# a couple of questions about breakfast sausage



## cal1956 (Jun 27, 2018)

(1) does breakfast sausage  need more fat content than smoked sausage ?
if so how much more ?
(2) sausage maker.com  has a fat substitute , has any one used it and was it any good ?


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 27, 2018)

1. In my opinion yes. For only for breakfast sausage I found I like about a 30% fat content. But the beauty is it can be whatever you want it to be for your tastes/health or any other reasons.

2. Sorry. I have never used it. By what reviews I have read from those who have used it were a little disappointed. There's nothing like the real thing.


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## cal1956 (Jun 27, 2018)

thats kinda what i had thought , i make a lot of smoked sausage and always have enough meat left in my stuffer to make about 4 patties and when i fried it , it always seemed  tough like it needed more fat in it 
thanks


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## cal1956 (Jun 27, 2018)

i make 100% pork sausage with 0 fillers , once we learned how to make the smoked sausage we won't eat anything else so we thought we might as well make the patties as well


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 28, 2018)

100% pork smoked sausage is fantastic! I just did another 10 lb batch 2 weekends ago of Smoked Polish. I'm still using up mix I got from The Sausage Maker. There are no fillers, but I use NFDM as a BINDER and that has made a HUGE difference (improvement) in the texture, and would highly recommend that. Using Phosphates is another rabbit in the hat trick but I'm not that level of magician yet.

There are 2 breakfast sausage recipes I like: One is Fassets Breakfast Sausage, just because it is so simple and good! The second is a Jimmy Dean Clone. But so far for loose grind or patties and general purpose use the Italian Sausage (calculator) is my favorite so far.


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## cal1956 (Jun 28, 2018)

i'm not familiar with what NFDM is ?
for anyone that  hasn't tried /made 100% pork sausage i would highly recommend that you try it 
being from the south, when the commercial sausage makers went to pork,beef and chicken blends 
that pretty much ruined sausage for me until i l learned how to make me own , my wife is from Michigan  
and had always ate whatever she bought from the store BUT once she tried 100% pork sausage she refuses to buy any commercial sausage now , we have been making our own smoked sausage for the  past several years and want to tryour hand at making a few patties


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 28, 2018)

NFDM= Nonfat Dry Milk. It is used for moisture retention in ground meats. It is similar and an alternate to the same reason recipes call for soy concentrate.


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## chopsaw (Jun 28, 2018)

Non Fat Dry Milk . I use it in most sausage I make . Wasn't sure what you meant by 100% pork no fillers . I use all pork but add nfdm , and some phosphate . You don't use a binder in your smoked sausage ? 

Brown , I used the phosphate for the first time on some hotdogs  a couple weeks ago . Wow ! Give it a shot .


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 28, 2018)

Yes. I have been meaning to. There are many. Which one are you using? Same Amesphos as Dave O?


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## chopsaw (Jun 28, 2018)

browneyesvictim said:


> Yes. I have been meaning to. There are many. Which one are you using? Same Amesphos as Dave O?


Yes the one Dave had for his Ham injection . STPP  Sodium Tripolyphosphate . I just injected a butt yesterday . Butts on sale , $1.19 a lb. Bought 5 .


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## cal1956 (Jun 28, 2018)

what would i need a binder for ? my smoked sausage always turn out great !!!


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 28, 2018)

Need? No. But NFDM gives an improvement in moisture retention. Those certainly look great and I won't argue with success. But if you try it next time with a small batch in comparison I am certain you will notice the difference. Do you mind sharing your recipe? Is it your own mix or a commercial one?



 chopsaw
- Where did you get your STPP? Amazon is out of stock (still) for the food-grade Pronto brand I recall Dave posted.


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 28, 2018)

And since the topic is about breakfast sausage and you want to make some patties, I think you would like this old fashioned tried and true, and highly rated mix by Pops: (And no, you don't need to add any other binder or moisture retainer if you don't want to.)

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/fassetts-breakfast-sausage-seasoning.83939/


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## cal1956 (Jun 28, 2018)

i use a commercial mix from  a butcher  supply co.  the only thing i ever add extra is red pepper ( i like them a bit hotter than my wife )  oh and i always add a bit of sodium nitrate that comes with the seasoning mix  so i guess that makes  mine  99% pure  instead of 100% ( sorry bout the error ...lol )
when we make the patties we will most likely make one and cook it then adjust the seasoning a couple of time's before we figure out what works for us , our goal is once we get the fat content and seasoning figured out , to make about 25-40 lbs and put it in the freezer


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## cal1956 (Jun 28, 2018)

Browneyes : thanks for the info , that looks like a good starting point for us to try


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 28, 2018)

cal1956 said:


> i use a commercial mix from a butcher supply co.



