ISO good breakfast sausage recipe

[blissful]

Not unlike the mild italian sausage recipe @taxlady, this is a vegan sausage recipe.

Breakfast Sausages

You really can make some delicious plant based sausages that taste like the real deal. The texture is amazing. It uses simple pantry ingredients so you can most likely make these right now. What would brunch be like without a little breakfast sausage? This recipe was posted by Kerry Bl

www.nutmegnotebook.com

• 2 cups water
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds I like golden flax it is milder in flavor
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 Tablespoon onion powder
• 1 rounded Tablespoon – sage
• 1 rounded Tablespoon Italian seasoning mix
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

To me the fennel really makes this delicious. We use fennel seed in it, and in tomato sauce for that 'old fashioned italian grandma taste'.

 

[Ksm]

Thanks. That sounds interesting. Will give it a try.

 

[Aunt Bea]

To me the fennel really makes this delicious. We use fennel seed in it, and in tomato sauce for that 'old fashioned italian grandma taste'.

Another vote for fennel seed!

I like to put the fennel seeds on the cutting board and run a knife through them to help release the flavor.

 

[JohnDB]

I don't really use particular recipes however, I do use ratios...

Now I could get into an alligation chart explaining the percentages of fat contents but....
Whole Pork butts or shoulders are a bit too lean for a breakfast patty sausage all by themselves. I add one pound of fat back or hog jowl for every five pounds of shoulder.

I also use 1 teaspoon salt per pound of sausage. (This includes using Prague powder)
Spices I usually limit to ¼ teaspoon each per pound.

Now the sky is the limit for what you wish to produce. Fresh sage (an herb and not a spice) used in breakfast sausage instead of dry allows you to add extra flavor that no commercially prepared sausage can have.

The use of cured bacon type fats(hog jowl) in any pork or beef sausage you make will cause the cooked sausage to appear pink or uncooked...so if you cremate the sausage to the point of actually getting rid of the pink...it is inedible. So if you serve this to a person unaccustomed to homemade sausage you probably should explain this.

I usually put all salt and seasoning and spices into a measured amount of ice cold water before mixing them into the sausage...I get better distribution from them....around a cup (8oz) for 6 lbs of sausage...it does increase the yield but primarily it makes the binding and flavor awesome in your sausage.

Always make a taste test patty before packaging and storing the sausage. Cook a small patty to determine if the flavor is acceptable. This is your chance to right any wrongs that have occurred.

One last thing I've experienced is that if you use garlic or other high sulfur content seasonings in your sausages and freeze the sausage....use at least two bags to keep the odors contained to the sausage itself (I've used 3)...otherwise things like ice cream will absorb those odors.

 

[taxlady]

Hi @JohnDB and welcome to Discuss Cooking.

I really like the sound of that method of yours of adding the salt and other flavourings to water before mixing it into the ground meat. Did I calculate that right, about 8-9% water by weight to meat? Am I right in assuming that the exact amount of water isn't too important, just get it in the ball park and don't overdo it.

Another question, when substituting fresh sage for dry, do you just mince it fine or use a mortar and pestle on it or what?

 

[JohnDB]

Hi @JohnDB and welcome to Discuss Cooking.

I really like the sound of that method of yours of adding the salt and other flavourings to water before mixing it into the ground meat. Did I calculate that right, about 8-9% water by weight to meat? Am I right in assuming that the exact amount of water isn't too important, just get it in the ball park and don't overdo it.

Another question, when substituting fresh sage for dry, do you just mince it fine or use a mortar and pestle on it or what?

You are correct about the water....the water content is somewhat flexible because of the processing plants and how much water the meat actually contains. Cut shoulders are always a mystery so I usually buy whole. When removing the shoulders from the cryovak bag look at how much water has drained from the meat. If a lot then a bit more water is needed. (water content is standardized by the USDA and FDA at the processing plants but that has no bearing on local retail meat markets which may or may not drain the meat more)

All sausage is a type of emulsion that comes from binding meat, fat, and water together. The primary protein involved is myotin...which is developed by moisture, salt, and mechanical agitation. Adding ice water ensures development of myotin and aids in preventing "fat smear" which is where the fat breaks out caused by heat and overmixing and prevents/breaks the binding. It's less noticeable in patties than when stuffed into casings....but if the sausage is dry something went wrong in the process somewhere. Keeping everything cold the entire time is crucial.

When substituting fresh sage for dry (when long ago it was said that dry sage was a substitute for the fresh) you can use a bit more without any bitterness. It is a taste preference here for how much sage. I customarily pick the leaves and remove all tough stems (parts I wouldn't eat or couldn't chew if eating them) and put them in a food processor if doing a lot or just chop them by hand finely. Seeing the specks of green fresh sage in my sausage usually isn't off putting to most people....the pink sometimes is but when that's explained it's not given anyone anymore pause. If the pink is a problem then use some Prague powder and some form of complimentary dextrose (brown sugar) by the recommended dosages to avoid creating carcinogens.

 

[taxlady]

@JohnDB, thanks for the info. I'm having a good giggle about chopping the sage in the food processor. I usually make about a pound of sausage at a time. To be honest, I usually just use pork that I bought ground. It's still better than most store bought sausage and I know what's in it. I'm sure I could make it better by starting with fresh pork shoulder and grinding it myself, but I just don't have the energy to do that sort of thing anymore.

 

[JohnDB]

@JohnDB, thanks for the info. I'm having a good giggle about chopping the sage in the food processor. I usually make about a pound of sausage at a time. To be honest, I usually just use pork that I bought ground. It's still better than most store bought sausage and I know what's in it. I'm sure I could make it better by starting with fresh pork shoulder and grinding it myself, but I just don't have the energy to do that sort of thing anymore.

Sorry...I make 70-90lbs at a time when I do it. Which is why I use ratios and just do the math. Of course I buy sage by the pound (much easier) and do it by batches that fit in the food processor.
I have made it at home though...but I usually use a whole shoulder because my wife and family love the stuff. It's always a sad day when the freezer runs dry on homemade sausage.

I got a sausage stuffer a couple years back for Christmas...made all kinds of stuff from beef meat snacks to kielbasa.

Chicken kielbasa was shockingly good. I threw in the grinder every bit of skin and chicken fat that came with the chickens....really good with that fresh sage. I do use a Turkish coffee mill for the black pepper. (I do channel the Frugal Gourmet at times...I just like Jeff Smith's honesty) it grinds the black pepper fine enough to be almost like white pepper.

 

[Badjak]

Just a remark since Prague powder was mentioned:
For anyone looking at cold smoking sausages and/or drying them, just be careful and read up on the subject.
The "standard" potassium nitrite (prague powder) is 6.25%
Mine is 8 %
Most of mainland Europe uses some form of Clorozo salt or pökelsalz at 0.6% (which is easy as you use it like "normal" salt and it means you give more or less the right amount of potassium nitrite automatically.
It's not necessary for fresh sausages