Homemade Sausage Making

A couple of years ago I decided to make the Jadgwurst (German Hunter`s sausage) sausage. The recipe is online and also in Stan M`s book. It is a 50-50 mix of pork butt and lean fresh bacon. I got it in my head that the lean fresh bacon meant pork belly bacon (cured, smoked and cooked).

I have made it a couple of times and really like it. Anyway a while back I was chatting with a good mate of mine, who comes from a German farming background. He loved the sausage, but then said did you use fresh pork belly - err no. . Anyway I have been wondering if Stan meant fresh pork belly. To me it does not really matter because I like my version of the Jadgwurst that I make.

I just received Marianski's book last week and have been going thru it, seems like a nice compliment to the bible Rytek set forth so many years back. He could be talking fresh pork belly, or he could be talking belly bacon cured and smoked, tho I really doubt it being cooked for use in this sausage, I didn't see that anywhere. Chris and Bob will know more about it, maybe get a clarification from Stan himself! RAY

Mark-
If it this recipe: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /jadgwurst

He means fresh uncured pork belly.

If you wish to substitute (cured) bacon you should use less cure #1

Thanks Bob. I thought so. So that is how sausages evolve.

Therefore, we must quickly make translation and begin to distribute video technology.

I for one can't wait for the videos!
Jan L

Bob K wrote:Mark-
If it this recipe: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausage ... /jadgwurst

He means fresh uncured pork belly.

If you wish to substitute (cured) bacon you should use less cure #1

Ditto that. Believe me, you do not want to make it with cured bacon unless you are wanting a salt lick. I have to admit I did this. I thought something was awry but I plugged on and ended up with some inedible sausage.

We had a discussion about this somewhere here already. Marianski should have used the term pork belly or side pork. It started with his translation of the Polish word boczek as bacon. And that is only partially correct, since in Polish it means the cut we know as pork belly or side pork, but Poles also use the term for smoked and cured bacon.

Many people have been confused by this and it looks like he made the change in the online version of the recipe.

Yes, we did discuss it - about two years ago I think and that was the explanation in the terminology.

When I mad mine the little alarms went off in my head but I plugged on and made a batch since I had a lot of miscellaneous bacon pieces. Glad Mark's version turned out better than mine.

I have always considered bacon as a product and pork belly as a particular cut. So when we get the term FRESH bacon I consider it to be mixed terminology and the writer would probably call for cured and smoked bacon alternatively. For small batches I would use a skin side slab from a butt for a substitute for fresh belly.

I used cooked ham chucks once in one of my adventures and found it to be acceptable. I have seen where some people cure the chucks for the right number of days. As far as I;m concerned I just took a short cut. It all tasted good and everyone wanted more.

ssorllih wrote:For small batches I would use a skin side slab from a butt for a substitute for fresh belly.

I'm sure that would work and result in a good product, but the fat and meat from a pork shoulder is different in texture and taste from a pork belly. There is a reason for a recipe calling for pork belly as part of the product. Unfortunately, I also substitute most of the time since belly is so darned expensive, but it sure would be nice to use belly when called for, and that way we can properly judge the taste of the sausage.

CW gets the credit for posting this

I think about it every time I don't have an ingredient to a recipe

"The Substitute Recipe"

I didn`t have potatoes; So I substituted rice.
I didn`t have paprika; So I used another spice.
I didn`t have tomato sauce; So I used tomato paste.
A whole can - not a half can; I don`t believe in waste.
A friend gave me the recipe; He said you couldn`t beat it.
There must be something wrong with him; I couldn`t even eat it!

I am a firm believer in being exacting the first time I use a recipe. Some substitutions make a big difference and some not so big. I know that butt slab bacon is not the same as belly bacon however with a 4 dollar price difference I can adapt.

Speaking of bellies, you might want to look around and price some now. Cheapest I've bought them in a long time. Corn is cheap this year.