Homemade Breakfast Sausage Links (or Patties)

Truly nothing beats the quality and flavor of homemade sausages!

Not only do they taste better, you know exactly what’s in them and what isn’t.  You have full control over the quality of the ingredients that go into making them and good choices always pay off in the end.

Charctuterie-making has been a hobby of mine for several years now.  I started off with the simple art of making fresh sausages like these homemade breakfast sausage links and then started making my own bacon and Canadian bacon.  Eventually I graduated into making the more complicated forms of charcuterie, namely fermented and dry-cured meats including salami, pepperoni, coppa and pancetta (recipes to come!).

While dry-cured meats require the utmost precision, care and monitoring (not to mention additional specialized equipment), fresh sausages on the other hand are not only super easy to make, they’re also a lot of fun!

When I make sausages I usually like to make the effort of pulling out the meat grinder and sausage stuffer worth it, so I make a bulk batch that I can freeze – then I can conveniently pull them out and throw them in the frying pan as needed.

Whether you’re already an experienced sausage-maker or are just getting started, you’re going to love this recipe for Homemade Breakfast Sausage Links!

Before we get started I want to share a few resources with you.  Once you get the basics down on how to make sausages, you can create your own flavors and combinations which is what I particularly enjoy doing.  But having one or two good books to learn and practice from is a a must.  I have combed through many books on charcuterie and sausage-making over the past few years and these ones continue to be my favorites:

Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing by Kutas is a classic and one of the first comprehensive books written on the subject.  It’s a no-nonsense, straight-forward book packed full of recipes.  Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking and Curing by Ruhlman has likewise been a very popular book.  The current edition is revised and updated.  I have the previous edition and there are inaccuracies and errors in it that the newest edition has reportedly fixed, but I still hear complaints about it.  Nevertheless, I like this book as a source of inspiration for some great recipes.  Olympia Provisions: Cured Meats and Tales from an American Charcuterie is the newest kid on the block and it is both a fun and inspiring read.  The author, Elias Cairo, is the founder of Olympia Provisions in Portland Oregon and owns several restaurants and butcher shops there.  This book features several of his most popular recipes.  The recipes are very well crafted and you’ll love the end results.

The final two books are both written by Stanley & Adam Marianski:  The Art of Making Fermented Sausages and Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages. While these are a very dry read, definitely not packed with inspirational stories or beautiful photographs, I consider these indispensable to anyone who is serious about wanting to learn the art of charcuterie and sausage-making.  Consider them the most comprehensive how-to manuals on the market.  There is not a single question that isn’t answered in these books.  Especially if you are planning on dabbling in dry-cured meats, The Art of Making Fermented Sausages is a MUST.

Okay, ready to make some delicious homemade breakfast sausages?

Let’s get started!

Cut the pork butt into 1/2 inch chunks and freeze them for about 45 minutes to get them to a temperature of 32 degrees F (0 celsius).  (See note in recipe box below for explanation as to why keeping the meat is so critical.)

Grind the pork through a 1/4 inch (6mm) die.  Grind the meat quickly into the bowl of a stand mixer (ideally have the bowl set atop an ice bath to keep the meat cold) and then grind it all a second time.  Chill the meat in the refrigerator while you assemble the spice mixture.

I use the STX International Turbo Force Electric Meat Grinder.  With 3000 watts, 3 speeds and a 3-year warranty, it has high reviews and comes top recommended by most review sites as the best bang for the buck.

In a bowl combine the salt, sage, thyme, ginger, white and black pepper, garlic and nutmeg.

Remove the ground meat from the fridge and place it on the stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment.  Add the spice mixture and the ice water.

Note:  For variation you can add 1 cup of maple syrup for sweeter Homemade Maple Breakfast Sausages.

If you have room in your freezer, pre-chill the mixing bowl.

Mix the meat mixture with the paddle for 3-4 minutes until threads begin to appear in the meat: If you take a clump of meat and pull it apart with your fingers you will see tiny threads pulling apart – see pic below on right.

Chill the mixture in the fridge while you prepare the sausage stuffer.  Take a bit of the meat mixture, fry it up, taste it and adjust the seasonings if needed.

I use the Super Deal Heavy Duty 5L Vertical Sausage Stuffer and am happy with it.  We very carefully researched the sausage stuffers on the market and specifically chose this one because of it’s large capacity and 100% metal construction (no plastic parts = not breakable) and because it’s easy to clean.  (I strongly recommend NOT using the Kitchenaid grinder and stuffer attachments – I have them and have tried them and trust me, you’ll end up very frustrated.)

Thread the sausage stuffer with the prepared sheep casings, fill the sausage stuffer with the meat mixture, and fill the casings being careful to avoid air gaps while also not overstuffing the casings.

Note:  Sheep casings are more challenging to work with than hog casings and they take getting used to.  Be sure to keep them wet at all times and use a sufficiently small stuffing tube.

Note:  You can skip the stuffing step and simply make sausage patties if you prefer.

Twist the sausages into links.  Use a sausage pricker to prick any air bubbles out of the links.

Now that the sausages are done you have two options:  Cook the sausages by heating up some oil in a frying pan and frying the sausages on each side for about 3 minutes until browned and done in the middle (internal temperature of 155 degrees F).

OR you can poach the sausages (do not boil) in lightly salted water until their internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F, then let them cool in ice water, wrap them and store in the fridge for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Enjoy!