends itself to making excellent jerky. For my jerky the cut of beef I buy is the “eye of round,” which is also called a “round roast.” If you are not familiar with the grades of beef then you should know that beef that is graded Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

“Choice” has a higher fat content than beef that is graded “Select.” I want the “Select” beef due to the lower fat content. A nice added benefit is that Select beef is always cheaper than Choice. I like using the round roast because it has almost no intra-muscular fat and very little surface fat. Additionally, since this is part of a single whole muscle, there is no connective tissue or gristle that needs to be trimmed. Trimming the fat from this cut takes about sixty seconds and results in wasting less than one percent of the meat. Some other cuts that people often use to make jerky include flank steak and sirloin tip roasts. If you use flank steak make sure to trim off any visible surface fat. If you use a different beef roast make sure any surface fat and gristle is removed. Pork Jerky It is possible to make very tasty jerky from meat other than beef. Pork jerky can be readily made by using the loin meat. This is a naturally lean cut of pork that will need minimal trimming to remove the surface fat and silverskin. Traditionally, pork was not used for jerky as the hog population was infected with the trichina parasite. The traditional methods of making jerky are insufficient to kill this parasite. Over the past 40 years this parasite has been eliminated from commercially produced pork, making this meat safe for jerky usage. If you have lingering concerns about this parasite, it is easily destroyed by placing the meat in the freezer for 20 days. Game Jerky Venison and elk make excellent jerky if properly harvested. Do not make jerky from any animal that was gut shot or improperly cleaned to avoid using meat that has potentially been contaminated with fecal matter. Always freeze any meat from wild hogs for at least 20 days before making jerky. The trichina parasite has been eliminated from commercial pork but it is still prevalent in wild populations.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Strip Jerky ________________________________________________________________ The easiest way to start making jerky is to make traditional strip jerky.

Start with an eye of round that has been trimmed of all surface fat and silverskin. The roasts that I work with weigh about 3.5 pounds.

Before trimming off the silverskin and surface fat.

This roast has been trimmed of excess fat and silverskin. To make slicing easier, place the beef in the freezer for 1-2 hours until it has firmed up but isn’t frozen.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

I will cut the roast in half, across the grain, to make sure the final pieces of jerky are about 3-4 inches in length.

I will then slice the roast, along the grain, into thin strips no thicker than ¼ inch. This is a manageable job with a sharp knife. This is an incredibly easy job using an LEM meat slicer. I set my slicer to setting number 2 and get uniform slices of beef right at 1/8th of an inch thick.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

The beef strips are then placed in a Zip-Loc bag with the following marinade:

Marinade for Jerky 

1 cup Worcestershire sauce



1 cup soy sauce (do not use low sodium)



3 tablespoons honey



3 tablespoons Srirachi chili garlic sauce (optional but delicious heat)



2 teaspoons black pepper



2 teaspoons onion powder

Work the marinade into the meat and refrigerate for 6-8 hours. After the meat has marinated, remove it from the plastic bag and pat off any excess marinade with paper towels. Now the meat is ready to be dried and made into jerky!!

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Extruded Jerky ________________________________________________________________ The process for making extruded jerky is very similar to that for making sausage. The primary difference is the shape of the final product. We will extrude our jerky into small diameter cylinders (snack sticks) or into thin rectangular strips. A secondary difference is that it is not as critical for the meat to stay cold while making jerky. We do not have to worry about the fat separating from the meat as there is almost no fat present in jerky. We are also going to be putting the jerky directly into an oven or dehydrator. To make extruded jerky:

 Cut the trimmed meat into one inch cubes or thin strips that will easily fit into your meat grinder.  Grind the meat using the grinder plate with the smallest holes.  Add the seasoning mix (recipe below) to the meat along with about 1 oz. of water per pound of meat.  Mix the seasoning into the meat until the seasoning is well distributed and the meat is tacky.  Form the meat into cylinders which are about as long, but half as wide, as a soda can.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Seasoning Mix for Extruded Jerky Use this amount per pound of meat 

2 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce



3 Tbs. soy sauce (do not use low sodium)



1 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper



1/2 tsp. granulated onion



1/2 tsp. granulated garlic

Use a jerky cannon to form the jerky into cylindrical shapes for drying.



Drop the meat into a jerky cannon.

 Assemble the jerky cannon and choose the proper attachment for the type of jerky you wish to make.  Extrude the meat directly onto drying trays leaving plenty of room between the individual pieces.

