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Store-bought breakfast sausage has a way of tasting like salt and not much else. Homemade tastes like pork and herbs, and you control the heat, the sweetness and the fat. It also takes about ten minutes of work, which surprises people.
The method is a ratio, plus a few rules about temperature. Once you have those, you can scale it from half a pound to a whole shoulder.
Start with the pork
Ground pork is the base. Look for a package labeled with a fat percentage; around 20 to 25 percent fat gives patties that stay juicy and brown well. Very lean pork gives dry, crumbly patties. If you grind your own, cut a boneless pork shoulder into cubes, chill them well, and pass them through a grinder. Shoulder has the right balance of lean and fat.
Keep the meat cold. Warm fat smears instead of staying in distinct bits, and a smeared mixture bakes into a dense, pasty sausage. Mix with cold hands, work quickly, and return the bowl to the refrigerator if you hesitate.
Why make your own at all. The reasons are mostly flavor and control. Commercial breakfast sausage is often seasoned heavily with salt and sugar to hide the fat and filler. You see lists with preservatives and added flavors. Homemade has pork, salt and spice, and nothing else you did not put there.
There is also the matter of dietary needs. If you avoid sugar, or sodium, or certain spices, you can build a sausage to match. And if you like a pronounced sage flavor or a hot kick, you set it. Few kitchen projects give you this much control for so little effort.
Cost can go either way depending on the cut and what is on sale. Do not count on savings. Count on taste.
The ratio
The cleanest way to think about seasoning is by weight. A common range for salt in fresh sausage is roughly 1.5 to 2 percent of the meat weight. For a pound of pork, which weighs about 454 grams, that is about 7 to 9 grams of salt, or somewhere near a teaspoon and a half of fine salt. Coarse kosher salt varies by brand, so a kitchen scale beats a spoon. A digital kitchen scale is inexpensive and helps in every recipe.
Here is a starting seasoning for one pound of ground pork. Adjust to taste after a fry test.
- 1 teaspoon dried rubbed sage
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or allspice, optional
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar or maple syrup for balance
- About 1.5 teaspoons fine salt, or 7 to 9 grams
Sage is the signature flavor in most American breakfast sausage. It can overwhelm a small batch if you go heavy, so measure.
Reading the label on the pork
Packages of ground pork can be labeled simply as ground pork, and the fat percentage is not always printed. If you cannot tell, ask the person behind the meat counter, who can often grind a shoulder to order. A package that looks very pale and dry usually runs lean; one with plenty of visible white flecks runs fattier.
Avoid packages that look gray or that are leaking a lot of liquid. Use the pork within the date on the label or freeze it right away.
Mix with a light touch. Combine the seasonings in a small bowl first, so they spread evenly. Sprinkle them over the pork, add a tablespoon or two of cold water or ice water, and mix with your hands until the meat looks slightly sticky and the spices are distributed. The water makes the sausage more tender and helps the proteins bind. Stop as soon as the mixture holds together; do not knead like bread.
The fry test. Never judge seasoning from the raw meat. Pinch off a spoonful, shape it into a tiny patty and cook it in a hot skillet until done. Taste it. Does it need more salt? More pepper? A touch of sweetness? Adjust the main batch accordingly. This two-minute step is the single most useful habit in sausage making.
Pan or oven?
A skillet gives the best crust, since the patty sits in direct contact with hot metal and browns evenly. An oven is easier for a big batch. Lay patties on a parchment-lined sheet pan and bake at 400 degrees F for about fifteen to twenty minutes, flipping once. You will get less browning, but you will cook a dozen patties without standing at the stove.
For extra color from the oven, run the patties under the broiler for the last minute or two. Watch closely; sugar in the seasoning can blacken fast.
On the griddle, set the surface to medium and give the patties plenty of space. Crowding drops the temperature and makes them steam.
Shape and chill
Divide the meat into portions of about two ounces for a medium patty, or three for a larger one. Press each into a disc about a half inch thick and a little wider than you want the final patty, since they shrink in the pan. Make a slight dimple in the center with your thumb to help it cook flat.
Lay the patties on parchment and chill for at least thirty minutes. Resting gives the salt time to do its work and the fat time to firm up. A burger patty press makes even discs if you are cooking for a crowd.
Cook to 160. Heat a skillet over medium heat. A cast-iron or heavy stainless pan gives the best browning. You rarely need extra oil, since the patties render their own fat. Cook for about four minutes per side, until deeply browned and cooked through. Ground pork should reach 160 degrees F, per the USDA, and an instant-read thermometer inserted through the side into the center will confirm it. Pink inside does not always mean undercooked, and brown does not always mean safe, so use the thermometer.
Drain on a paper towel or a rack. Keep the pan drippings: they are excellent for frying eggs or starting a pan of potatoes.
Sausage as an ingredient
Loose, unshaped sausage is just as useful as patties. Brown it and crumble it into a pan of gravy, an egg scramble, a frittata or a pot of beans. It adds seasoning and fat to whatever it touches. Because the meat is already seasoned, taste your dish before adding salt.
A pound of mixed sausage can be divided: shape half into patties for breakfast and keep half loose for dinner. Freeze each portion separately in a flat layer so it thaws quickly.
And if you have leftover cooked patties, they reheat well in a skillet over medium heat for a couple of minutes per side, or in a microwave for under a minute. Bring them to 165 degrees F when reheating, per standard leftover guidance.
Freezing and storing. Raw patties keep in the refrigerator for a day or two. For longer, freeze them in a single layer on a tray, then stack with parchment between and seal in a freezer bag. For the best quality, use within a few months. Cook straight from frozen over lower heat for a longer time, or thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
Wash your hands, the board and the tools thoroughly after handling raw pork.
Variations.
- Maple: swap the brown sugar for a tablespoon of maple syrup.
- Hot: double the red pepper flakes and add a pinch of cayenne.
- Apple: fold in a few tablespoons of finely diced apple, cooked and cooled.
- Fennel: add a half teaspoon of ground fennel seed for an Italian-leaning flavor.
Whatever you change, run the fry test again.
