Bacon Comes to the Rescue Again

November 30th, 2009

The Duct Tape of Meats

The bacon/sausage experiment is a success.

A week or two back, I made my own sausage from picnic hams. It was excellent. Better than store sausage. But I wanted to take advantage of cheap Costco pork, and I wanted to use boneless cuts which are easier to grind.

Costco sells beautiful pork loin (no bone) for $1.79 per pound, which is what I pay for picnic hams, including the bone. But the loins are lean. What to do? Pork sausage needs to be around 40% fat. Last time, even using fatty picnic hams, I had to mix lard into the meat.

Last week while shopping for Thanksgiving stuff, I got a three-pound package of bacon scraps for about $1.70 per pound. Today I made a mixture of bacon and pork loin, half and half. About six pounds. I used the sausage recipe I came up with for the last batch, but I reduced the salt to account for the salt in the bacon, and I used apple juice concentrate instead of brown sugar.

Someone told me it would be a waste to put bacon in sausage, but it’s delicious. It adds a smoky flavor; you know what bacon tastes like. The fat content is actually a little high, so next time I think I’ll go 60/40. Bacon scraps are perfect for adding fat to pork sausage.

I learned something interesting today. Apple juice concentrate is nearly pure sugar. If you measure it like sugar and add 25%, you’re right on the money. And the little cans can be resealed and kept frozen.

I can’t wait to plow into this stuff, but I’m still working on the second or third pound of the first sausage I made. I eat it every day for breakfast. Two patties plus a thin slice of country ham. And a lovely glass of water.

This is good, cheap, healthy food. When I say “healthy,” I’m addressing low-carb believers. The rest of you won’t buy it. Anyway, I have never had pork sausage this good. I wish I could get away with biscuits and gravy. The gravy from this sausage would be the stuff of culinary history.

It’s too bad so few sausage companies do it right. They use gamy meat and too much sage. I guess the object is to use the cheapest pork available, so they have to spice it very heavily to mask the stink, and the product suffers.

Bacon scraps are very useful. I like to nuke them until they’re good and cooked and then pile them in a thick layer on top of baked beans. Geez, that would make a killer BLT.

It’s hard mixing the spices into the sausage. There must be a better way than using a big spoon.

Now that the sausage is made and the pork chops are in the freezer, the pork monkey is off my back, and I can go on to other things.

7 Responses to “Bacon Comes to the Rescue Again”

  1. ErikZ Says:

    Maybe adding the spices as you grind it?

  2. Alan Says:

    RE: mixing spices
    .
    That’s what God put those things on the end of your arms for, mixing stuff too large for spoons. Also, no coffee? One or two cups shouldn’t be too bad. I know you’re cutting down on caffeine, but geeeeez…

  3. Ruth H Says:

    Have a little vinegar with your food, it’s good for you. Got this link today. Funny but my daughter had discovered and told me ( I was a skeptic) that a dill pickle lowered her blood sugar.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19661687

  4. aelfheld Says:

    Maybe a bread-hook for mixing the spices & meats?

  5. Randy Rager Says:

    I didn’t mean that it was a waste, I meant that Ritterberger (which is what you’ve made) could be an acquired taste, and that you should try some before you blew 6 pounds of meat.

    I suppose I should have stated that more clearly.

    Anyway, I’m happy to see that it’s a success.

    Charcuterie (excellent book, you should get a copy if you haven’t already) recommends sprinkling the spices over the meat after you’ve cut it into strips, rubbing them in and then letting it all sit in the refrigerator overnight. The authors also recommend keeping your fats as cold as possible before grinding, claiming that it has some texture benefits.

    I never felt like working quite THAT hard, but you might enjoy the benefits, if there truly be any.

  6. Claire Says:

    Bacon *in* sausage — now that’s Genius!

  7. Arcs Says:

    You can buy or make a sausage mixer.

    http://www.home-processor.com/sausageitems.shtml