Crafting your own sausage at home is deeply satisfying. Follow this recipe to create mouth-watering artisanal charcuterie and master every step of the process. With patience and care, you’ll serve a sausage that will wow friends and family alike.
Origins of Smoked Garlic Sausage
Smoked garlic sausage is a traditional charcuterie celebrated for its rich, aromatic profile. Made primarily with pork, it is seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper, and a hint of sugar, then gently smoked to develop its signature flavor.
Originally crafted in regions where smoking was vital for preservation, smoked garlic sausage draws on French and wider European charcuterie traditions. The technique not only safeguards the meat but also builds layers of complex, irresistible aroma.
Tips for Perfect Smoked Garlic Sausage
Choose fresh, high-quality cuts of meat: Top-notch meat is the key to great texture and flavor. Whenever possible, opt for free-range pork.
Use natural casings: Beef casings breathe, allowing smoke and aromas to penetrate beautifully. Soak them in lukewarm water beforehand to make them supple.
Grind the meat evenly: Fit your grinder with a medium plate for a consistent texture, ensuring the spices distribute evenly and the sausage cooks uniformly.
Let the filling rest: Refrigerate the mixture for at least 12 hours so the spices can fully infuse the meat.
Master the smoking process: Burn a mix of beech and cherry wood for a balanced aroma. Keep the chamber between 20 °C and 30 °C so the sausages absorb smoke without cooking.
Control the cooking temperature precisely: Use a thermometer to keep the poaching liquid steady at 85 °C. Higher temperatures can burst the casings; lower ones may leave the sausages under-cooked.
Recipe adapted from the blog “Charcuterie Di Lorenzo”.
Ingredients
- 666 g pork shoulder
- 333 g pork belly
- 10 g salt
- 3 g black pepper
- 6 g sugar
- 2 cl neutral spirit (e.g., vodka)
- 1 large garlic clove
- 2 egg whites
- Beef casings 50 mm diameter
Procédé
- Cut the pork shoulder and belly into strips sized for your grinder.
- Grind all the meat.
- Season the ground meat with salt, black pepper, sugar, alcohol, and garlic.
- Mix thoroughly, wrap the meat tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day, incorporate the egg whites and knead once more.
- Stuff the mixture into the beef casings.
- Hang the sausages in a cool place to drain for 48 hours.
- Smoke the sausages over a blend of beech and cherry wood until they reach the color you like.
- Make a vegetable broth with one onion studded with 2 cloves, 3 slices of fresh ginger, 1 carrot, 1 turnip, the white of 1 leek, and a sprig of thyme.
- Poach the sausages in the broth at 85 °C (185 °F) for 45 minutes.
- Serve the smoked, poached sausages however you prefer.
