Homemade Sausage Making

Hello,
I have seen in my local market pieces of cryocaked fatback in the meat section of the refrigerator. Do you think it is safe to use in a cured sausage?
Thanks
Brian

yes but expensive and be certain it hasn't been salted.

I would talk to the meat associate (butcher) and make sure it came from certified pork, and ask what additives have been applied if any. In my area there are a lot of small ethnic shops that sell pork belly and meat oddities that I would not trust. I only buy my meat consumables from trusted sellers.

If it is being called "fatback" then it is usually heavily salted, sometimes smoked, and intended for use in cooking, as in pottage or beans. Check the label for salt. It is not a satisfactory substitute for fresh, clear back fat, but if what you want is salty fat, then go for it.

Keymaster wrote:I would talk to the meat associate (butcher) and make sure it came from certified pork...

While I certainly agree with asking about additives, especially if it isn't properly labeled, I am curious about this bit. Is there some reason, besides trichinellosis concerns, that the fat needs to be from certified pork?

We contract trichinellosis by eating undercooked/raw pork that contains the cysts of trichina worms. Only trichina larvae that migrate to skeletal muscle cells survive and encyst; so, more precisely, we contract trichinellosis by eating undercooked/raw pork skeletal muscle meat that contains the cysts of trichina worms. The fat does not pose a risk of trichinellosis, because the trichina larvae do not survive and encyst in fat cells. Am I mistaken?

Some words on fat and fatback.

I quote (sorry, Chuckwagon, but I gotta give credit) the following from the Smithfield Farms website, http://www.smithfieldfarms.com/b_pages/ ... ml#Country , which may help our users understand fatback better:

Country Ham Cooking Instructions
Preparation:
- Soak ham in water, deep enough that it covers the whole ham. Change the water every six hours or so for 24-28 hours. The length of soaking time is important and should be influenced by your taste for salt. The longer the soaking time, the milder the salt taste.
- Rinse ham thoroughly with a stiff brush to remove all pepper and mold.

When I need pork fat, I buy fatback in salted form, wash the salt off it, and soak it. If you follow the above instructions, fat in this form should do just fine as an ingredient. Bear in mind, though, that it takes a couple of days for salt to diffuse out of the fat (no doubt longer than it would take in the meaty parts of a ham, due to water's low permeability in fat). If you are in a hurry, go ahead and rush it, but back off on the amount of salt that you add as part of the recipe. (The Marianskis' book says up to 3% salt is not objectionable. I usually shoot for 1%.)

I find it best to cut the fatback into strips 1" or so wide, then run a knife blade along the boundary between skin and fat. Then I cut the skin pieces smaller, chop them finely (liquify) in a food processor, and add them to the meat mix. Then I liquify the fat pieces in the food processor, along with the pork trimmings, and add them. This avoids the chunks (skin, particularly) that my wife finds objectionable.

I can get 50-50 trim from the local slaughter house. but I wonder if fat replacer can reduce the cost of extra fat for sausage. Some of the primal cuts are very lean and need significant added fat to make good sausage.

Vagreys,
You are most proliferate. I am indeed sorry if I seem condescending. Indeed you are correct in saying:
"The fat does not pose a risk of trichinellosis, because the trichina larvae do not survive and encyst in fat cells. Am I mistaken?"

No, you are certainly not mistaken. Thank you for clarifying this point. Fat and muscle impose two most distinct qualities of organic matter. Thank you for your response.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

vagreys wrote:besides trichinellosis concerns, that the fat needs to be from certified pork?

I admit, I did not know trichinellosis did not live in fat of the pork. Thanks for pointing that out Vagreys. But if you got your fat from certified pork you would :
1) Know that your fat came from a certified hog that came from the United states or was imported within the guidelines of USDA.
2)The product is approved by the USDA for human consumption.
3)The product comes from healthy animals inspected ante and postmortem slaughtered and processed in plants approved by the USDA
4) That the product was raised and fed according to USDA guidlines.