Summer is just about here in the UK, so it’s time to wheel out the barbecue. Your customers will be looking for British barbecue staples that they can grace their grills with, presenting the perfect opportunity for you to provide them with some fantastic offers. As a result of the barbecue frenzy that’s fast approaching, sausages in particular will be in very high demand. Good sausage making is a blend of art and science, and requires a good nose, keen taste buds, and an ability to select excellent quality meat that’s appropriate to the type of sausage being made.

They’re an absolute classic, and given that we love a good sausage here at Butchers Equipment Warehouse, we supply a fantastic range of sausage fillers to help you create the perfect barbecue bangers. So, with that in mind, here are our top 5 tips on how you can make great sausages, in store, this barbecue season.

Choosing the right meat

Generally speaking, you can make sausages from any meat - it all depends on your preference. Obviously pork is the standout choice for most people, but there are plenty of ways in which you can make delicious sausages out of beef, lamb, chicken, turkey, venison and so on. It’s worth remembering though that each type of meat requires a particular blend of spices to fully bring out and enhance the flavours. Plus, different nationalities and cultures have their own regional recipes to create different flavours of sausage (think Bratwurst, Chorizo, Cumberland and so on).

On top of this, sausages can be made in a variety of different ways, each of which yield different results when it comes to taste and texture. A few examples include fresh sausage, fermented sausage, blood sausage (in Ireland and the UK we call this black pudding), sausages without casings, square sausage, and so on.

Essentially, your choice of meat plays a huge role in deciding what kind of sausage you want to create, so choose wisely!

Temperature treatment

When creating delicious sausages, a few universal rules apply, regardless of the type of sausage you’re making. One of the most important of these rules is that everything you use during the making process has to be cold, very cold. We’d recommend that you put your meat and fat in the freezer for about an hour before you begin the making process. Plus, we’d also heavily advise that the parts of your grinder (mincer) and stuffer are also placed in the freezer for an hour before you start processing. We explore the reasons behind this in a bit more detail in our top tips to ensure you’re getting the most out of your mincing machines blog.

Don’t fear the fat!

Many people hear the word fat in relation to a food product and are immediately put off. But, so long as it’s consumed in moderation, there’s no reason why everyone can’t enjoy the wonders that fat can bring to a dish. In this case, a good sausage needs at least 20% fat for texture, flavour, and moisture. The type of fat you use is also something that requires careful consideration. We’d recommend using back fat, as leaf lard (sometimes known as flare fat) has a lower melting point, and can become greasy and unsavoury when cooked.

Use the correct casings

Don’t be fooled into thinking that this isn’t as vital a part of the sausage construction process as the picking of the meat, or the temperature control. The sausage casing can quite literally make or break your sausages. Our advice? Stick to lamb casings. Although it’s possible to buy manufactured casings made from beef collagen, we’d always advise sticking to the natural sources where possible.

Lamb casings are sold salted and they have a long shelf life. Before you use them, make sure to soak them for at least 10 minutes in lukewarm water, as this will help to remove the salt and loosen the casing.

Those are our tips! If you stick to these, and couple them with a tasty sausage recipe of your choosing, we guarantee you’ll have yourself some barbecue favourites for years to come.

We guarantee that these tasty beauties will make the perfect addition to your barbecue selection. Tasty, cheap, and easy to make in bulk, they won’t let you down. The same can also be said of our wide range of butchers equipment - for over 30 years, we’ve supplied tried and tested, five star rated brands to our clients. With our extensive range of butchers machinery, butchers accessories, and butchers knives, we know our butchers equipment inside out. Give us a call on 01254 427721 and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have!