Now the meat is ready for drying!

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

If you are making a small batch of jerky (one pound) then you do not even need a jerky cannon. 

Line either a baking sheet or a dehydrator tray with a sheet of wax paper.



Place the seasoned and mixed meat onto the wax paper and form into a thin layer about a quarter of an inch thick.



Dry the meat as instructed in the next section.



Halfway through drying, use a pizza cutter to cut the partially dried meat into one inch strips.



Remove the wax paper and continue drying until the jerky is finished.

A quick note…I suspect that some of you are going to ignore my earlier advice and will be making your first batch of jerky with a package of extra lean ground beef you picked up at the store. People often do this because they want to make a small batch of jerky to see if they want to invest in proper equipment. If this describes you then PLEASE DO NOT use the seasoning recipe given above. Go to a sporting goods store (Academy, Bass Pro Shops, etc.) and spend $4 on the LEM Jerky Seasoning mix. This seasoning mix is very good, and I will often use it when I do not want to bother making my own. In addition to being very good, this mix comes with a packet of Cure #1. Follow the directions on the label for proper usage of the cure packet as this will give you a safe level of nitrite in your jerky. The nitrite in the cure is excellent insurance against the bacteria that will be present in the pre-ground meat. I realize that there are hundreds of recipes on the internet for ground beef jerky (many from reputable sources) that have no mention of using nitrite. It is in the commercial seasoning blends for a reason. Use it.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Drying the Meat ________________________________________________________________ If you want to make your jerky in full compliance with the guidelines set forth by the Department of Agriculture then all you need to do is dry the jerky in your oven. 

Pre-heat your oven to 200 F.



Place the meat onto drying racks. Try to make sure that none of the meat is touching another piece of meat. Give it plenty of room to dry.



Depending upon the size of the roast and the size of the drying racks, you will need between 3 and 5 racks that can be stacked on top of each other.



Insert the drying racks into the oven and close the door. Do not open the door for 90 minutes. During this time the humidity in the oven will increase as the wet meat is heated. After 90 minutes the meat will have more than met the time and temperature criteria given earlier under conditions of high humidity.

  Remove the drying racks from the oven and restack the trays so that the trays that were on the top are now on the bottom.  Return the jerky to the oven, still set at 200 F., with the door slightly ajar; it’s time to let the humidity decrease so the jerky can properly dry.  Rearrange the trays every hour until the jerky is done (5-7 hours). Jerky is done when it slightly cracks when you bend it. It should not be so soft that it is still pliable, but it should not be so hard that it snaps in half. 

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

This method is easy and the only special equipment needed is the drying racks. The downsides of this method are that is ties up your oven for most of the day and you need to keep rotating the drying racks on schedule. Using a Dehydrator An alternate approach to drying jerky is to use a food dehydrator. Simply load up the meat in the trays (making sure it isn’t touching) and let the dehydrator run for 8-10 hours. Home dehydrators will allow you to meet the time and temperature criteria given earlier but will do so is an environment that is dry, not humid. The Department of Agriculture thinks this is important; manufactures of home jerky-making supplies do not. I use both methods. When I am making strip jerky, I like to use a dehydrator. When I am making extruded jerky, I like to use the oven.

My dehydrator is circular seven tray unit produced by Open Country that cost about $50. I like this dehydrator but one of its limitations has to do with geometry. When I slice up a 3 ½ pound roast, I can usually fit all of the slices onto the seven trays of the dehydrator. The slices are small enough that I can arrange them in a creative manner and make the best use of the tray space.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

If I grind and extrude the same size roast then it is impossible for me to get all of the meat into the dehydrator. Trying to fit long straight extrusions onto circular trays (that have a hole in the middle) is the equivalent of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.

For extruded jerky I use rectangular drying trays and dry in the oven.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

LEM manufactures a 10 tray dehydrator with rectangular drying trays for about $200. This is on my equipment upgrade list so I can make strip and extruded jerky in a dehydrator. The biggest problem with dehydrators is that they make noise. The one I use is slightly less noisy than my dishwasher.

Here is what your strip jerky will look like when it is done.

