Homemade Sausage Class

Homemade Sausage Class

I attended a sausage making class over the long weekend – it seemed an appropriate way to mark the Queen’s birthday. As you know I dabble in the mercurial art of putting together a great tasting snarler, so I went to see if could pick up some more tips. The class was taught at the Weltec School of Hospitality by Terry McKee from Island Bay Butchery. He also had a sidekick to assist him - Don Andrews, who owns Island Bay Butchery. Together they offered pearls of wisdom about the making of sausages. They also talked about the scientific component of the art, the chemistry that occurs between various meats, fats and spices and I learnt a few new things.

 

 

After a sausage making demo and talk from Terry we were given 1kg of minced meat, 60% beef and 40% pork, which we were instructed to add our desired spices and flavours to. I added salt, ground cumin, smoked paprika, mace, ground black pepper, white pepper and nutmeg to my minced meat. Once this was done it was stuffing time.

 

 

Here’s the finished product. I cooked these sausages for tea the next day with mashed potato, peas and broccoli. The sausage was pleasant to eat, but not great, I have made better snarlers. However the satisfaction of continuing to experiment and learn about making my own was well worth it.

 

 

Today in the Life lift out that accompanies the Dominion Post, there is story about Terry who ran the class. Island Bay Butchery continues to make by hand a wide array of quality sausages, and I would recommend that if you are in the shop to purchase you favourite banger, also buy one of their black puddings. It’s an underrated sausage that tastes great. Here is a link to the story.