I have some episodes coming up where I will be grinding meats (including fish) and in some cases stuffing sausage. I have done a number of such videos on the past, and I always talked about the grinding and stuffing processes. This tends to result in pretty long videos, and not everyone needs to see this part. I already have a separate video about selecting grinding and stuffing equipment (Episode 87, • Episode 87 - Equipment... ), so I decided it would be better have one just about my tips and techniques for successful grinding and stuffing, which will make the future recipe videos shorter. Here goes.
Grinding: Start with cubed meat that is partially frozen (maybe 30 minutes on a tray in the freezer). This will make the grinding easier, and you will get a better grind and avoid getting mush. Also, the grinder itself and the plates should be chilled in the freezer. The combination with help to keep the plates from overheating from friction during the grinding process and so avoid partial cooking of the meat as you grind.
Use the grinding plate with the hole size as specified in the recipe. Feed the meat continuously into the grinder and push down as necessary to get it into the grinding screw. A little trick at the end to get the last bits of meat through the plate is to put in some stale bread. This will push the meat out and you will see when the bread starts to appear, and you can just stop.
Stuffing: The meat mixture should be at room temperature so that it is soft, which will make it easy to stuff. Give it one last mix with your hands to eliminate any pockets of spices. I prefer to use natural casings, which are available in many stores these days or through the internet. They usually come packed in salt, so you need to cut off the length that you will need and soak for at least 30 minutes. Rinse off and it is ready for use.
I have a hand operated sausage stuffer with a large barrel, and I throw the meat down into it to eliminate as much air as possible (you don’t want air pockets in the sausage). If you are not planning on making much sausage you can just use a sausage stuffer attachment for a stand mixer (make sure you feed continuously to avoid those air pockets). Put the casings over the stuffing tube and start to feed. When you see the meat just start to come out, pinch the end and tie off, try not to get an air pocket. Then continue feeding but help it along by pulling and squeezing the casing so that you don’t overfill it (which can result in bursting the casing). Little hint: So that you don’t waste the meat still in the tube at the end, take the tube off the grinder and push the remaining meat into the casing using the handle of a wooden spoon. Cut and tie off the end. Once all the meat is fed through, you can pinch off the lengths of the links you want and spin to create the links (you will likely need to watch the video for this). Then you need to prick the casing liberally to give excess steam and liquid a path out while cooking so that they don’t burst. If you don’t have a sausage pricker, use a large safety pin. Please do not use a fork - the tines are too big.
That’s all there is to it. I hope that you found this information useful and that you are on your way to happy and successful grinding and stuffing.
28 июн 2024
