Beer Sausage Recipe – Cappers Farmer

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And, before you commit to making any of these sausages, make sure you fry off a little of the stuffing to ensure that the seasoning and flavour balance is what you were after or it’s a lot of work to be disappointed in!

Photo by Patricia Niven

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“The Beer Kitchen” is filled with a variety of recipes that can be cooked with or pair nicely with beer.

Courtesy of Hardie Grant Books

Makes about 2.5 kg (5 lb 10 oz) sausages SERVINGS

Ingredients

3 metres (10 ft) natural sausage casings
2.25 kg (5 lb 8 oz) boneless fatty pork shoulder meat, cut into 3 cm (1-1/4 in) dice
300 ml (10 fl oz/1-1/4 cups) English-style barley wine
2 teaspoons dried thyme
2-1/2 tablespoons fine sea salt
1-1/2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs (this is optional, if you remove, reduce your liquid by 100 ml/3-1/2 fl oz/scant 1/2 cup)

Directions

Soak the sausage casings in plenty of cold water overnight.

Put the augur, blades and fine mincing sections of your grinder into the freezer for an hour before grinding the meat.

Put the pork shoulder in a metal bowl and put it the freezer for 20 minutes before you grind the meat.

At the same time, mix together your beer and thyme, in a suitably sized jug.

Take another metal bowl and put it underneath where your grind will drop out. Put 100 ml (3-1/2 fl oz/scant 1/2 cup) of the beer in the bottom.

Season the pork with the salt and pepper, then start grinding. When you’re onethird of the way through, add a third of your beer and thyme mixture.

Repeat the process with the beer and thyme mixture until the meat is all ground.

Fold and press the mix together, along with the breadcrumbs, if using, with a rubber spatula until the liquid is absorbed.

Then fry a small patty in a pan to check for seasoning.

Adjust if necessary, then put the mixture in the fridge for half an hour (you can leave it in the fridge for up to 24 hours at this stage).

When you're ready to make the sausages, prepare the sausage stuffer (trying not to giggle like teenager at the words ‘sausage stuffer’) and rinse your soaked casings well.

Push the casings onto the end of spout of the sausage stuffer and tie off securely at the end, putting a small pin prick in the end, just by the knot.

Take your sausage mix out of the fridge and form into long cylinders, just a bit smaller than the hopper, and feed into the sausage stuffer.

If you manage to make them into links, you’re a smarter person than I!NOTE: For the beer sausage variations, see below. This is the basic method which applies to all of the variations.

Variations

All these variations start life with the same amount of pork, salt and pepper on the basic recipe above to enable you to make a few different types of sausage from the same base – and all of them follow the same method.Rauch Chorizo-style SausagesPork, salt and pepper (see recipe above for measurements)
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon dried oregano
100 ml (3-1/2 fl oz/scant 1/2 cup) rauchbier (I used Marzen)Smoked Porter ToulousePork, salt and pepper (see recipe above for measurements)
10 garlic cloves (or 3-1/2 tablespoons pre-chopped frozen), very finely chopped and fried off in a pan with a little oil for 2 minutes, then allowed to cool
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper (in addition to the base recipe)
1/2 nutmeg, freshly grated
50 ml (1-3/4 fl oz/scant 1/4 cup) smoked porterMildly English with Black PuddingPork, salt and pepper (see recipe above for measurements)
300 g (10-1/2 oz) black pudding diced into 2 cm (3/4 in) cubes
2 onions, blitzed to a paste in a food processor
12 sage leaves, picked and blitzed with the onion
1/4 nutmeg, freshly grated
50 ml (1-1/2 fl oz/3 tablespoons) English-style dark mildMore from The Beer Kitchen:Fluffiest Falafel Recipe
Proper Scotch Eggs Recipe
Reprinted with Permission from The Beer Kitchen and Published by Hardie Grant Books.

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