Im going to go out on a limb here, but you may be surprised to know that your commercial mix from Butcher Supply most likely already has a binder/moisture retainer in it.

And you are welcome for the link. That is a great breakfast sausage!


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## chopsaw (Jun 28, 2018)

cal1956 said:


> what would i need a binder for ? my smoked sausage always turn out great !!!


Thought that was a yes or no answer ,,, Just asking if you did . If your buying a commercial mix , you might be and don't even know it .


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## cal1956 (Jun 28, 2018)

reading from the package :salt, black pepper,red pepper,sage, sugar,chili pepper,mono sodium glutamate, sodium erythorbate . it says that the soduim erythorbate when used as directed will result in no more than 7/8 oz per 100 lbs  what ever that means but ,   thats all folks


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## cal1956 (Jun 29, 2018)

wife talked to our local butcher  this morning and he is going to collect and sell us a few lbs  of pork fat to add to the  sausage , and we ordered  casings to make 100 lbs of  smoked sausage and the seasoning to make 40 lbs of patties  so you know what we  will be doing next weekend


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## browneyesvictim (Jun 29, 2018)

Sounds like a good ol time to me! Next you will want a bigger smoker! Good luck and post some more pics!


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## SlickRockStones (Jun 29, 2018)

I’m new to grinding up sausage and use pork butt and AC Legg #10 blend for breakfast and #100 blend Zesty Italian for coarse ground IS. Tastes great to me with no added pork fat. I’ve always liked Tennessee Pride but they must have changed the fat ratio in the last few years making it greasier which is the reason I now make my own.


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## cal1956 (Jun 29, 2018)

well the reason i started this thread was because i made patties from what was left in my stuffer and it was always too lean and therefore tough,  so i knew i needed to add fat to my ground pork butts but didn't know how much i needed to add , this is  a great place to get these kind of questions answered


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## cal1956 (Jul 1, 2018)

i took "POP's recipe and did the calculations in order to break it down to  a single pound of meat to use as a trial run
.36 salt
.09 black pepper 
.05 sage 
i suspect that i will add a small amount of red pepper to mine ( i like a bit of heat ) 
i plan on grinding 1 lb of boston butt and mixing this into it , fry it, taste it and adjust according to my taste 
i am also going to try a commercial mix just to see which i like better 
i hope this helps those that want to try a small batch before committing to making up a bigger batch


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## cal1956 (Jul 1, 2018)

i just mixed and fried a 1 lb batch using "POP's " recipe  , it makes a good sausage however my wife and i both agree 
that WE would reduce th salt by 25%
 the sage seems about right , so far i have only cooked 2 patties , 
the 1st one was as directed , the 2nd one i added a bit of red pepper ( should have added a bit more ) 
i only ran it through my grinder once using the small plate and the texture was perfect 
the 1 lb that i cut off the boston butt had plenty of fat so i opted not to add any more to it 
overall a very nice tasting sausage 
i have whats left in my refrigerator hoping it will firm up a bit before i try again


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## browneyesvictim (Jul 1, 2018)

My hat's off to you sir! Testing and tweeking is the greatest way to know what is right for you.


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## cal1956 (Jul 1, 2018)

thank you !!! 
i would  have to say that "POP'S " would be a very good starting point for everyone interested in making their own breakfast sausage 
we are still going to try the commercial seasoning when it arrives 
but  for making  your seasoning from scratch 
POP"s is definitely the place to start


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## nanuk (Jul 4, 2018)

I too like Pops breakfast sausage.  
I make patties out of it.
and I also add some red pepper flakes, just a bit for colour and a hint of snap.
And I also agree it would be fine with a bit less salt, 25% less would sound about right.


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## cal1956 (Jul 6, 2018)

i'm beboneing , grinding and seasoning another 50 lbs of meat for smoked sausage today  going to put it in the fridge and smoke that tomorrow , THEN i am going to grind another 40 lbs and make the patties


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## cal1956 (Jul 10, 2018)

just made  15 lbs of pops recipe and all i did was reduce the salt  and added some red pepper 
man are they good !!!!!


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