Table Of Contenti
,
mm
Gp^TSAUSA7GE
| _ RECIPES
lNBJVIEAT CURIN
RYTENKUTAS
"Itis one ofthe most definitve manuals on sausage making in the English language"
Craig Claiborne
Mi
Be
Great Sausage Recipes
and Meat Curing
GREAT
SAUSAGE
RECIPES
AND
MEAT
CURING
by Kijtck huUis
THE BIBLE OF
SAUSAGE MAJIDVG
3rd Revised Edition
and Additions by
Ben hut as
Originally
Great Sausage
Recipes and
Meat Curing was published
in 1976. All of
the recipes in this book have always called
for the use of Prague Powder #1 when cur-
ing
and
or
smoking
meats
or
sausage.
Prague Powder # 2 has always been called
for in all the dry cure sausages and meats.
Sausage Maker has decided to have
its own brand name of cures:
Insta Cure #1 replaces Prague #1
Insta Cure #2 replaces Prague #2
Insta Cure
(formerly Prague Powder)
All the recipes in this book are given in
Standard American Weights and Measures.
For those who wish to quickly convert to
metric see page 561
'dreat Sausage Recipes and Meal Curing" Revised Edition
Copyright CQ 1999 by The Sausage Maker, Inc
Published by:
I be Sausage Maker toe
1500
(
lintoii St. Bldg 123
Dipt. 40001-01
Buffalo, Nc* York 14206
\M rights reserved) biduding the right to reproduce this book
Of portions thereof
in an\ form or b\ am
means, electronic,
mechanical) photocopying or recording without permissh n
in
uniting from the publisher. Ml inquiries should he addressed
t<»
rhe Sausage Maker, 1500 Clinton St Bldg 123. Depi 40001-01,
Buffalo. Ne* York
1 42o<>.
The Sausage Maker, upon request, will send you a free cata-
log of sausage making and meat curing supplies: including
casings, cures, seasonings, spices, sausage stuffers.
grinders, etc.. write to. The Sausage Maker Inc.. 1500 Clinton
St. Bldg 123 Dept. 40001-01. Buffalo. NY 14206
This revised edition of "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat
Curing" book is dedicated to the memory of the author Rytek
Kutas.
With
the knowledge
that he passed on
to me
in
regards to sausage making,
I was able to complete the revi-
sion of this book as he wanted
it. As brothers, we grew up
together and stayed close throughout our entire
lives.
It is
with this in mind that one section of this book is dedicated to
recipes that were his favorites. Though they are not sausage
recipes, they are excellent dishes he enjoyed.
Ben Kutas
CONTENTS
Preface to the Revised Edition
|
Introduction
How
It All Began
8
CHAPTER
I
Curing Meat
13
Artery Pumping
.30
Brining Meat
36
Cures
37
Reusing Brines
39
Spray (or Stitch) Pumping
32
Vacuum Packing
49
CHAPTER
II
Smoking Meat
55
Smoke Generators
61
Smokehouse Controls
75
Smoking Procedures
65
Stutters & Grinders
90
CHAPTER
III
Natural Casings
103
Salted Casings
1 14
CHAPTER IV
Collagen and Synthetic Fibrous Casings
123
Curved Collagen Casings
126
Fibrous Casings
.
129
CHAPTER V
Selecting and Storing Meat
141
Refrigeration
Sanitation
i-*4
Qrindng Moat
157
Meat Combinations
163
CHAPTER VI
Permissible Ingredients in Meat Processing
164
Salt
167
Sweeteners
169
Spices
172
CHAPTER VII
Fresh Sausage
180
Diet Sausage
181
Making Patties
185
CHAPTER VIII
Smoked and Cooked Sausages
1 99
Emulsified Sausage
200
CHAPTER IX
Specialty Loaves and Sausage
265
CHAPTER X
Game Meat
290
CHAPTER XI
Specialty Meat
305
CHAPTER XII
Semi-Dry Cured Sausage
343
Relative Humidity
346
Sodium Acetate
347
Air Drying
349
Dry Curing, Government Specifications
352
Dry Curing Cooked Sausage
353
Sausage Drying Rooms
358
CHAPTER XIII
Dry Cured Sausage and Meat
381
Dry Curing Ham
382
CHAPTER XIV
Fish and Seafood
409
Preservation and Smoking
410
CHAPTER XV
Wholesome Meat Act
452
Building Specifications
455
CHAPTER XVI
Opening a Sausage Kitchen
461
How
I Got Into Sausage Making
466
Kitchen Layout
488
CHAPTER
XVII
100-lb. Meat Combination Formulas
492
CHAPTER
XVIII
Canning
503
CHAPTER
XIX
Favorite Recipes
531
Glossary
541
Spice Conversions
550
Index
557
INTRODUCTION OR PREFACE
Over the past 20 years,
I've been asked by many people
how
I came to write a book on sausage making and meat cur-
ing.
I must have repeated the story hundreds of times of how
I came to do this.
