Hot Italian Sausages – Fraser's Food

Ingredients

5kg boneless pork shoulder, diced into 1-inch cubes (+-20% fT Ratio) diced into 1-inch cubes

75g tablespoons kosher salt

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons fennel seeds, toasted

1 tablespoon anise seeds, toasted

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted

3 tablespoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, rough chopped

4 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, rough chopped

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

2 teaspoons coarse ground black pepper

180ml ice water, divided

60ml cup red wine vinegar, chilled, divided

4 drops anise oil

10 feet hog casings, soaked in room temperature water for 30 minutes and rinsed

Method

Combine all the ingredients in a very large mixing bowl and toss well to evenly distribute the seasonings. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to grind.

Fill a large mixing bowl half full of ice cubes. Place the bowl of your stand mixer down into the ice.

Grind the mixture through the small die, of your grinder, into the mixing bowl of your stand mixer, that is resting in the ice.

Divide the grind mixture in half. Working with one-half the mixture at a time, add half of the water and half of the vinegar, (and add 2 drops of anise oil, for the spicy sausage) to the meat mixture. Mix with the paddle attachment, on medium, until the liquid is incorporated and the mixture has developed a sticky appearance, throughout, about 1 to 1-1/2 minutes. Repeat with the remaining meat mixture and ingredients. This step is called the primary bind and it affects the texture of the finished sausage.

Cook a small piece of the sausage and taste it to check the seasoning level. Adjust it if necessary.

Place the sausage in a clean bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or two before proceeding. (You can stop right here and you will have bulk Italian sausage. Just wrap it in one pound logs and use, or freeze, as needed.)

While the sausage is chilling rinse and soak your casings in tepid water for at least 30 minutes. After the soaking period is finished make certain to rinse the inside of the casings by gently running water through the casing.

Stuff the sausage into the hog casings and twist into 6-inch / 15 centimeter lengths. Refrigerate or freeze as necessary until ready to use.

Additional Notes

First time I made this, I used:

Mince twice, meat firs then with the ingredients both on a bog die.

1/3rd of the salt was smoked salt

The casing I used was from Amazon: