I recently went on a sausage journey. Specifically, I taught myselfhow to make bratwurst from scratch。当我得知自制sa之路usage is a relatively easy one, I also learned that it requires some speciality tools that you won't find at your regular grocery store. Luckily, you can get all the ingredients and products you need online, even the meat. Here's everything you need to make sausage at home:
Tips From an Expert
I'm not going to doubt your kitchen prowess, but if you really want to get into homemade sausage, you might want to start by perusing this concise but thorough book that features recipes for any kind of sausage you could possibly want, plus tips and photos illustrating each step of the process from a professional chef and sausage maker.
BUY IT:Sausage Making: The Definitive Guide With Recipesby Ryan Farr, $21.87 on Amazon
The Basic Tools
While Farr does write his recipes with standard U.S. measurements (as do most sources), he also uses metric measurements (as well as percentage measurements which get into a whole other kind of obsessive that I won't go into here). I'm sure you've heard it before—perhaps more so with baking—but weighing out your ingredients by gram on a digital scale results in a more accurate end product; plus, once you embrace the practice, meting out your ingredients gets exponentially easier. If you don't have one yet, do yourself a favor.
BUY IT:Escali Primo Digital Kitchen Scale, $24.91 on Amazon
While you could use glass or plastic mixing bowls, metal ones make more sense here. They're usually more lightweight and since you'll be setting them over an ice bath and moving them in and out of the refrigerator and freezer, the metal material means they're easier to maneuver. Also, as the ground meat and spices are mixed by hand into sausage, it will begin sticking to the bowl—a key sign it's thoroughly mixed—which is easier to see when using metal. You'll need at least two forthis recipe, but this set of six will take you through every kitchen task you'll ever undertake.
BUY IT:Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls by Finedine, set of six for $22.95 on Amazon
为了把肉磨干净,所有grinding equipment must be kept exceptionally cold—but not frozen, which could cause the meat to stick. It's easiest to keep all the equipment corralled on a sheet pan as you move it in and out of the fridge, and it will chill more quickly if organized in a single layer as opposed to stacked in a Tupperware. For the same reason, the meatispartially frozen so ditto the above, except in the freezer this time.
BUY IT:Bellemain Heavy Duty Aluminum Half Sheet Pan, $12.50 on Amazon
To get a super-fast, accurate read on your cooked sausages—or anything fromcakestoroast turkey—there's nothing like a Thermapen.We love them。A lot。
BUY IT:Classic Thermapen, $79.00 at Thermoworks.com
The Specialized Equipment
You have a couple of choices when it comes to actually grinding meat into sausage, but far and away the most versatile is a KitchenAid stand mixer. Besides sausage, it's the answer to homemade everything, frombirthday cakeandcookiestogiant meringuesandsoft pretzels。You don't have to get the green apple one, but that's the color I have and I will never let it go.
BUY IT:KitchenAid Artisan Series 5-Qt. Stand Mixer with Pouring Shield in Green Apple, $299 at Amazon
You can't make proper sausage without grinding it. This set comes with both the grinder and stuffer, which are often sold separately. Fair warning: there are some cheaper grinders out there that claim to work with KitchenAid stand mixers, but many may not align properly, so it makes better sense to spring for the legit product.
BUY IT:KitchenAid Food Grinder Attachment for Stand Mixer With Bonus Sausage Stuffer, $58.26 on Amazon
If you really want to get into the wide world of a stand mixer's many uses, go for this pack that includes the grinder and stuffer, plus two roto-slicers and two roto-shredders. #ValuePack #LookAtYouSmartShopper
Warning: keep this device away from your kids. It's essentially a pick with three sharp points that are used to poke holes in the sausage to release any accidental air pockets. Yeah, you could use a fork, but this tool is quicker and more efficient, and by using it you won't run the risk of poking too large a hole. Plus, it's what the pros use. You want to look like a pro don't you?
