What It Means To Emulsify Homemade Sausage

Imagine taking a bite of an irresistible frankfurter or hot dog. That juicy, smooth texture takes some practice to nail, and to do it, you need to understand how to emulsify sausages. Tasting Table caught up with Hunter Shoults, the plant manager at Bear Creek Smokehouse, to find out what emulsification is all about. "The emulsifying process is important to the outcome of your homemade sausage, particularly regarding its bite and malleability," Shoults explains. "Emulsifying — grinding and combining fat with lean meat — is a science that ensures sausage holds together when sliced and affects the 'snap' you experience when biting into a whole piece of sausage."

It's safe to say that Hunter Shoults has got some accolades; he's in charge of the production of all meats at Bear Creek. Plus, he's the son of Robbie Shoults, the third-generation owner of Bear Creek Smokehouse and owner of Marshall Mercantile and High Horse 1898. Hunter's emulsifying technique has been passed down by generations of expert chefs and should definitely provide some inspiring food for thought. And, once you've mastered this stage, do you know the tasty reason you should be boiling sausage? This savvy strategy retains moisture to achieve that juicy effect that people love so much. It makes the most of all that grinding and fat integration, keeping the meat compact.

You now know what it means to emulsify sausages, but what about an in-depth scientific look at the process? What's actually going on at the micro level within that ground meat? The science starts with the choice of cut; an ideal ratio is 30% fat to 70% lean meat. Grinding and then pulsing that specially chosen meat disturbs the layering of fats and blends everything together into a paste-like consistency. A basic food processor, like this Cuisinart model available on Amazon, works great for this. At this point, water and various seasonings become the cherry on top; the result is fat droplets that are stably suspended throughout the meat mix. 

With the water and fat trapped in the sausages, you get a ridiculously juicy dish. Still, not every meat variation suits this cooking strategy (it might be worth looking at our breakdown of the different types of sausages, explained). In fact, one of the biggest mistakes everyone makes with sausage is not approaching different variations individually with their own optimal cooking processes and recipes. Be sure to differentiate your frankfurter from your black puddings before enthusiastically enforcing an "emulsify all" rule.