Source for recipes for homemade sausages

[Clipper]

Kit, I found a site on Facebook that is a great source for sausage and other meat recipes, and they sell seasoning packets for their sausages. The facebook page is meatprocessingproducts.com. If you google that name, you will find that they also sell grinders and other products and offer other recipes on their normal company website. I liked the facebook page. It showed some great recipes for everything from home made salami and keilbasa to sauces for bbq ribs.

I have not tried any of the recipes as of yet, but I did mark the websites for later perusal and experimentation. If YOU try any of the recipes, let me know what you think.

[kit]

Will do, Clipper. For health reasons I still like to reduce a recipe to its lowest common denominator with the provision that it's still 'home made.' Hence, I don't buy pre-packaged mixes and put the ingredients together myself. But the site looks interesting and I'll definitely check it out. Thanks

[Clipper]

I don't smoke meats any more. I don't have the patience. I used to make smoked sausages with venison occasionally, but quit many years ago.

The recipe that caught my eye on the website was the recipe for bratwurst. They mentioned that it could be made and formed into patties rather than stuffing it in a casing. Makes sense to me. I do that with Italian sausage all the time. I haven't cased any of my sausages in quite some time. I bet a bratwurst patty done over charcoal would be great.

I am in agreement with your "homemade" standards. I am not a fan of premixed packets for such things either. I found in the past that such things as jerky spice mixes and such things are normally loaded with monosodium glutamate and other unhealthy sounding preservatives and chemicals. The only smoking I do any more is to add a pan of wet chips to a charcoal fire to add a little hickory or mesquite flavor to ribs or steaks done on the charcoal grill.

As for making smoked sausages with "liquid smoke?" Naahh, not for me. LOL Thanks but no thanks.

[clarencebunsen]

I like the bags of spice mix from Symeons. With red wine vinegar & olive oil it makes my favorite salad dressing. I also use it for a marinade or rub. When they had a fire and were closed for a few months I tried to duplicate it but never got it quite right.

[Clipper]

I loved the dressing on Symeon's Greek salads, but I never knew you could buy the spice mix to make it at home. Is the dressing you make the same as the vinegarette they use in the restaurant Clarence? I haven't been to Symeon's in years but I used to like their broiled fish dinner on Friday nights once in a while. We used to make a road trip out of chasing down good fish fries. We would have Friday night dinner anywhere from Buffalo Head and Garramone's to the Solsville Hotel or Eddie's in Sylvan Beach.

[clarencebunsen]

They sell the spice mix in zip lock baggies or pint jars. I buy the baggies and refill my own jar as needed. I use Cora red wine vinegar and Italian olive oil my son gets for me. I assume they use something similar. We have talked about making our own vinegar but haven't tried it yet.

I've had to come up with my own proportions but I think it tastes similar to theirs. My wife thinks I use too much vinegar.

[kit]

Clipper... I'm going to make the homemade Bratwurst recipe (all pork) but make it into patties rather than stuffing it into links. I really like sandwiches, but really don't like the idea of 'tube steaks.'

I have a very good recipe for cooking the links that I'll experiment with and try to convert it for use with patties to be eaten in a 'hamburger bun.' Will let you know if it's successful.

[Clipper]

When I get some time I also am going to give the brat patties a shot. I am going to simmer them in beer with onions cut up in it for a while, and then toss them on the grill and grill them off. I imagine that it will work okay, and if I don't feel like grilling outside, I will try it on our cast iron grill pan, simply to sear the outside and mark them. I may also try grilling them first and THEN simmering them in the beer and onion for a short time.

I always liked the hot dogs steamed in beer at Lum's on Burrstone Road years ago, and I attended a cookout earlier in the summer where they simmered the brats in Guiness Stout before they grilled them. The beer gave them a unique flavor. The steamed onions actually picked up more flavor from the beer than the bratwurst did. If you didn't know what they had used, you would never guess that it was beer.

Seems almost criminal to buy a premium beer like Guiness and cook sausages in it, LOL. I have purchased single cans of beer at the local convenience store to use for beer batter for frying fish though, but I bought cheaper beer like Budweiser for that task.

I can remember a time when I would not have WASTED a can of beer to cook anything in it, LOL.

[kit]

Clipper... your recipe is the same as the one I'm going to experiment with. I think it would be best to fry the patties quickly on the outside so they'll keep their shape while simmering in the beer and onions. The simmering for a while should cook the inside and they should be moist, tender, and delicious when done.

[Clipper]

I think you are correct in your assumption that they would be better if fried first and then simmered for a short time in the beer. Makes more sense than trying to simmer them first. They would most likely come out rather gray and ugly if steamed first. haha

[kit]

At this point, Clip, it's all academic (at least on my part). I can GUESS what might be best, but won't know for sure until I try it. Like writing a computer program, I found a lot of bugs that needed to be addressed before it was the way I wanted it to be. Probably the same with "Brat-Burgers."

[Clipper]

Well, all that bratwurst talk made me hungry. I had to cook up a couple of Nathan's franks with chili, onions, and cheese. They only recently started selling Nathan's franks here at our Kroger's. They are not Hoffman's but they are a decent quality, all meat, no poultry, hot dog. I am hopelessly addicted to hot dogs. I could eat the darn things 7 days a week. The nitrates and other chemicals will probably preserve my body 10 yrs after I am dead and buried. I can't quite get into the Southern groove though, and order "slaw dogs." Coleslaw is a side dish to be served with a fish fry. Doesn't belong on a hot dog.

[kit]

You know what they say Clipper, "When in Rome..." A friend of mine used to put his fries inside his cheeseburgers when he went to Mickey D's. And when Gary Flagg was with The Nitecaps in Ogdensburg (Uncle Jim might remember) his wife Julie from Eindhoven Holland used to dip her fries in mayonnaise rather than ketchup. Sounded strange, but she made me try it once and it was a great combination. I still eat them that way. In Ogdensburg the normal is fries with chicken gravy, and across the St. Lawrence the Canadians put vinegar on their fries. I suppose it's all in what you get used to and bratwurst is probably the same way... different strokes and all that.

Oh, and did you know that in Germany, the original recipe for Beef Stroganoff called for the addition of dill pickle strips? I know... right?

[clarencebunsen]

When I was stationed in Germany and stopped at the German equivalent of McDonald's (the bratwurst stand near the barracks) I normally ordered "pomme freitz" with my wurst. The standard question was "katzup oder majonaese?"

[Clipper]

I have eaten the stroganoff with the pickle strips while in Germany Kit. I also love my fries with mayo rather than ketchup. If you have eaten German ketchup, you would know why. It is some pretty rank tasting stuff. Their mayo isn't exactly Hellman's either, but it is better than the ketchup, lol.