Italian and sweet sausage links

[still survieving]

Does anyone can and have a recipe to can for these.. we have about 40 pounds that we would like to get out of the freezer.

[JCK88]

I have used this recipe...and it is posted here: http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/recipes.../recipe_id/722/

 

Italian sausage

The only specialized equipment you will need is a meat grinder/sausage stuffing attachment, which is sold as an accessory to many electric mixers.

 

 

Yield: Makes 8 pounds sausage

Preparation Time: 5 to 6 hours in all

 

 

6 pounds boneless pork butt, preferably, or shoulder, with its fat, coarsely chopped or ground

 

2 pounds pork fatback, rind removed and fat coarsely chopped or ground

 

6 tablespoons fennel seed

 

2 tablespoons salt if the pork fatback is salted, 3 to 4 tablespoons if using unsalted fatback

 

2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 cups freshly grated pecorino cheese

 

1 tablespoon red pepper flakes (optional)

 

1 cup dry red wine

 

About 25 feet of hog casing

 

 

 

 

1. In a large bowl, toss together thoroughly the pork butt, fatback, fennel, salt, black pepper, pecorino, red pepper flakes, and wine, cover with plastic wrap, and leave refrigerated for 4 hours or overnight for the flavors to blend.

 

2. Open one end of the hog casing, fit it over the faucet in your kitchen sink, and place the remainder of the casing in a medium-size bowl in the sink. Turn the water on gently to wash out the casings. The casings are sold cleaned; you are merely washing away preserving salts and residue. Now you are ready to start stuffing.

 

3. Affix one end of the casing over the funnel attached to the sausage stuffing attachment of a stand mixer or meat grinder. Push the entirety of the casing onto the length of the funnel (it will contract and fit fine), leaving about 2 inches dangling from the end. Tie this end in a double knot.

 

4. Turn the grinder or mixer on and as the sausage stuffing begins to flow into the casing, it will push the casing off the funnel. Have a large bowl or platter ready to catch the sausages. Twist or tie off the sausage with kitchen twine to make links, or leave to make several very long sausages. Do not overstuff the sausage otherwise it will burst, either then and there, or during cooking. Also be careful that the sausage stuffing enters the casing continuously and evenly and that no air bubbles develop. If air bubbles do occur, it is better either to cut the sausage at that point and start a new one, by tying the end off, or to prick the air bubbles with a toothpick.

 

5. The sausages can be divided into portions of different or the same weights and frozen for later use in freezer bags for 2 to 4 months or you can cook them immediately. Refrigerate for not more than 2 days. If cooking them, place the sausages in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and, just as the water begins to bubble, reduce the heat to below a boil and poach the sausages for 10 minutes, if grilling or frying, or 40 minutes if serving them boiled.

 

 

Note: For grilling sausages, prepare a charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill on low for 20 minutes. Grill the sausages for 45 minutes, turning frequently. (If using a charcoal fire, the sausages should be 6 to 8-inches away from the coals).

 

 

[still survieving]

As i posted, we already have the sausage in casings, in links.

we would like to know if there is a safe way to can them. thks

[JCK88]

oops...That goes to show what happens when I speed read way too fast while wearing progressive lens glasses... Please accept my apologies for not reading your question correctly.

 

Yes to canning sausage..not to canning the links. there are directions in the Ball Blue Book as follows:

 

The book says not to use sage in the seasonings as this can become bitter. It also says that the seasoned sausage should be made into cakes or patties not into links.

 

"Cook until lightly browned. Pack hot sausage into hot jars, leaving 1-inch headspace. Broth may be added. However, enough fat and juices for making its own broth will cook out of thesausage during processing. Adjust two-piece caps. Process pints 1 hour and 15 minutes. Quarts 1 hour and 20 minutes, at 10 pounds of pressure in a steam-pressure canner."

 

Also, you might check the USDA guides here for more information or if it is possible to chop the cased sausages up and process them that way. (but if you do, the casings will likely curl up and do funny things) http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/usda...an_guide_05.pdf

 

PS I would thaw the sausage and squeeze it out of the casings and make patties to can if I needed to get it out of the freezer and couldn't find directions from a trusted source to do it safely. The Ball Blue Book is a good reference and it says patties are safe.