[Sylvia]

I have got my mincer/stuffer, my skins and my lovely home reared pork and am about to start making sausages. I plan to make pork and apple, pork and leek, plain pork and pork with cracked black pepper.
My query is this. Sould I mince or chop finely the apples and should I sweat off the finely chopped leeks before stuffing the skins?
Also any hints, tips or recipes would be very gratefully received

[HappyHippy]

Hiya,
I don't have any receipes as such, I just kinda experiemented when I made my first batch. Half of them were just plain ol' pork - nothing added except a bit of salt and pepper and the other half had onion and breadcrumbs. But having helped with a sausage making session at Lillian's I can say you don't need to worry about sweating off the leeks (just chop them nice and fine) and for apples it's probably best to grate them and squeeze the juice out to stop them being too wet.
HTH
Karen

[robert waddell]

apples are better going through the mincer but make sure you have meat to put through it after the apples, leeks should be blanced, write down all your ingredients and happy sausage making. I know that I enjoy making my own sausages, oh and if you use the devro skins be sure to rub some cooking oil on them before you link them and they will not burst, sweet chili, mint, parsley, apricot (through the mincer) rosemary and tyme, onion, paprika, mustard and peppercorn, the list is endless. Hope this helps.

[Sylvia]

Indeed it does help, thank you. Lillian, are devro skins the collagen ones? That's what the butcher gave me.

[JulieS]

As well as the above I also do sage, honey and mustard, port and cranberry......as lillian says there is no end to the list. 

If you are experimenting with flavours it's a good idea to cook up a little of the mixture for you to taste before making the sausages.  Gives you a chance to add more seasoning if required.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.   

[Andrew]

Devro skins are made from collagen. Good luck with the sausage making and let us know how you get on.

[Hilarysmum]

Try mincing some onion, add salt and pepper to taste.  Lovely.