Homemade Sausage Making

Cataract Canyon "Chipolatas"
Emulsified Sausages

Have you ever been to a cocktail party and been served a tasty, little, emulsified sausage that reminded you of an English "banger"? You probably tasted a Chipolata - the forerunner of the banger. They are made with emulsified pork and a few signature spices, stuffed into narrow sheep casing, twisted into links only 1-1/2 inches long, and baked or grilled immediately without smoking - thus the absence of Cure #1. They are a perfect snack for a party.

8-1/2 lbs. pork butt
1- 1/2 lb. back fat
475 ml icewater
120 g. dry bread crumbs
15 g. kosher salt
3 g. black pepper, finely ground
3 g. rubbed sage (not "ground"... or use less)
1 g. dried onion flakes
1 g. dried thyme
1 g. ground mace

When meat is emulsified, a little added salt quickly develops the myofibrillar proteins actin and myocin. It is important not to "whip" the mixture with dull tools as this will result in a rubbery, overdeveloped texture. As a home-hobbyist, I use a Kitchen Aid food processor with blades I've sharpened (on one side only). Dull blades just rip and tear. Razor-sharp blades "shear" and cut fibers. With a little water added, the machine makes a smooth "paste" in no time at all. It`s important to use a processor having a "direct gear-driven" spindle rather than one with a belt drive. If you do not have a food processor, simply grind the meat and fat using the 3/8" plate and then again using the 1/8" plate. Be sure to use a little softened, chipped, ice in the mixture to keep it cool.

Cut the fat and meat into cubes and grind them together. Work in batches and keep them cold. Add the salt and make a paste of lean 80% pork and lean 20% backfat, and then refrigerate it. Put the water into a bowl and add the bread crumbs and the remaining ingredients and seasonings. Mix the ingredients thoroughly and then fold them into the meat mixture. Use a power mixer to distribute the seasonings equally throughout the meat then refrigerate it again. Finally, stuff 22-26 m.m. sheep casings and twist small links (only 1-1/2" long). Do not smoke these sausages unless you add Cure #1 to the recipe. These are "fresh" type sausages and should be refrigerated and cooked and consumed within a couple of days, or frozen for use later.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Hey Chuck, looks like a great recipe I will have to try, but the name is what caught my eye, most people on this site wont know about cataract canyon, some of the finest whitewater rafting in the western states, not for the weak at heart, have been down the green river many times on a raft, have you done cataract canyon on a raft? Tim

Hi Chuck wagon
I made a similar formula and individuals who ate my chipolatas stated they should not have sage. What is your opinion

HI Salsiccia re,
You wrote:

I made a similar formula and individuals who ate my chipolatas stated they should not have sage. What is your opinion

Note that I listed "rubbed sage". It is much less potent than ground sage. Last year on November 3rd, my pal "Grasshopper" wrote the following post:

I at one time ruined a recipe of fresh sausage by using ground sage insteaded of rubbed sage. I have since learned, ground is more dense and has a lot of flavour.

It makes quite a difference. I like just a hint of sage in the sausage. I guess it's like my banjo music... a little bit goes a loooong way!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

I know you're not supposed to substitute, but Beloved Spouuse is gluten sensitive. Is there a substitute for bread crumbs? (Some other water absorption material?)

el Ducko wrote:I know you're not supposed to substitute, but Beloved Spouuse is gluten sensitive. Is there a substitute for bread crumbs? (Some other water absorption material?)

Russ , maybe cornflakes or cheerios or puffed rice.

Any gluten free cracker can be ground up for rusk and works great in sausages. I just toss them in the food processor and pulse up a large volume in a very short amount of time.

My wife is a celiac and over the years I have experimented with numerous bread crumb substitutions. You can use gluten free bread crumbs, and it's usually not too bad. Cracker crumbs, especially if they are rice just seem to turn to mush. By far the best product to use in sausage recipes that call for bread crumbs is textured soy protein concentrate. I have used it a number of times and also use it when I make salmon burgers. Absolutely no taste, absorbs water very well and results with a moist nicely textured product. Actually I think it's superior to bread crumbs. Sausage supply places sell it as well as bulk food retailers and some health food stores

TimSmodie wrote:

Hey Chuck, looks like a great recipe I will have to try, but the name is what caught my eye, most people on this site wont know about cataract canyon, some of the finest whitewater rafting in the western states, not for the weak at heart, have been down the green river many times on a raft, have you done cataract canyon on a raft? Tim

The Grand Canyon astonishes men. Cataract Canyon terrifies them! The stretch of the mighty Colorado River inside Cataract Canyon with its rapids known as Satan's Gut has killed more men than all other river rapids in the entire American West put together! This canyon is known as the "graveyard of the Colorado". Here, in the short space of forty-one miles, the Colorado River drops 415 feet, or ten feet per mile! Cataract is the deepest canyon in Utah and its rapids kill flora and fauna. This dim-lit hell is most deceptive and devious. The first part of the drop consists of rolling waves down some sort of "staircase" of violent water. Even the toughest of frontiersmen shied away from this place on the earth! Explorers observing sheer rock cliffs without breaks to form trails leading to the top said, "Even if you survive the rapids, there is no possible way out of the canyon." My own father lost a member of his party in "Satan's Gut" and he once told me that he saw a pine tree "come floatin' down" to a whirlpool here, "pretty much in tact when it entered the rapid's "washin' machine" but "shot out like a cork" when it was finally delivered. He told me the tree looked like a stripped toothpick!

This part of the river is the deepest along the entire channel of Satan`s Gut. Rising cliffs of two thousand foot vertical rock allow the river to be lighted only when the noonday sun is directly overhead. A huge rock has fallen from the walls here and is lodged inside a slot in the center-right rapid. Old timers tell a story of my ol' daddy shooting a deer overlooking this gorge, from the river below. They say it fell two thousand feet into the river where he cleaned and ate the thing. Pappy was found riding the rapids of the Colorado whenever possible. I grew to share his enthusiasm and have a bunch of stories of my own.

Prior to 1945, a staggering one-third of all men and women attempting to negotiate the rapids of this canyon, were killed! And there were many; some without lifejackets. With the use of war-surplus neoprene inflatable boats, the trip became a little safer. Rubber rafts tend to ride up over waves. Boats punched through them. However, lives are still claimed here as sheer hydraulics suck in bodies, boats, oars, debris, and water at this place on earth called Satan's Gut in Cataract Canyon.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon