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When buying smoked sausage in a store, it is difficult to be sure of the quality and freshness of the ingredients, adherence to the technology of its production. Accordingly, it is impossible to guarantee its safety for health. All these disadvantages disappear if smoked sausage is cooked at home. The recipes are relatively simple, the main thing is to choose fresh raw materials and precisely observe the proportions of the ingredients, follow the technology.
How to make smoked sausage at home
There are many recipes for making homemade smoked sausage, you can choose the most suitable one for yourself. Quality ingredients are readily available if you know what to look for when choosing. The equipment you need is easy to buy or make yourself.
Cooking principles
Smoking sausages at home is possible both hot and cold. The principle in both cases is the same - the shells stuffed with minced meat are hung or laid out in a smoking cabinet (it can be purchased or homemade) and for a certain time left to "soak" with smoke. Its source can be a fire, barbecue or a special smoke generator. The characteristic smell of smoked sausage is given by chips, which are poured into the bottom of the box.
The difference between the two methods is the temperature of the smoke. For hot smoked sausage, it is 70-120 ° C, cold - it varies within 18-27 ° C. In the second case, a long chimney is needed to cool the smoke.
Accordingly, cold smoking is much slower. In the finished form, the product is much denser and drier, the natural taste of the raw material is better preserved. Hot smoked sausage is a cross between boiled and baked meat, it is juicier and more flavorful.
Cold smoking requires strict adherence to technology, so it is better to purchase a smoke generator and a smoking cabinet
Selection and preparation of ingredients
You can cook delicious smoked sausage at home only from fresh and high-quality raw materials. Otherwise, even the observance of technology will not save the finished product.
Only fresh (chilled) meat is suitable for homemade smoked sausage. It is not prepared from frozen (especially, repeatedly) raw materials and by-products. Beef is best taken from the back of the carcass (unless it's shanks). The most suitable pork is shoulder, brisket.
The animal should not be too young. Otherwise, the smoked sausage will turn out to be "watery", and the taste will not be particularly rich. But, if there is no alternative, the meat from such carcasses is first "aired" in the open air for about a day. Another way of preparation is to chop it finely, cover it with salt, keep it in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Fresh meat has a uniform reddish-pink color, and its smell does not even have a faint note of mustiness.
The best lard is cut from the neck or back.Before cooking, it is kept at a constant temperature of 8-10 ° C for at least two days.
Smoked sausage at home is best cooked in the intestines, and not in a silicone, collagen casing. In stores, they are sold ready-to-use. If you bought just pork intestines, they are thoroughly cleaned from the inside, soaked in a strong (200 g per 1 l) salt solution for 8-10 hours, changing it 3-4 times during this time.
The most suitable casings for cold smoked sausages are from beef intestines: they are stronger and thicker, suitable for long-term storage
The meat is pre-divided into grades. It is also necessary to get rid of thick layers of fat, "membranes" from the film, veins, cartilage, tendons. Cut out those parts that become jelly under the influence of heat.
How and how much to smoke homemade sausage
The time for smoking homemade sausage depends on the cooking method, as well as on the thickness and size of the loaves and rings. The cold smoking process, taking into account the need for preliminary salting or pickling, takes about a week. Sausages should be kept directly in the smokehouse for 3-5 days.
The time of hot smoking of sausages is on average 1.5-2 hours. It takes 2-3 hours for the largest loaves, 40-50 minutes for small sausages.
Hanging them in the smoking cabinet, laying them out on the grates, you need to make sure that the rings, loaves do not come into contact with each other. Otherwise, they will smoke unevenly. It is impossible to eat the finished product immediately when processing with cold smoke. First, the loaves are ventilated during the day in the open air or in a room with good ventilation.
Do not hang the sausage in the smoker or lay it out too tightly.
Hot smoked pork sausage at home
One of the simplest recipes, suitable for those who cannot boast of a lot of experience in home smoking. Required Ingredients:
- pork - 1 kg;
- lard - 180-200 g;
- garlic - 5-6 cloves;
- salt - to taste (1.5-2 tbsp. l.);
- freshly ground black pepper and paprika - 1/2 tsp each;
- any dry herbs to taste (oregano, thyme, basil, sage, marjoram, dill, parsley) - only 2-3 tbsp. l.
Step-by-step recipe for making pork sausage at home:
- Rinse meat and lard in running water. Pat dry on towels or paper towels.
- Cut half of the meat into thin strips, the second - pass through a meat grinder. Chop the bacon into small (2-3 mm) cubes. Or you can grind everything in a meat grinder if there is a nozzle with large holes.
- Put the meat and lard in a deep bowl, add chopped garlic and other spices. Mix well. Refrigerate for an hour.
- Soak the casing in water for about a quarter of an hour.
- Fill it tightly with minced meat using a special attachment for a meat grinder. Gradually tying with threads, form loaves of the desired length.
- Hang the sausage for draft in the open air, balcony, any room with good ventilation. In the first two cases, protection from flies and other insects will be required.
- Smoke hot smoked sausage in a smokehouse at a temperature of 80-85 ° C for 1.5-2 hours.
Important! Readiness can be checked by piercing the shell with a sharpened wooden stick, a knitting needle. If the puncture site remains dry, an almost transparent liquid will not be released from there, it is time to remove the product from the smokehouse.
Homemade Spicy Smoked Sausage Recipe
For cooking you will need:
- pork belly - 600 g;
- lean pork - 2 kg;
- lean beef - 600 g:
- nitrate salt - 40 g;
- ground hot pepper (chili is also suitable, but pink is better) - 1-2 tbsp. l .;
- ground ginger, nutmeg, dry marjoram - 1 tsp each.
Recipe for making spicy smoked sausage at home:
- Pass the washed and dried meat through a meat grinder with a nozzle with large holes.
- Add all the spices to the minced meat, mix thoroughly for ten minutes, send to the refrigerator for three hours.
- Fill the shell soaked in water for 5-7 minutes with minced meat, forming sausages. Pierce each several times with a needle.
- Cook sausages in hot (80-85 ° C) water, not letting it boil, for 40-45 minutes. Remove from the pan, let cool. Dry for about an hour.
- Smoke for 30-40 minutes at a temperature of about 90 ° C. Then remove the smoking cabinet from the heat, wait another 15-20 minutes.
Important! Shaping small sausages makes the perfect picnic dish. Their readiness is determined by the appearance of a beautiful ruddy crust and a pronounced aroma.
Smoked sausage like "Krakowska" with your own hands
To cook "Krakow" smoked sausage with your own hands at home, you will need:
- pork tenderloin (with lard, but not too fatty) - 1.6 kg;
- pork belly - 1.2 kg;
- lean beef - 1.2 kg;
- nitrite salt - 75 g;
- glucose - 6 g;
- dry garlic - 1 tbsp. l .;
- ground black and red pepper - 1/2 tsp each.
It's easy to cook such a sausage yourself:
- Cut lard from pork, set aside temporarily. Cut all the meat, except for the brisket, into pieces, mince with a large wire rack.
- Pour nitrite salt into the minced meat, knead intensively for 10-15 minutes. Keep in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
- Put the brisket and cut bacon in the freezer for about half an hour, cut into medium (5-6 cm) cubes.
- Pour all the spices into the minced meat removed from the refrigerator, stir. Pass through a meat grinder again, but with a fine grate. Add lard and brisket, evenly distributing them in the minced meat.
- Form the sausages, leave to sediment for five hours at a temperature of 10 ° C. Then raise it to 18-20 ° С and wait another eight hours.
- Smoke for 3-4 hours, gradually lowering the temperature from 90 ° С to 50-60 ° С.
Important! "Krakow" sausage can also be smoked in a cold way, the processing time in this case increases to 4-5 days. Another day is then spent on airing.
Hot smoked pork sausage with mustard seeds
Another very simple recipe. Ingredients:
- pork - 1 kg;
- lard - 200 g;
- garlic - 3-4 cloves;
- salt - 2 tbsp. l .;
- ground black pepper - to taste (about 1 tsp);
- mustard grains - 2 tbsp. l.
Smoked sausage is prepared like this:
- Pass the meat and lard through a meat grinder with a large wire rack. Add spices and garlic chopped into gruel, knead the minced meat. Let cool for 1-1.5 hours.
- Form sausages using a special meat grinder attachment. The casing must be pre-soaked for 7-10 minutes.
- Allow the minced meat to settle by hanging the sausages in a well-ventilated area for 1.5-2 hours.
- Smoke hot at a temperature of 85-90 ° C. The sausage will be ready in a maximum of two hours.
Important! The readiness of the product is determined by its characteristic darkish color and pronounced smoke aroma.
How to cook smoked baked sausage in the oven
Required Ingredients:
- pork tenderloin - 2 kg;
- beef tenderloin - 1 kg;
- lard - 100 g;
- olive oil - 2 tablespoons l .;
- dry marjoram - 1 tbsp. l .;
- ground black and red pepper - 1 tsp each;
- cumin, chopped bay leaf, fennel seeds, paprika - 1/2 tsp each.
The brine is prepared separately. For 1 liter of water you need:
- nitrate salt - 10 g;
- table salt - 35 g;
- sugar - 7-8 g.
Procedure:
- Prepare the brine. Pour sugar and salt into the water, heat until all the ingredients are completely dissolved. Then the liquid is cooled to room temperature.
- Cut the meat into pieces, rub thoroughly with pepper. Put it in a large bowl with bacon, pour over the brine. Put in the refrigerator for 1.5-2 days.
- Pass the meat and lard through a meat grinder 2-3 times. Add oil and spices, mix well. Keep in the refrigerator for another two days.
- Stuff the shell with minced meat. Hang the sausages for 2-3 days for sediment.
- Smoke cold for 3-4 days.
- Transfer the sausage to a greased baking sheet, bake for an hour in an oven preheated to 180 ° C.
Important! It is recommended to cool the finished sausage completely and keep it in the refrigerator for 3-5 days before use.
Useful Tips
Knowing certain nuances always helps when cooking. There are some tricks in smoking sausages at home:
- A universal option for smoking - alder, beech, oak chips. Chips of fruit trees (apple, pear, plum, cherry) will give a more pronounced aroma to the finished product.Any conifers are categorically not suitable - smoked sausage is impregnated with resins, unpleasantly bitter.
- If you add 1-2 sprigs of fresh mint or juniper to the chips, the smoked sausage will acquire a very original flavor.
- For the saturation of taste, very little is kneaded into the minced meat (literally a pinch per 1 kg) of cloves, star anise, coriander seeds, crushed into powder.
- To make the hot smoked sausage more juicy, add fatty and rich meat broth to the minced meat. Enough about 100 ml per 1 kg, the exact volume is determined empirically.
When smoking, it is not the intensity that is decisive, but the consistency of the flame. It is recommended to start processing with a weak smoke, gradually increasing its density. It is necessary to constantly monitor that its temperature does not exceed the values indicated in the recipe.
Conclusion
Smoked sausage at home is not as difficult as it might seem to a beginner in cooking. All ingredients and equipment are available, step-by-step recipe descriptions allow you to follow the technology exactly. The finished product is tasty and safe for health. It is served both as an independent appetizer and as a meat dish with a side dish.
