Can I use the fat cap on a pork butt to mix into sausage?
Or, is it better to use the intramuscular fat?
I’m planning to make a lb or 2 of ground breakfast sausage.
When I grind whether pork or beef, I'll cut out and discard any sinew, hard tallow and anything that looks like something that you wouldn't want to eat. I'll cut off the "good fat" and add it back in as need to get the fat content that I want, which can be done by weighting the fat compared to the lean or you can usually tell by the color of the mix. So... yes, both intramuscular and the good fat works.
Thanks folks.
My plan is to go by weight. 3/1 meat to fat ratio.
my first time trying this so only making a small amount, and will just leave it loose or form patties
Yes, that'll be a good mix for sausage. I do a lot of bulk grind because it's so versatile and also cheaper compared to store bought. This week, for example, my local store wanted 6.99 / lb for 80/20 ground beef but they had cross rib roast (part of the chuck) for 3.99 / lb.
after trimming and grinding my net cost for ground chuck was only $5.00 / lb.
😊
A whole pork butt like that should be about 20-25% fat so I never separate out the fat, I just grind it after removing any connective tissue which is mostly near the bone. Freeze the bone and use it to make stock later.
Pork today is leaner than it use to be. So yes, keep the hard fat and add it back in when grinding. If you have extra, keep and freeze it for another use. Find and take out the gland and trim out sinew.
Thanks for the tips everyone.
as a trial run,I just made 2 lbs.
1 lb of sage and 1 lb of maple.
I have an attachment for my kitchenaid mixer. It has two grind options (course and fine)
I did a course grind of the meat and fat, mixed in the seasonings, and then did a fine grind.
I considered not doing the second grind, but I’m happy that I did because the fine grind seemed to better combine the fat and the meat.
Im pleased overall with the results, although I might need to tweak the seasonings.
I just kept it as bulk sausage for now. Not ready to attempt links yet.
here is a half lb of each packed for the freezer. The rest may, or may not, have been consumed already…lol
Good job. The mix looks great with a nice lean to fat appearance. If you haven't done links before, I might suggest a little extra room between the links before twisting. I usually do aprox two good thumb widths space before the twist. When I first started using casings I would pinch them too close and then when they were cut in to individual links, meat batter would escape out the ends. 😊
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