Home-made Sausages

I recently bought myself a Kenwood Mixer which was very exciting as I have never owned a mix-master. It came with a free mincer and sausage maker which was even more exciting! I love the idea of mincing my own meat and mixing my own ingredients to make my own sausages as you then know exactly what is in them.

The first thing I needed to do was research which "skins" to use. I decided to buy collagen casings as they require no soaking, salting, cleaning or refrigeration and have a good shelf life. I purchased mine online from http://www.bakeandbrew.com.au/category35_1.htm and have found them great. I must admit I'm not sure how I would have gone handling pig or sheep intestines! When using collagen casings it is important to make the sausages the day before you require them as then the meat has time to marinate with all the extra herbs and spices you have added and the skins have time to rehydrate.

The first sausages I made, Spicy Lamb Sausages, were from the Masterchef cookbook. Firstly I had to mince a boneless lamb shoulder. I trimmed a lot of the fat off before mincing however many people would say you should leave all the fat on for extra flavour.

I then dry fried some cumin seeds, cinnamon, cardamom, chilli flakes and paprika before grinding them into a fine powder with a mortar and pestle. At this stage you were meant to add in copha, garlic and orange juice but I didn't use the copha as I really don't like the taste of it. Next I combined the mince, spice paste and fresh breadcrumbs and then filled the sausage casings.

The final step is to twist the sausages into whatever lengths you desire. There is obviously a trick to this step that I am yet to figure out as I keep untwisting the ones I had already done as I was twisting each new one!

I served these sausages with mashed pumkin and potato and steamed vegetables. They were quite spicy but very nice.

For the second lot of sausages I made I minced up some lovely fat free rump steak and bacon then added in a bought spice mixture I had in my cupboard, some fresh breadcrumbs and some grated cheddar cheese. These were also very tasty and I am looking forward to experimenting with other combinations in the future.

It is important that the sausages are put into a cold pan to cook as this helps stop them from bursting.

If you happen to have a sausage maker and have never used it I would encourage you to do so as it is quite fun!