Cheddar/Jalapeno goodness!

[Rich G]

Sometimes a plan just comes together..... My daughter asked if I would make a spicy sausage since she's coming home from school to visit for Thanksgiving. I've never made a "spicy" sausage, but I, of course, said I would (I mean, who turns down a request to make sausage from their kid???) I searched a bunch of recipes on the big "I", and ultimately decided I would use THIS ONE, only I added 8oz of cheddar (5lb batch), and deleted the onion and cilantro (oh, and I just used water, no wine.) I ground up some pork (shoulder plus some fat back from the butcher) through my 10mm plate, then the 4mm plate. Mixed in the spices, liquid, cheese and jalapeños, then stuffed into hog casings. I'm planning to poach the links tomorrow after an overnight drying session in the fridge, but I couldn't resist cooking up a couple of fresh links for dinner. Oh, my! These are incredibly tasty! I'm not sure I would change anything, though I'd like to try the same recipe with high temp cheese to see how that differs.....still don't know what they do to cheese to make it "high temp" cheese...... Other than that, I think this is a keeper as is.....

2270g pork (70/30 lean/fat)
1.8% salt
.25% black pepper
.1% ground cumin
.35% minced garlic
3% jalapeno, diced small
10% cheddar cheese, diced small
227g water

Spices, water, jalapeños, and cheese ready to go:


Mixed up, nice and sticky:


Stuffed and linked (my youngest turned the crank for me):


Couldn't resist a couple links for dinner:


Close-up on the fork:


Since I used "regular" cheese, I was careful to cook these sausages slowly as I've read many stories about the voids left behind by disappearing cheese, and I can see a bit of evidence of that. The sausage was spicy, but not overly so, and the gooey, smooth cheese tamed that a bit. I'm going to poach the rest of the batch to make them more fridge stable, and I hope I don't have cheese melting issues when I do!! Good stuff!

R

 

[Steve Madden]

Amazing! I hope to be able to do this some day.

 

[EricV.]

I have been making this type of sausage for a few years now as well, I basically use the same ingredients, except I now have started using “high temperature cheese.” I have made them fresh & I have smoked them as well. I think I will make a batch next September, substituting “hatch chile peppers” instead of jalapeno.

I smoked this batch a couple of years ago.

 

[Rich G]

I have been making this type of sausage for a few years now as well, I basically use the same ingredients, except I now have started using “high temperature cheese.” I have made them fresh & I have smoked them as well. I think I will make a batch next September, substituting “hatch chile peppers” instead of jalapeno.

Good looking sausage, Eric! I might still smoke a few of these, we'll see..... One of my favorite sausages I've ever eaten was a hatch chile and cheddar (at Cattleack in Dallas.)

R

 

[JimK]

I could go for a couple of those! Looks great.

 

[Michael Richards]

Rich,
What did your daughter think?

Why poach over smoke?

 

[Rich G]

Rich,
What did your daughter think?

Why poach over smoke?

She hasn't made it home yet, Michael. We'll know what she thinks by tomorrow!

I had too much going on today to add in a long sausage smoking session. Poaching takes about 30 minutes to get them to 155F in 175F water.....cool 'em down, and get on with the day.

R

 

[Michael Richards]

She hasn't made it home yet, Michael. We'll know what she thinks by tomorrow!

I had too much going on today to add in a long sausage smoking session. Poaching takes about 30 minutes to get them to 155F in 175F water.....cool 'em down, and get on with the day.

R

OK I will check back tomorrow, I was thinking she was coming home today.

OK that makes perfect sense!

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

That looks awesome! I love that it's in percentages so I can steal it! I've got some back fat in the freezer. At times my butcher has just given it to me.

 

[Rich G]

That looks awesome! I love that it's in percentages so I can steal it! I've got some back fat in the freezer. At times my butcher has just given it to me.

As a test, you have to figure out the water percentage on your own....

The guys at the meat counter at my local market will give me whatever back fat I need. If they don't have any trimmed, they will break open a cryovac of pork and trim it off... Always a good idea to make friends with the butchers!

R

 

[Cliff Bartlett]

These look great Rich. They look absolutely perfect. Might take a shot at this recipe. I've used high temp cheese on some brats I made a while back and it worked out well.