HOME MADE FRANKFURTERS-THEY DON'T PLUMP, NEITHER DO YOU

 Home made Frankfurters- Courtesy of Clark's Meat Market.

Notice-these frankfurters contain, no starches, no potentially contaminated, carcinogenic, or poisonous animal by-products, and no other fillers. Compare this to the label on the ones you buy from the supermarket. Because they contain no starch, these frankfurters will not “plump” like the commercial versions do, when you cook them; but then neither will you when you eat them.

Ingredients

3 feet sheet or small (1/2 inch diameter) hog casings

1 lb lean pork, cubed

3/4 lb. beef, cubed

1/4 pound pork fat (not lard), cubed

1/4 cup very finely minced onion

1 small clove crushed, finely diced

1 tsp. finely ground coriander

1/4 tsp. dried marjoram

1/4 tsp. ground mace

1/4 tsp. dry mustard

1 tsp. sweet paprika

1 tsp. freshly ground, fine white pepper

1 egg white

1-1/2 tsps. sugar

1 tsp. salt or to taste

1/4 cup milk

Instructions

          Prepare the casings (instructions below). In blender or food processor, make a purée of the onion, garlic, coriander, marjoram, mace, mustard, and paprika. Add the pepper, egg white, sugar, salt, and milk and mix thoroughly. Grind the pork, beef, and fat cubes through the fine blade, separately. Mix together and grind again. Mix the seasoning into the meat mixture with your hands

            Chill the mixture for half an hour then put the mixture through the fine blade of the grinder once more. Stuff the casings and twist them off into 6-inch links. Parboil the links (with out separating them) in gently simmering water for 20 minutes. Place the franks in a pot of ice water and chill thoroughly. Remove, pat dry, and refrigerate. Because they are precooked, they can be refrigerated for up to a week or they can be frozen. The frankfurter meat can also be left uncooked and used as any other fresh sausage meat but it will not keep in the refrigerator for more than two days.

Preparing the Casing

          Strip off about four feet of casing (better too much than too little because any extra can be repacked in salt and used later) Rinse the casing under cold running water to remove salt clinging to it. Place in a bowl of cold water and let soak for about half an hour after soaking, rinse the casing under cold running water. Slip one end of casing over the nozzle of facet  Hold the casing firmly on the nozzle, and then turn on the cold water, gently at first and then more forcefully. This procedure will flush out any salt in the casing and pin point any breaks. Should, you find a break, simply cut out a small portion of the casing. Place the casing into a bowl of water and add white vinegar. A Tbsp of vinegar per cup of water is sufficient. The vinegar softens the casing a bit more and makes it more transparent, which in turn makes your sausage more pleasing to the eye. Leave the casing in the water/vinegar solution until you are ready to use it. Rinse well and drain before stuffing. Of course you need a sausage stuffier.