BUY IT:The Sausage Maker 3-Prong Sausage Pricker, $9.99 on Amazon
The Uber-Specialized Equipment
If you don't think you need a stand mixer, but still want to venture into sausage, this electric grinder comes with three grinding blades (coarse, medium, and fine), plus three sausage stuffers. It's also a much smaller investment than the mixer, which is a total bonus. Another bonus: you'll never buymystery ground beefagain.
BUY IT:Sunmile Electric Meat Grinder and Sausage Stuffer, $57.59 on Amazon
If you want to kick it old-school, this table-clamping grinder is classic. It only comes with a 3/16-inch disc, but that's the size that Farr uses most often in his book. You'll also have to get a separate device for stuffing, but for the person who's looking for a workout from grinding meat, this is the best tool.
BUY IT:Eastman Outdoors Meat Grinder With Table Clamp, $39.99 on Amazon
The Essential Groceries
You can buy everything online nowadays, even raw meat. If you live in one of these states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, PeaPod is one such grocery delivery service. Most sausages start with pork, and the meat-to-fat ratio of pork shoulder makes it a perfect candidate for almost every sausage.
BUY IT:Chef's Choice Boneless Pork Shoulder/Boston Butt, $3.79 per pound at PeaPod.com
For traditional bratwurst, you'll also need some veal. Peapod sells that too, already cubed up into "stew meat" which is fine for the purpose of making sausages—it'll at least save you a step once you get it through the door.
BUY IT:Boneless American Veal Stew Meat, $8.99 per pound at PeaPod.com
For most Italian andGermansausage varieties, you'll want natural hog casings. Natural because they have better flavor and snap once cooked, and hog because they're the right size for the job. For hot dog–sized sausages you may want to go withsheep casings。One pack of these should last you for a while. They're packed in brine or preserved in salt, so buying them online is totally easy and completely legit.
Don't mix this in with your kosher salt. Although it's often called "pink salt," this is not the same thing as say, Himalayan pink salt (which is a lovely finishing salt). Instead, this is a mix of sodium nitrite and salt that is used to preserve sausage—it also helps the meat maintain its natural coloring. If you're looking to dry cure and age meats, you'll needInsta Cure #2。
BUY IT:The Sausage Maker Insta Cure #1/Prague Powder, $6.99 for a 4-ounce package on Amazon
For classic beer brats, you'll need a mix of caraway seeds, mustard powder, nutmeg, fresh thyme and ginger, plus sugar and salt (I'll let you find those last two on your own).
BUY IT:
- Frontier Organic Whole Caraway Seed, $4.34 on Jet.com
- Colman's Double Superfine Mustard Powder, $3.37 on Jet.com
- Frontier Hand-Sorted Whole Nutmeg, $9.23 on Jet.com
- Fresh Thyme, $2.09 on PeaPod.com
- Fresh Ginger Root, $0.37 per ounce on PeaPod.com
The Things You'll Need to Really Enjoy Those Sausages
For great sausages, regular old hot dog buns just won't do. Go for a Martin's long roll, which has just \ right squish with plenty of structure so the whole thing doesn't fall apart.
BUY IT:Martin's Long Roll Potato Rolls, $21.99 for three 8-packs on Amazon
Don't "yellow mustard" this thing you just worked so hard on. Go Kensington's or go home.
BUY IT:Kensington's Spicy Brown Mustard, $5.39 for an 11-ounce jar on Jet.com
I'm adamant about great mustard, but you can save some pennies on the kraut. Even Cook's Illustrated recommended this brand in theirsupermarket sauerkraut taste-off。I like Libby'sbetterthan their first-place pick for its crispness, which perfectly complements the juicy brat.
BUY IT:Libby's Crispy Sauerkraut, $3.39 for a 14.5-ounce can on Jet.com
Finally, you're going to want some really good beer to drink alongside your homemade sausages. But, if you want to poach them in beer too, you're going to want something that's relatively cheap and kind of subtle, like Sierra Nevada. And while you're on Craft Shack—which is unequivocally the best place to buy beer online—go ahead and pick up a pack of whatever you like to drink too.
BUY IT:Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, $10.49 for a six-pack on CraftShack.com
