First Time!

[Paddy O'Furniture]

Well, I acquired a Moulinex HV8, enough hog casings to hang myself with, a next to useless book on sausage making (mainly next to useless because I found more information on here and all the recipes are for Moose and Bear - not exactly common in South East England unless you carry out an armed attack on Regents Park Zoo), some rusk and I was ready to go!

Yesterday was the day, and I approached the task with real reservations, mainly because having read some comments I figured the HV8 wouldn't be up to the job, the casings would be a bugger to work with, and the recipes I had thrown together (based on the commonly mentioned proportions) would be horrendously wrong.

If anyone has the same fears, the whole thing was easier than expected! The first thing I discovered was that unless you are intending to make enough sausages to feed the entire population of London, the HV8 works fine. It's available on-line for about �90 but I got mine from John Lewis for �59. Interestingly, the spec on the HV8 is 600W, but my box and manual specifies it as 1400W (not a clue what's going on there, but mine is also branded for the Arabic market!!!).

I made two batches; one of Beef, fennel and red wine sausage, and another of Northern Thai sauage.

The Thai sausage was:
2lb pork shoulder
1lb belly pork
4 tbsp red curry paste (don't use a UK one; either get a genuine thai one ofr make your own. Western versions are too mild and don't have the right flavour)
2 tsp toated and ground corriander seed
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp chopped corriander leaves
2 tbsp chopped lemongrass
2 large chopped spring onions
2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup rice wine

I also added 2 tbsp of sambal oulek, but I don't think you need it if you have a good red curry paste!

The sausage is supposed to made unlinked, then sliced and served with lettuce, tomato, cucumber and nuoc cham. You drop the bits of sausage into pieces of lettuce, wrap them, and dip it in the nuoc cham.

I tried one of the sausages (yeah I know I should have let them settle but I was curious) and it seemed dry. Given the way it's to be eaten I don't see this as a probelm, but next time I might add some mung beans and peanuts as a sort of filler. Any suggestions?

The beef sauages were:
2lb topside
1/2lb pork shoulder
1/2lb belly pork
5.5oz rusk
10oz red wine
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp szechuan pepper
2 tsp fennel seeds
4 tsp paprika

These were juicy and meaty, and despite reading that you shouldn't have more than 9 per cent fluid, they seemed to not suffer (mind you, I don't fry which might help them not to split). I needed to up the wine because at first I couldn't taste it.

Interestingly, I roped in my girlfriend to help make them as everyone said I needed two pairs of hands, and then found I could make them easier on my own as I wasn't having to second guess the speed of meat delivery!!!

I learned a few lessons about overstuffing and understuffing along the way. I also quickly learned the lesson about cutting the casings into easily managable lengths rather than trying to fill a whole casing in one shot!

The sauages have been in the fridge overnight, so I'll report about their developed flavour. I also intend to do some freezer tests on them. The worst thing is I'm already planning some experiments on a pork breakfast sausage. I'm not addicted to this yet, but if I run out of meat, I'll probably be making carpet sausages!

The only thing I'd like to do is source a bigger feedtray for the HV8, and also I'm clueless as to whether the mincer plates are a standard size or Moulinex's own bastard size. I'd like some other plates and a selection of sausage filler tubes too!

I'd appreciate any comments on either the mincer sizes or the recipes.

[Oddley]

Hi Paddy O'Furniture
Thanks for the graphic account of your first time sausage making exploits. I see you like a spicy sausage, I will be interested to hear how they suited your tastes.

When you buy domestic mincers etc they tend to come with attachments made specifically for the machine. It is therefore difficult to find the like of mincer plates and filler tubes that fit. You may be interested in the link below, as this subject has been discussed with the mincer in question.

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopi ... ght=cartel

[TobyB]

Hi Paddy,

with regard to your query about dry Thai sausage i'd strongly recommend against adding peanuts or mung beans both of which are likely to make the sausage dryer rather than more moist (and the peanuts will overpower the other flavours too leaving you with a satay sausage).

As a starting point I'd suggest doubling the belly pork you add so that the pork shoulder/belly proportion is 50/50. Also try to get belly cut from the fattier end. More fat will make your sausage less dry. As for your waistline...............

I also note you didn't add ginger or garlic to your sausage. Obviously there is some in the curry paste but personally I always add more when cooking Thai (although i haven't made thai sausage).

Look forward to reading more of your exploits.

Toby

[Paul Kribs]

Hi Paddy

It seems that you are enjoying yourself making sausages, and yes, it does become addictive.

Where in the southeast are you?? I live in Eltham, southeast london.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Paddy O'Furniture]

Just an observation - I froze some of both batches of sausages. The taste of the beef wasn't affected, although the pork sausages with red curry tasted better!

However, they were a little "dense", in that two fat drunk blokes couldn't eat more than three without feeling that they had ingested an entire pig. I thought I read somewhere that you couldn't add more than 9 per cent fluid, but I figure I have this wrong as many recipes quote above this figure. I'm doing an upgraded batch with more fatty meat and I figure I need to add more fluid too!

* Paul; I know Eltham, we have an office near there. I'm in Edenbridge, just a bit along the M25 from Sevenoaks.

[Paul Kribs]

Paddy

Have you tried getting your pork from the abbatoir in Southborough, just outside Tunbridge Wells. The last pork I got from Forge Farm worked out at just under 70p per pound, bone in.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Paddy O'Furniture]

Paddy

Have you tried getting your pork from the abbatoir in Southborough, just outside Tunbridge Wells. The last pork I got from Forge Farm worked out at just under 70p per pound, bone in.

Regards, Paul Kribs

I've been buying shoulders boned for about 80-90p per pound from Blindley Heath; it works because I also get cheap bellies, plus all the other meat a fat lad could eat at decent prices (I always bung the butcher a bottle of Glenmorangie at Christmas too, which stimulates mutual goodwill).

However, I'll look into Southborough because I'm not adverse to a bit of boning. Thanks for that.