A-Z of making delicious beef sausages at home

Meat is generally composed of water, fat, protein, minerals and a very small proportion of carbohydrate.

It has essential amino acids available in well-balanced proportions and concentrations to build and repair muscle tissues.

Plant food has no Vitamin B12, thus meat is indispensable, especially to children as it is important for brain function. It is also rich in iron that helps prevent anaemia in children and pregnant women.

There are many ways we can prepare meat at home, though most of us are used to roasted, boiled or fried meat.

And when it comes to processed meat, a majority consume it away from home. But do you know meat processing can easily be done at home.

To begin with, meat processing is the manufacture of meat products such as ham, sausages, hot dogs, smokies, meat loaf, bacon and kebab from muscle meat, animal fat and non-meat additives for improving flavour, taste and appearance.

Sausages are one of many meat products produced at the commercial level, but can also be produced at home. Here is a simple way to make sausages at home.

Ingredients

• 5kg lean beef
• 2.5kg beef fat
• 500g bread crumbs
• 18g salt
• 2kg ice
• 4g black pepper
• 10g paprika
• 4g ground nutmeg
• 1 head garlic, peeled and chopped

Procedure

a) Make sure your ingredients are laid out, and the meat and fat are very cold (fat can be completely frozen), before you begin (put meat and fat in freezer for two hours).

b) Prepare a large bowl of ice and put a medium metal bowl on top of it. Slice your meat and fat into chunks between an inch and two inches across. To keep your ingredients cold, put your cut meat and fat into a bowl filled with ice.

Mix them.

c) Pour in most of your spices and mix quickly. Add the salt and the sugar and mix one more time. Put into a covered container or top the bowl with plastic wrap and put the sausage mixture into the freezer for at least 30 minutes and not more than an hour.

d) Take out some of the natural casings and immerse them in warm water.

e) After your sausage mixture has chilled, grind. Make sure the ground meat falls into a cold bowl. When all the meat is ground, put it back in the freezer.

f) Stuff into the desired natural or edible casings of choice.

g) Create links of the sausages in the casings into desired size.

h) Deep fry on medium to low heat for 5-10 minutes until each side is browned and cooked through, or roast on a grill

i) The sausages can be stored below 4oC for approximately four days.

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The writer works in the Department of Dairy and Food Science and Technology, Egerton University.