Lincolnshire Sausages

Introduction & method

I'm not saying that homemade sausages are easy to make, but it's lots of fun and you know exactly what's in it.

About the Meat

In the video that goes with this I used half ready-mince pork and half pork chops. You don't need to do this - you can use all ready mince or all joined-up pork - and the usual cut for sausages is pork shoulder.

Prep

In sausage making, you always want your equipment to as cold as you can manage, so put the scroll and feed tube of your mincer in the freezer, along with a mixing bowl and the water. It also helps if the meat is really cold, and especially the fat. Soak the hog casings in cold water for about 30 minutes, then thread one end over a tap and run cold water through it. This opens out the casing, straightens out any kinks and gets rid of any salt. Soak the breadcrumbs or rusk in an equivalent amount of water.

Make up the Mixture

If you have any whole meat, run it through the mincer with the medium plate. Mince the fat as well. Combine it with the ready-minced pork, breadcrumbs and seasoning mix. Cover in plastic film, and place in the fridge.

Make the Sausages

To make the sausages, you'll need a mincer or food processor with a sausage stuffing attachment. Carefully thread the casing on to the nozzle. Tie a knot in the loose end of the casing, and pierce it with a pin - this lets the air escape as the filling is forced into the skin.

Turn on the machine, and push some of the mixture into the feed tube. When it emerges from the nozzle, curl your hand around the casing with the sausage mix in it and gently ease the skin off the nozzle as it fills up. Massage the length of sausage to try and get an even diameter. When you have about 30cm (a foot) of sausage, begin to coil it on the table - this keeps it neat and tidy and stops it falling on the floor. Keep on feeding the mixture in, massaging the extrusion and coiling the sausage until all of the filling is used up.

Now you need to form the sausage into links. Starting from the tied end, curl one hand around the sausage with your thumb beside where you want the twist to be. With your other hand, gently pinch the sausage skin closed, and twist the sausage to form a closure. Move on to the next pinch point and repeat the process but this time twist it the opposite way to what you did before. Continue forming links, alternating the direction of the twist each time.

When you are done, hang the sausages up to dry for an hour or two. These sausages need to be cooked before you can eat them.