I've been making pork sausages for a few years now. Concentrating on getting the fat content low while still succulent so they are guilt free. It does take quite a while though butchering the pork shoulder into lean pieces.
So about a year ago I saw skinless and boneless chicken thighs in Costco and wondered if they would make good sausages - and the answer was yes.
This time of making I took pictures to show how easy sausage making can be.
First step is to make some rusk. I found a recipe for it online ages ago and printed it out but there's not much to it. It's 1 pound of flour and think its 5 teaspoons of double action baking powder. You mix it to a dough with some water, spread it out flat and bake it. Then you take it out and split it in half to expose the inside and bake it again - it needs to get dry.
Then blend it into crumbs
Costco thighs
Sausage seasoning and sheep casings (thinner than pork) come from Weshenfelder. the seasoning has been in the freezer since opening so ignore the date! I put the meat and rusk and seasoning in a bag and shake it with the idea of evening it out.
Then to the mincer attachment. one pass only with the 5mm hole size plate.
The mixture is too stiff and dry for sausages so it needs water added. I've found that adding an egg per kg of meat improves the texture so water with 2 eggs in it gets added. I use the dough hook on the mixer to integrate the liquid with the meat. Working the meat at this stage also makes for a good texture.
The skins need soaking in water for some hours before use as they are packed in salt. try and use them too soon after opening and they stick to the nozzle and are a pain. The pack contains 4 or 5 lengths and the ends are tied to the ring.
My 3kg sausage stuffer
The nozzle loaded with 2 skins. I have a syringe that I use to squirt a little veg oil into the skin before feeding it on to the nozzle. makes the skin go on and come off easier.
With the added water and rusk the stuffer is filled by 2kg of meat. then it is down to turning the handle and laying out the sausage. No pictures of me pinching and twisting it into sausages but you know what sausages look like!
Once packed into bags of 6 sausages they go in the fridge for 24h to let the flavour develop then they get frozen. They taste like sausages not bits of chicken in a skin so we don't miss pork at all.
There is a small amount of fat on the thighs but these are really low fat. Obviously you can vary the seasonings for other flavours. I used to make up my own seasoning but I now take the easy way and just buy it.
So about a year ago I saw skinless and boneless chicken thighs in Costco and wondered if they would make good sausages - and the answer was yes.
This time of making I took pictures to show how easy sausage making can be.
First step is to make some rusk. I found a recipe for it online ages ago and printed it out but there's not much to it. It's 1 pound of flour and think its 5 teaspoons of double action baking powder. You mix it to a dough with some water, spread it out flat and bake it. Then you take it out and split it in half to expose the inside and bake it again - it needs to get dry.
Then blend it into crumbs
Costco thighs
Sausage seasoning and sheep casings (thinner than pork) come from Weshenfelder. the seasoning has been in the freezer since opening so ignore the date! I put the meat and rusk and seasoning in a bag and shake it with the idea of evening it out.
Then to the mincer attachment. one pass only with the 5mm hole size plate.
The mixture is too stiff and dry for sausages so it needs water added. I've found that adding an egg per kg of meat improves the texture so water with 2 eggs in it gets added. I use the dough hook on the mixer to integrate the liquid with the meat. Working the meat at this stage also makes for a good texture.
The skins need soaking in water for some hours before use as they are packed in salt. try and use them too soon after opening and they stick to the nozzle and are a pain. The pack contains 4 or 5 lengths and the ends are tied to the ring.
My 3kg sausage stuffer
The nozzle loaded with 2 skins. I have a syringe that I use to squirt a little veg oil into the skin before feeding it on to the nozzle. makes the skin go on and come off easier.
With the added water and rusk the stuffer is filled by 2kg of meat. then it is down to turning the handle and laying out the sausage. No pictures of me pinching and twisting it into sausages but you know what sausages look like!
Once packed into bags of 6 sausages they go in the fridge for 24h to let the flavour develop then they get frozen. They taste like sausages not bits of chicken in a skin so we don't miss pork at all.
There is a small amount of fat on the thighs but these are really low fat. Obviously you can vary the seasonings for other flavours. I used to make up my own seasoning but I now take the easy way and just buy it.