Jerky Storage As soon as your jerky is done remove it from the oven or dehydrator and place it on paper towels. There will be patches of oil on some pieces of your jerky and you want to use the paper towels to dab it up. If the oil is allowed to cool on the jerky it will solidify into unattractive white spots. In addition to being unattractive, the cooled fat increases the chances of the jerky becoming rancid over time. Let the jerky cool completely while resting on the paper towels. This will take about an hour. Once the jerky is cool, place it into a Ziploc bag and store in a cool, dry location. It is important that the jerky is cooled completely before being stored. If you seal warm jerky in a Ziploc bag and place this in the refrigerator then visible condensation will form in the bag. This condensation will provide enough moisture for bacterial and mold growth, which will shorten the acceptable storage time considerably. You can store your jerky in your pantry for 2-3 weeks and in the refrigerator for 2-3 months. Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Variations of the basic Jerky Recipe Once you have the basic methodology down, where you go with your jerky is completely up to you. You can up the heat by adding cayenne pepper. Classic jerky might need even more fresh cracked black pepper and a little splash of liquid smoke. Barbecue sauce is also a very nice addition to a jerky recipe. If you want to make some tasty pork jerky you could swap out the Worcestershire sauce with a 50:50 mix of pineapple juice and Teriyaki sauce. I would also trade out the black pepper with powdered ginger. Gluten Free Jerky Many soy sauces and Worcestershire sauces contains gluten. Some gluten free brands of Worcestershire sauce include Lea & Perrins and Heinz. The only gluten free brand of soy sauce I am aware of is San-J. San-J can be hard to find. I buy mine at Whole Foods but it is also available online. Excellent gluten free jerky can be made by substituting both the soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce with the Dale’s Seasoning brand of meat marinade. The marinade recipe I have used with great success is as follows:

Marinade for gluten free jerky 

1 cup Dales Seasoning marinade



½ cup water



3 Tbs. honey



1 Tbs. ground ginger



1 Tbs. smoked paprika

This is an incredible marinade even if you are not concerned about gluten.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

42

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Welcome to the Land of Bacon! Making bacon is incredibly easy. The hardest parts about making bacon are finding the stuff you need and waiting. Bacon is as easy as falling off a log. I am going to show you two different types of bacon you can make at home. 

Belly (American breakfast bacon)



Loin (Canadian bacon)

The basic technique for both bacons is the same. We are going to cure a piece of pork in the refrigerator over the course of one to two weeks. The pork will be rinsed, soaked, dried and allowed to rest. The pork will then be cooked (either with or without smoke) to an internal temperature of 150 F. And now you have bacon. Problem #1 You will need to use a cure mix when making bacon and these can be hard to find. If you make your own cure mix then the basic formula is: 

450 grams (1 lb.) kosher salt



250 grams (1/2 lb.) sugar (white or brown)



50 grams (7 Tbs.) Cure #1, also known as “pink salt”

You may find it easier to use Morton Tenderquick, which is a ready-to-use cure mix. This is a product which was specifically developed for making your own bacon at home. This product can be a little tricky to find sometimes. It often shows up in farm supply and sporting goods stores. If all else fails you can order some from Amazon.

Problem #2 It is extremely hard to find a market that carries the fresh pork bellies you need to make American breakfast bacon. Asian markets often have fresh pork bellies as does Whole Foods. It is not uncommon to have to ask your local market to special order bellies. If you go this route you may have to buy a whole case of bellies which is a bit of a mixed blessing.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Let’s get started! The following applies for all types of bacon.

Apply the Cure Mix Apply the cure mix to the surface of the pork at a rate of one tablespoon per pound of meat. Put on some latex gloves and work the cure into the meat. Cover all sides and surfaces of the pork.

If you want to add some extra flavor to your bacon then now is the time. For this batch I added a quarter cup of maple syrup.

Really, anything you want to add is fine (honey, molasses, cracked black pepper, herbs, aromatics, etc.) If you plan on cooking your bacon in an oven (that’s okay!) instead of a smoker then you might want to add a tablespoon of liquid smoke at this point. Don’t worry about measuring exact amounts of your flavorings, simply add a large amount. The excess will get rinsed off before the bacon is finished.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Let the Pork Cure Place the pork into a Ziploc bag and expel as much of the air as possible before sealing. Place the bag in a secondary container (another bag or on a baking sheet) in case a leak develops and then place the pork in the refrigerator.

The pork needs to rest in the cure for seven days per inch of thickness. A jowl will probably need to cure for 4-5 days, while the belly in the picture above needed to cure for 10-11 days. As the pork cures it will start to expel water. Make sure you flip the pork on a daily basis to help redistribute this briny water across the meat. You will notice that every day the meat is getting more firm as the curing process progresses. Remove Excess Cure After the pork has fully cured, you will remove the excess cure from the meat. At a minimum, you need to rinse the meat with cold running water for 2-3 minutes. I tend to be a little heavy handed when I apply the cure mix so I take things a step further. After the meat has been rinsed I like to place it in a large container, cover with cold water, and let it rest in the refrigerator for three to four hours. Soaking helps prevent the bacon from being too salty. The soaking step is not mandatory; its inclusion will depend upon your salt tolerance.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Smoke the Bacon After you have rinsed, soaked and dried the meat it is now time to gently cook it to 150 F. We are accomplishing two things in this step. The first is that we are adding smoke flavor to the bacon, and the second is that we are destroying any remaining bacteria. It is incredibly unlikely that any bacteria survived the salt, sugar and nitrite bath the pork just took, but file this under the category of better safe than sorry. If you don’t have a smoker you can do this step in the oven. To get smoke flavored bacon from the oven you will have needed to add some liquid smoke at the beginning of the curing process. What is critical in this step is that we use very low temperatures (225 F-250 F). We do not want to render the fat out of the bacon. It should take around three hours for a belly to reach 150 F under these conditions. Check the internal temperature of the bacon on a frequent basis to make sure it does not get too hot. I like to smoke my bacon with a little bit of apple or maple wood. Many people like to use hickory and pecan.

Congratulations! You now have a big slab of homemade bacon!!

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Store the Bacon At this point I like to use my meat slicer to slice up all of the bacon. I will keep a pound of bacon in my refrigerator and vacuum seal and freeze the rest. You can slice your bacon as thick or thin as you like. Just like store-bought bacon, you will want to fry or bake your bacon to render some fat and crisp it up before eating. If you added extra sweeteners to your bacon, make sure you cook with a low heat to keep the sugars from burning. Canadian bacon (Loin Bacon) Start with a pork loin that weighs 3 to 4 pounds and remove the fat cap and silverskin. For each pound of pork I mix 1 Tablespoon of Morton Tenderquick with one Teaspoon of brown sugar. Place the loin into a gallon bag and rub the cure mix all over the surface and edges of the meat. I like to add about a quarter cup of maple syrup to the loin as this really sweetens the end product.

Expel as much air as possible from the bag, seal and place in your refrigerator for 6-7 days. Turn the loin over on a daily basis to help redistribute the cure in the liquid that will collect in the bag. After the loin has cured remove it from the bag, rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. I gave this loin a coating of black pepper before it was smoked. You don’t have to add any extra seasoning to the surface but I think it is a nice addition. If you do add a rub avoid using one with salt as there is plenty of salt in this meat already from the cure. A mix of turbinado sugar and chili powder (3:1) would also be excellent!

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Cook the loin at a low temperature (250-275F) until an internal temperature of 150-160F. You can do this in your oven. I chose to do this on a little smoker with a few chunks of hickory.

Let the loin cool in the refrigerator for a few hours once it finishes cooking. I like to slice the Canadian bacon very thin and this is much easier once the loin has cooled. Here is the finished product.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Jowl Bacon This is absolutely my favorite bacon and is also the hardest to find! The jowl is essentially the cheek of a hog and will weigh between one and two pounds.

You can see the texture of jowl fat is fundamentally different than the fat seen on the belly. There are little specks of meat running through most of the fat and the taste is just deeper. The process is pretty much the same for jowl bacon as for belly bacon or Canadian bacon. One difference is that since the jowl is such a small cut it only needs to cure for 2-3 days. The other difference is that I think the jowl is so delicious that I do not add any maple syrup, honey, herbs, etc to the cure. I just let the beauty of this piece of pork stand on its own. If you are fortunate enough to find some pork jowl you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Three More Sausages ___________________________________________________________________________ These last three sausages are some of my favorites. The first is a super healthy taste explosion. The second is one of the prettiest sausages I have ever made and is a culinary secret from Louisiana. The third sausage is a “showoff” that ties the whole book together. Once you master the last sausage, you will have elevated your game to a whole new level. Consider it an edible diploma. Congratulations, you are no longer a “Beginner”! Chicken Fajita Sausage This is a delicious and healthy sausage that takes things in a whole other direction.

Chicken Fajita Sausage 

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 5 thigh filets)



1 red bell pepper, sliced and seeded



1 onion, peeled and sliced into rounds



2 Tbs. fajita seasoning (see recipe)



Juice of one lime

Recipe for Fajita Seasoning 

2 tsp. chili powder



2 tsp. sugar



1 tsp. smoked paprika



1 tsp. salt



½ tsp. granulated onion



½ tsp. granulated garlic



½ tsp. ground cumin

I start by grilling the onion and pepper until they are softened and slightly charred. You can skip this step if you like, but I think this gives the final sausage a better flavor. I cut the chicken and vegetables into small cubes and run the mix through the meat grinder. I then add the fajita seasoning and the lime juice and mix with the paddle attachment. This will be a very wet mixture as the vegetables are loaded with water. If your mix is too wet to easily work with then a slick trick is to add some well-crushed tortilla chips. The chips will soak up some moisture while adding an extra fajita flavor.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

For this batch of sausage I used my jerky cannon as a sausage stuffer. When you are making small batches of sausage this is absolutely the way to go! Easy, easy, easy!!

Grill these sausages and serve with a dollop of sour cream. They are incredible!

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Crawfish Etouffee Sausage This is actually a “secret sausage” that folks in Louisiana have been keeping to themselves for years. The traditional Louisiana rice sausage, boudin, has gotten plenty of press. Once you make boudin you realize that you can stuff almost any rice dish, like crawfish etoufee, into a casing. My etoufee recipe is pretty good but don’t be afraid to try another. There are about as many different ways to make etoufee as there are ways of making sausage.



4 Tbs. flour

One medium onion, skinned and chopped fine



16 oz. chicken stock



1 pound crawfish tail meat



One red bell pepper, seeded and chopped fine



Salt



Two stalks celery, trimmed and chopped fine



Pepper



Hot sauce



3 cups cooked long grain rice

Crawfish Etouffee Sausage 



4 Tbs. butter

In a large skillet melt the butter and add the onion, bell pepper and celery. Lightly salt the vegetables to help them sweat and allow them to gently cook on low heat until the onions are translucent. Add the flour to the skillet and mix it with the vegetables. Let the flour cook, with frequent stirring, for about ten minutes while it gradually darkens. Add the chicken stock and bring the mixture to a boil to thicken. Reduce the heat and allow the mixture to simmer while the chicken stock reduces by a quarter. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt, pepper and hot sauce as desired. Add the crawfish tails and allow them to simmer for about ten minutes until done. If you do not have crawfish tails available then peeled shrimp make a fine substitute. You will either need to use salad shrimp or rough chop large shrimp for easier stuffing. Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

When the etoufee is finished combine it with the rice. I use a large spoon and load the mixture into my jerky cannon for easy stuffing.

I think these sausages are beautiful.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Bacon Cheeseburger Sausage This is the one that ties everything together. For the ground beef I bought a pack of 80/20 mix, since I was in a hurry. If you want to grind your own (which I highly recommend) then a chuck roast or a brisket would be great cuts to use. You wouldn’t want to use the same cuts that you use for jerky, since they would be too lean.

I don’t add extra salt in this recipe since there is plenty in the bacon. If you want to take this sausage into the realm of insanity then use blue cheese instead of cheddar.

Bacon Cheeseburger Sausage 

2 lbs. ground beef



1 lb. bacon



1 cup shredded cheddar cheese



2 tsp. black pepper



3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce

Slice off a big hunk of your homemade bacon and cut into cubes small enough to go through your stuffer. Cook the bacon in a skillet to render some fat and get it nice and crispy. Drain the crisp bacon cubes on a paper towel and try hard not to eat them by the handful.

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

Combine the ground beef, bacon, cheese, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce until well mixed. Load the mix into a jerky cannon, stuff, grill and then smile!

You just used your sausage skills, homemade bacon, and jerky equipment in making one big glorious sausage!

Who is king of the grill now? Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MAKING SAUSAGE, BACON AND JERKY __________________________________________________________________________________

I hope you found this book to be a great guide to getting started in making your own sausage, bacon and jerky. I sincerely hope you enjoy making these items as much as I do.

David Somerville

Email David at: [email protected] Visit David’s Website: http://www.bbqdryrubs.com

Copyright © 2012 David Somerville | All Rights Reserved

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