British Bangers Sausages Recipes

BRITISH BANGERS SAUSAGES

Steps:

• Get out about 15 to 20 feet of hog casings and soak them in warm water. If you don't trust your source, run water through them to check for punctures or weak spots.
• Make sure all your equipment is cold, as in freeze the grinding plate and blades, and the bowl you will put the meat into for 30 minutes to an hour. Do the same for the meat and fat. When everything's nice and cold, mix the meat and fat with all the spices (leave out the oats and beer for the moment).
• Grind it all through a coarse plate; I use a 10 mm plate. Test the temperature of the mixture, and if it's 35°F or colder, go ahead and grind it all again through a fine die, like a 4.5 mm or somesuch. If it's warmer than 35°F, put the mix back in the freezer to chill. This might take an hour or so if you've let the meat warm up too much.
• Once the sausage has been ground twice, test the temperature again to make sure it's 35°F or colder. I prefer to chill the mix down to 28°F to 32°F for this next stage. Chill the mix and when it's cold enough, take it out and add the oats and beer. Now, mix and knead this all up in a big bin or bowl with your (very clean) hands for a solid 2 minutes -- your hands will ache with cold, which is good. You want everything to almost emulsify.
• Stuff the sausage into hog casings rather loosely. I like bangers to be about 6 to 8 inches long, but it's your choice. To twist them into links, tie off one end of the coil you just made. Pinch off links with your two hands and roll the link between them forward a couple times. Move down the coil and repeat, only this time roll backwards a few times. Repeat until you do the whole coil. (This video shows how I do it.) Now look at the links, which will probably have air pockets in them. Use a sterile needle or sausage pricker (set it aglow in your stovetop flame) to puncture the casing over all the air pockets. Gently compress the links together to squeeze out the air pockets and rotate the links a bit more to tighten; this takes practice.
• Hang your links for at least 1 hour if your room is warm, and up to overnight if you can hang them in a place that's 40°F or cooler. Don't let them freeze yet. If you are not hanging overnight, let the sausages continue to dry uncovered in the fridge overnight before you seal them up and freeze. Bangers will keep a week in the fridge and a year in the freezer, if you've vacuum sealed them.

HOMEMADE BRITISH BANGERS

Steps:

• Combine the pork, fat and crushed ice in a bowl and then, working quickly, use a meat grinder to grind the mixture through a medium die. Put the mixture in the freezer for 30 minutes and then grind again through a small die. (Preferably grind the meat mixture into a bowl set atop an ice bath to keep the meat cold.) Note: It is imperative that the meat be at a constant cold temperature so that the fat doesn't get too soft. You should be able to see clear definition between the lean meat the specks of fat in the ground mixture.
• Place ground meat in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add all remaining ingredients except for the hog casings. Mix the meat mixture with the paddle for 3-4 minutes until threads begin to appear in the meat: If you take a clump of meat and pull it apart with your fingers you will see tiny threads pulling apart. When you see this your meat is ready. *If the meat mixture is too dry and stiff, add a little more ice water. You want a soft/smooth mixture that will easily go into the casings.*This is also the time to taste your sausage mixture so you can adjust the seasonings if needed. To do this, take a bit of the meat mixture, fry it up in a pan, taste it and adjust the seasonings if needed.Place the meat mixture back in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the casings.
• Thread your sausage stuffer with the prepared hog casings, fill the sausage stuffer with the meat mixture, and stuff the casings being careful to avoid air gaps while also being careful to not over-stuff the casings.Twist the sausages into links. Use a sausage pricker to prick any air bubbles out of the links.For best results chill the sausages overnight. This will give the flavors time to develop. Makes about 20 6-inch links.
• To cook, gently poach the bangers in lightly salted water and then fry, grill, or bake them. Once poached they will keep in the fridge, tightly wrapped, for up to a week. (See note for freezing instructions.)

TRADITIONAL HOMEMADE ENGLISH OXFORD SAUSAGES - OXFORD BANGERS!

Steps:

• Mince or very finely chop the pork and veal. Put the minced meat in a large mixing bowl and add the suet, breadcrumbs, lemon rind, nutmeg and herbs. Mix together and season to taste. Add the lightly beaten egg to the mixture and mix well with a fork until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined and bound together.
• With floured hands, form the mixture into sausage shapes. Coat each sausage in flour, shaking off any excess.
• Cook the sausages under a hot grill, turning frequently, until evenly browned and cooked through.
• Serve the sausages with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable as a main meal, or with grilled bacon and tomatoes for breakfast.

