5 lb Fatty pork shoulder or other
-well-marbled cut of pork
1 1/2 oz Salt
1/2 oz Ancho chile powder
1/4 oz Paprika
1/4 oz Cayenne pepper
1/3 oz Ground cumin
1 pn Freshly ground black pepper
5 cl Garlic; minced
1/4 oz Fresh oregano; minced
Hog casings (12' by 1-1/8
-to 1-1/4")
Preparation time: 2 hours 30 minutes
Knowing how to make homemade chorizo from scratch is, we think, an
essential life skill everyone should learn and practice often. We
explain how with this recipe, which falls smack in between the
Mexican and Spanish styles of chorizo. (We couldn't decide which
style we preferred so we combined our fave parts of each.)
Dice the pork into smallish 1" (2.5 cm) cubes.
In a large bowl, use your hands to mix together the pork, salt, ancho,
paprika, cayenne, cumin, black pepper, garlic, and oregano until
everything is equally distributed. Cover and refrigerate the chorizo
mixture until you're ready to grind.
Meanwhile, place your meat grinder in the freezer until chilled
through, at least 30 minutes. (By way of explanation, this helps keep
the meat cold as you process it. If the grinder isn't cold, the meat
will become too warm and it won't grind properly, which will ruin the
texture and result in a dry, crumbly, less flavorful chorizo sausage,
which ultimately leads to sadness.)
Set up the grinder with a 3/16 (medium) die or, if you're using a
KitchenAid grinder attachment, start with the larger of the two dies
for the first grind and then switch out to the second, smaller die
for the second grind. Turn the grinder on and slowly add the pork
through the feed tube. Be careful not to overload or overfill the
grinder. Add the pork slowly, piece by piece, so the elbow doesn't
get overfilled or clogged. If you notice any smearing or clogging on
the die, turn off the grinder and clean out the die. Also check your
pork to make certain it's still cold. If at any point the grinder is
no longer cold, return it to the freezer until it's thoroughly
chilled and refrigerate the pork rather than leave it at room
temperature.
After the first pass through the grinder, use your hands to completely
combine all of the ingredients. Then pass it through the grinder a
second time. (The more you grind the meat, the finer the texture will
become and the firmer the resulting chorizo sausage will be.) After
the second grind, use your hands to once again thoroughly mix the
ingredients until the mixture becomes sticky and fully combined. (The
sausage should stick to your hand when you turn it upside down.)
Cover and refrigerate the chorizo mixture until chilled through,
about 1 hour.
If you're using natural casings, they'll need to be soaked in
room-temperature water for at least 1 hour before using. You'll want
to change the water several times and we've found that running water
through them a few times before trying to put them on the extruder
tube makes everything way easier. This also results in a softer and
more pliable casing, which makes it easier to slide the casing onto
the extruder and less likely to split when being filled.
Prepare your stuffer or stuffing attachment according to the
manufacturer's directions. Add the loose sausage mixture to the
stuffer or stuffing attachment and pack it down to remove all air
pockets. Lubricate the feeder tube with water and slide the casing
onto the tube.
Once the casing is entirely scrunched onto the feeder tube, pull 2"
(5 cm) of casing off the tip of the tube. Grasp the casing end with
one hand and begin cranking with the other hand. Once you can see
meat begin to make its way out of the tube, pinch off the end of the
casing so the meat is forced to expand inside the casing as you
slowly pull away, keeping a grip on the casing. Be sure both the
casing and the counter on which the sausage will fall are very wet
and lubricated to prevent any ripping or sticking. (You may find it
handy to keep a squeeze bottle of water nearby for this). When about
3 to 4" (8 to 10 cm) of chorizo sausage mixture has made its way into
the casing, let go of the end and use one hand to feed the casing off
of the tube while the sausage is being cranked out with your other
hand. As you are doing this, be mindful about filling the casing. You
want to find that sweet spot where the casing is filled with meat and
a little amount of air remains but not so full that it will bust when
you begin twisting. Once all the meat has been stuffed into the
casing, leave 6" (15 cm) empty casing on the end and cut off any
excess to reserve for future use.
