I was thinking about the economics of making breakfast sausage and it was obvious I could minimize the cost per pound by using pork loin along with some pork fat. Why? The lean meat per pound of pork loin is higher than with any other cut of pork. But would it taste dry compared to sausage made from Boston butt roast, with 25% fat?
The answer is ... The recipe below makes a fine breakfast sausage that is not dry ... in fact, it is just fine. You, of course, are the boss, so if you want the sausage to be more moist/soft then you can add an additional small amount of water while mixing it. You can buy pork fat cheaply, but I typically get it for free at the supermarket [I call ahead and order it a few days in advance of needing it]. I suggest you try doing that.
What I found interesting while developing this teaching recipe was I could easily control texture and moistness as well as flavors. In general, the best texture is achieved by using 75% lean meat and 25% fat. Vary the water slightly and the sausage becomes more moist/tender or less moist.
As for frying to get a nice golden color, I like to spray a small amount of canola oil into a nonstick skillet and also a bit on top of the sausage patties once they are in the skillet. Frying time is in general two minutes per side, flipping the sausage patties every minute, for a total of four minutes frying time, but note that frying time can vary based on the heat produced by your stove and by the non-stick skillet you decide to use. The point? Keep an eye on the appearance of the patties, and know that when they are golden on both sides they are done frying.
You want to make this breakfast sausage. Note that the maple flavoring is optional but nice if you want that flavor. Actually, you can make the sausage without the maple flavoring, remove half of the sausage from the mixing bowl, then mix maple flavoring into the remaining half, and then you have both flavors. Nice. Note also that after trying this recipe you can change the amounts of salt and other seasonings in any direction you like.
You may wonder why rice flour (or potato flour or corn flour) are included as an ingredient. The answer is the flour absorbs water and keeps some of the water inside the patties, uniformly, while they are frying, resulting in a more tender, moist texture at eating time.
Similar to what you do with other homemade sausages, you can vacuum seal and freeze raw sausage patties or simply half pound amounts of sausage, flattened after vacuum sealing, and keep them in the deep freeze until you want to use them ... but I recommend using them within three months of making the frozen, vacuum sealed packages.
Finally, this recipe scales up nicely. You can easily triple the amounts to get plenty of sausage for both the meal and for vacuum sealing/freezing for later use.
Ingredients: (makes approximately 1 pound of breakfast sausage)
3/4 lb. of lean pork loin, ground fine (1/8" die holes)
1/4 lb. of pork fat, diced and ground fine with the pork loin
1 tsp. of sea salt
1/3 tsp. of black pepper
1/2 tsp. of granulated garlic
1/2 tsp. of sugar
2 tsp. of dried sage
1/2 tsp. of McCormick® culinary maple flavoring (optional)
3 tbsp. of cold water
1 tsp. of Wrights® Liquid Smoke (Hickory flavor)
2 tbsp. of rice flour (or potato flour or corn flour)
Canola oil for frying
Directions:
Mix the ground pork and fat mixture with the salt by hand and put that into a one quart Ziploc® freezer bag, expel the air and seal it. Refrigerate that mixture overnight.
Mix the ground pork/fat for three minutes with all remaining ingredients except the rice flour and the canola oil, in an electric mixer, on medium speed.
Add the rice flour a little at a time while mixing on medium low speed and then mix the sausage for two minutes.
Scrape down the inside of the mixing bowl with a soft spatula to get all of the sausage together, then mix it again for two minutes.
Form sausage patties by hand, 3/8" to 1/2" thick, put them into a thick bottom non-stick skillet, preheated on medium heat and lightly sprayed with canola oil.
Spray the tops of the sausage patties lightly with canola oil.
If needed you can flatten the patties with a spatula at the beginning of frying, while the meat is raw and pliable, to get uniform thickness and the overall patty thickness you want. But note that the patty thickness will increase slightly during frying, partly due to some of the water in the sausage turning into steam, and partly due to the meat proteins tightening during frying.
Turn the sausage patties over a few times with the spatula until they are golden in color, about two minutes per side total time.
Serve the sausage patties hot, along with any other breakfast items.
Enjoy!