BANGERS

Steps:

• Cut pork and veal into 1-inch cubes and set aside.
• Rinse salt off fatback thoroughly, then soak in warm water for 20 minutes. Remove.
• Toss pork, veal, fatback, sage, garlic powder, salt, lemon zest, thyme, onion powder, mace, nutmeg, and pepper together very well and cover. Set in a refrigerator overnight for 12 hours.
• Pass all meat through a meat grinder. Lightly knead a couple of times, but everything should be close to blended evenly already. Cover and return to the refrigerator for 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, thoroughly rinse out casings, passing water through the interior. Let soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
• Knot one end of casing and slide the other end over a sausage stuffing attachment on your stand mixer. Feed cold ground meat into casing on medium-low speed. If it gets too warm it is a pain to feed into the casings.
• Twist into links of desired size as casing fills. Tie off other end after final link.
• Heat a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pan-fry sausages until browned and no longer pink in the centers, turning as needed, 10 to 15 minutes.

TRADITIONAL BRITISH BANGERS

Steps:

• Knead together the pork, veal, fat, and bread.
• Stir the salt, pepper, cayenne, nutmeg, mace, thyme, marjoram, sage, onion powder and lemon peel into the egg, and then knead into the meat mixture.
• CHEF'S NOTE: At this point, I fry a small sausage patty and taste it so that I can adjust the seasonings, because the recipe so far is fairly mild.
• Firmly stuff the mixture into the prepared hog (sausage) casings.
• Prick any air pockets with a pin.
• Poach, broil, grill, or fry them before serving.
• Serve the bangers, drowned in nice thick onion and mushroom gravy, with a heap of mashed potatoes.
• The raw sausages can be refrigerated for 3 days, cooked sausages for 1 week.
• They can also be frozen (raw, poached, or broiled) for 3 months.

OLD FASHIONED ENGLISH SPICED PORK AND HERB SAUSAGES OR BANGERS!

Steps:

• Combine all the meats with the fresh breadcrumbs, grated onion, lemon rind, nutmeg, parsley, dried herbs,pepper & salt. Mix well, it's better to mix this together with your hands.
• Bind with the 2 beaten eggs & mix well again.
• At this stage you can chill the sausage mixture in the fridge - it's easier to handle when it is slightly firmer. You can also use the mixture for stuffing at this stage too.
• When you are ready to cook the sausages or to shape them ready for freezing, form the mixture into sausage shapes - using a little flour to help you.
• Dip the sausages into the beaten egg white and then dust lightly with the flour and set aside until ready to cook.
• Heat up the oil and butter together in a large frying pan and cook the sausages for about 10-15 minutes over a medium heat. Turn them regularly to ensure they brown evenly.
• Drain them on a paper towel & serve hot with mashed potatoes & onion gravy for "Bangers & Mash" or use them in Toad-in-the-Hole as well as serving them for cooked breakfasts & brunches. They are delicious served cold with chutney too.
• HERBS NOTE:.
• I generally use a pre-mixed home-made dried mixture of Sage, Parsley, Thyme & Majoram. However any combination of dried herbs would be good - but NOT Rosemary as it is too pungent & will overpower the other flavours. One herb which is ALWAYS a must no matter what combination you use, is Sage - it has a wonderful affinity with pork & pork sausages in particular! I also use fresh herbs when they are available in my herb garden. Use at least double the quantity of fresh herbs as they are not as strong as dried herbs. Chop or mince very finely. Hope that helps!

TRUE BANGERS AND MASH WITH ONION GRAVY

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
• Cook the sausage links in a skillet over medium-low heat until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes per side; transfer to an oven-safe dish and move to the preheated oven to keep warm.
• Place potatoes into a saucepan over medium heat, cover with water, and boil gently until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Mix in 1/4 cup of butter, milk, dry mustard, salt, and black pepper; mash until fluffy and smooth. Set aside.
• Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a skillet over medium-high heat; cook the onions until translucent and just starting to brown, about 8 minutes. Pour in the beef broth and red wine; boil the mixture down to about half its volume, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper. To serve, place a sausage onto a serving plate with about 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes. Pour the onion gravy over the sausage and potatoes.