What Cut of Meat Is Best for Sausage?

You probably know that sausages are often made from beef, pork, or a combination of both. But you might not know that some countries prefer one cut of meat over the other. 

The ideal cut of meat for sausage is the Chops (Shoulder and Back), which have the correct ratio of lean and fatty tissue. 

If the animal was raised for beef, then the most desirable cuts would be Loin (Back and Ribs) and Round (Loin). 

If the animal was raised for pork, then the most desirable cuts would be Neck and Shoulder.

In this article, I will answer all the questions regarding meat cuts.

What Type of Meat Is Used for Sausage?

Sausages were traditionally made from whatever meat and parts of the animal you were in, depending on the season and where in the world you were.

To make sausages, the meat needs to be ground up anyway, so the type of cut of meat used didn’t matter at all.

Nowadays, you can find much higher-quality sausage meat at butcher shops and grocery stores, but this still holds.

Sausages in grocery stores are often made with Preservatives to make them last a long time.

If you want to make your sausages at home, you can either do it cheaply or spend a bit more.

There are a lot of different cuts of meat you can choose from.

The majority of these will be beef and pork cuts, but you can also make sausages from lamb, poultry, and wild game, for example.

What you use depends on your tastes and the people you are making the sausages for.

There are so many different types of sausages, all of which come from different countries and cultures all over the world.

Sausages can be made from almost any type of meat, and you can even do combinations of different types of meat.

Best Cut of Meat for Sausages

Best Cut of Beef for Sausage

Most of the time beef chuck is turned into ground beef, which is used to make sausages and burgers.

It is very affordable because it comes from the shoulders of the animal.

The beef chuck has a fat content of about 15-20%, which is ideal because it prevents the sausage from drying out.

Since the meat is going to be ground to make sausage, you don’t need to spend a lot of money on the more tender cuts of beef.

Some of the more tender cuts of beef are tenderloin, rib, and flank, and they are often used for steaks.

Best Cut of Pork for Sausage

Pork shoulder is the best cut of pork for sausages, just like the beef shoulder is the best cut of beef for sausages.

Pork shoulder is also called pork butt or Boston butt and is very affordable. It is perfect for making sausages because it has a 20-30% fat content.

The ideal fat content for sausages is 15-20%, so you would have to add more fat to the mix to keep them moist.

Best Cut of Lamb for Sausage

The best cut of lamb to use for sausages is from the shoulder, but you can also use meat from the neck or breasts.

The cost of lamb is higher than beef, pork, or chicken, but it is okay to use cheaper cuts of meat for sausage making.

Using Poultry to Make Sausage

Buying the whole bird is cheap and you can get a lot out of it when you make chicken or turkey sausage.

Sausages aren’t compatible with breast meat, which is very lean and has little fat. The breast meat can be used for other purposes, and the rest of the bird can be used to make sausages.

It is common to use both light and dark meat in chicken or turkey sausages. If you want to add fat, duck or pork fat is a good choice.

Adding the skin to the sausage mix makes it a great binder to prevent the ground meat from falling apart and adds great hydration.

Sausage made from poultry, like chicken sausage, will have to be cooked to a slightly higher internal temperature because of food safety reasons.

Using Wild Game Meat to Make Sausage

Some of the animals that are included in wild game meat are deer, elk, buffalo, boar, and even rabbits or squirrels.

These are hard to find in a butcher shop, so when you are making your meat, make sure that all of the bones are removed, and any meat that looks off (it’s not the right color or is damaged), is also removed.

Adding pork and/or beef fat to your sausages is a good way to keep your sausages from drying out.

Conclusion

If you want to make sausages, you have many options of cuts of meat to choose from. You can use any of the types of meat that I mentioned in your butcher shop.

I would like you to experiment with different combinations of meat. Don’t forget to include the right amount of fat.

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