Homemade Breakfast Sausage Recipe - The Woks of Life (2024)

FAQs

What gives breakfast sausage its distinct flavor? ›

Breakfast sausage (or country sausage) is a type of fresh sausage, typically made from pork, that is a common breakfast food in the United States. In the United States, the predominant flavorings used for seasoning are black pepper and sage. There are also varieties seasoned with maple syrup or cayenne pepper.

Probably for the same reason that my sausages turned out really dry when I started making sausage. I thought I'd be clever and cut the fat content down so I'd have healthier sausage. Turned out that was a mistake and that the meat mix for fresh sausage needs to be approximately 20% fat for them to be nice and moist.

From the Package. PORK, WATER, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS: CORN SYRUP, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR, VINEGAR, SUGAR, PORK BROTH, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE.

To start with, most breakfast sausages are made with a variety of specific herbs. The most important of these is sage. This addition gives breakfast sausage its woodsy, slightly peppery, herbal flavor, and it's found in most classic store-bought varieties at the supermarket.

Ground Herbs and Spices

Ground spices blend seamlessly into the sausage meat. Because ground herbs and spices are smaller, they distribute through the meat evenly. They are less noticeably visible in the meat; what they lose in visual aesthetic they make up for in all-over flavor.

Never skimp on the fat:

Fat lubricates the meat, acts as a binder and will make the sausage tender and juicy. Sausages that do not contain enough fat are typically dry and tasteless. Sausages should contain 25-30% fat. This may seem like a lot but many commercially made sausages contain 50% fat.

Adding water helps the mixture to move more easily through your sausage stuffer, so it moves through the tube easier. It also makes it easier for you to crank the sausage meat through the stuffer. What is this? It helps with the stuffing process, and makes it easier to fill casings.

Fresh sausages normally do not use cure (Prague powder #1) although cure can be used if desired. In addition fresh sausages typically do not use smoke flavors, although liquid smoke can be used. Fresh sausages are never smoked in a cold smoker because of the danger of botulism.

Pork, Water, Seasoning (Salt, Contains 2% or Less of Each of the Following: Dextrose, Spices, Flavoring, Monosodium Glutamate, Maltodextrin, Natural Flavor), Potassium Lactate.

What is Mcdonald's breakfast sausage made of? ›

Ingredients: Pork, Water, Salt, Spices, Dextrose, Sugar, Rosemary Extract, Natural Flavors.

History. Dean founded the Jimmy Dean Sausage brand of breakfast sausage, which was originally called "Pure Pork Sausage." The Jimmy Dean Sausage company did well, in part due to Dean's own extemporized, good-humored commercials.

There are two general reasons for a white powderish cover on air-dried sausages: mineral coating of sodium and magnesium salts, they are sweating out during the air-drying process. microorganisms in form of noble mold, they are intentionally put on the sausages casing to influence the taste similar to camembert cheese.

You might be wondering how sausages ended up with the nickname "bangers." It dates back to World War I, when food shortages necessitated the use of fillers (mostly water) in meat. The high water content and tight casings often caused the sausages to explode during cooking. The term was widespread by World War II.

According to the former chef, they're the closest match he's found. Walmart's Great Value sausages and McDonald's sausages both contain pork, water, salt, corn syrup, dextrose, and sugar. They also both have natural flavorings. Where they differ is in the preservatives.

A good breakfast sausage should taste slightly sweet, with salt, pepper and sage flavors; it should be either a patty or stuffed into a sheep casing.

It's simply ground pork that is seasoned with salt, pepper, and herbs, usually thyme and sage, but other spices can be used including crushed red pepper and cayenne.