I certainly never considered myself a writer or author of
books, but
I had known for many years that there wasn't a sin-
gle good source on this subject. By the same token,
it should
be pointed out that there are and always have been some
excellent books available. The trouble with a lot of these books
is that they are highly technical and usually deal with only one
part of the subject. And they are extremely expensive and dif-
ficult to understand.
It is not uncommon to spend hundreds of dollars for each
one of these books, which means you could spend up to sev-
eral thousands of dollars
if you wanted a complete collection
of these books on
curing and smoking meats as
well as
sausage making.
Obviously, the general public is not interested
in purchas-
ing such expensive books. Consequently, they are never seen
in local bookstores or libraries. So why not a low-cost book on
sausage making and meat curing?
I had the training, the infor-
mation, the sources for more research, and besides, nobody
had ever done this before.
The big question
is "why the need for another revised edi-
tion of "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing"? To begin
with, the first edition of this book was printed and copyrighted
in 1976. This makes the book at least 22 years old. In addition,
much of the information in the first edition was being accumu-
lated in 1963, which is over 30 years ago. On top of this, some
of the information that was given at that time was already 15-
20 years old. So, as you can see, some of the information
is
quite dated and does not apply today.
Sausage making and meat curing are no
different than
any other science. We
all know how far medicine and other
technologies have progressed
in the
last 50 years, and the
technology
of sausage making and meat curing has
pro-
gressed as well. Some of the processes and products are now
obsolete and
even banned
from
use
in
meat
curing and
sausage making. This
is only one
of the many reasons
for
another revised edition of "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat
Curing."
When the
original
edition
of
this book was being
sold.
I
started
to
receive
a
substantial amount
of
mail. From
the
beginning, the inquiries concerned the various cures and the
ingredients needed
to produce these
products, and where
one might purchase them.
There
really wasn't any source
to send these people
to.
so
I was forced to open a small mail-order business. Needless
to
say.
I
helped everyone
I
could and began
to
establish
bonds of friendship with many of these people.
The rest of the inquiries
I was getting were regarding
ious
problems
people
were
encountering
while
making
sausage or curing and smoking meat.
I
felt good about this and enjoyed my small company and
the work
I was doing. At times
I couldn't wait to get to work
and waited for the phone to ring so
I could help people.
I knew
if
I could help them they would help me by spreading the word
to their friends. We
all helped each other and the enjoyment
was mutual.
The
mail-order
business grew
over
the
years and we
mailed out thousands of catalogs containing our various prod-
ucts. We
also
offered
to
help anyone
with
problems
they
encounter while making sausage or curing or smoking meat
This resulted
in more
mail, and we were glad
to help The
inquiries grew and
I began an accumulation
of information.
documenting my answers.
I
realized
I would have
to
write
"Gre<it SBU8BQ6 Recipes and Meat Cur
Again even more people came to us for additional recipes
not
found
in my book
I
kept
track
of
this as
well.
'Great
SbuBBQB Ftec/pos
had to be revised again.
Even though
I received a
lot of mail praising the book, the
amount of correspondence and phone calls we were getting
really told us thai wo OOUM be better.
I learned
tti.it
I had not givon
information m as great a
dot, hi
,is a person
starting
to mate sausage
or
-neat
needs
I would
still
like to make
it very clear that
I never consid-
ered myself to be an author or a writer of books. In fact, the
subject
that
interested me
the
least
in
high
school was
English. About
all
I
ever claimed was the
fact that
"Great
Sausage Recipes" was written by a sausage maker with many
years of experience and training.
I wrote what my eyes saw,
what my brain remembered, and what my hands did. Much
information was obtained from sausage making and meat cur-
ing seminars held by the industry.
Yearly seminars, afforded direct contact with the produc-
ers of the products used in sausage making and meat curing.
This was
far better than
trying
to do my own research on
these subjects but
I made
it a lifetime project to pursue knowl-
edge in many ways and in many places.
I have eaten sausage
in elegant as well as humble restaurants.
I've eaten a
rice
sausage on the streets of Taiwan, the English bangers (break-
fast sausage)
in an elegant London
hotel, and my
first
all
chicken sausage
in a sausage factory
in Warsaw, Poland.
I
tracked down every scrap of literature on this subject.
I com-
pared notes with other sausage makers and subscribed to
any trade magazine
I could find.
I attended numerous trade
shows and most of all,
I constantly cooked and experimented.
In the process,
I made a number of interesting and sur-
prising discoveries, some of which
I will pass on to you in this
book.
I have found that given a few fundamentals, a beginner
could produce some fine tasting sausages as well as cured
and smoked meats without difficulty.
It
is not a complex sub-
ject and actually has a beautiful simplicity and logic about
it.
A beginner can produce fine tasting sausages in an ordinary
kitchen,
with
ordinary
utensils and
ingredients. Sometimes
with exotic ingredients that can be fascinating to use but not
always essential.
When
I first started producing sausage at home,
it seemed
complex and obscure. A thoughtful and comprehensive book
was needed on the art of sausage making which has been
practiced with such passion and devotion for centuries.
Thus, many years later, this is the book.
It is based on the
premise that you know little or nothing about making sausage
or curing and smoking meats. I'm assuming that you have a
