The Absolute Best Ratio To Remember When Making Homemade Sausage

If you've never made your own sausage, you might not have known that there's more that goes into it than just ground up meat. For the best flavor and texture of finished sausage, meat, spices, fat, liquid, and, of course, the casing, are all key components of the mixture. And the ratio of these ingredients is equally important to the outcome. Hunter Shoults, the plant manager at Bear Creek Smokehouse, let us in on his secrets to the perfect ingredient ratio for homemade sausage. He says, "A good starting point is 80% lean meat to 20% fat."

If you're making dry sausage, you'll want to decrease the amount of fat and up the amount of lean meat. And don't forget about the liquid! "Liquids are also important in homemade sausage to prevent the meat from drying out during cooking," Shoults says. The most common liquid used is water, but you can also use beer, wine, cream, vinegar, or even fruit juice. Whatever you choose, Shoults suggests using a light hand. He explains, "Usually, less than 20% of the total batch of sausage 'batter' consists of liquids."

Depending on the type of sausage you want to make, the exact types of meat and spices you use will vary. Breakfast sausage is made of pork and simple spices like black pepper and sage, usually with some brown sugar thrown in the mix. Andouille sausage will have you using different cuts of pork and hotter spices like cayenne and paprika.

When you've successfully concocted your homemade sausage, it's time to use it (and eat it!). There's way more you can do with sausage than just throw it on the grill. Some of our favorite ground sausage recipes include sausage rolls, butternut squash and sausage pasta, and cheesy sausage breakfast casserole, but you can't go wrong with the classic biscuits and gravy. Or use Italian sausage in meatballs, sausage balls with Bisquick, or a sausage bolognese. You can use Andouille sausage in gumbo, and it also goes well with seafood; try a cioppino with Andouille for a spicy kick.