Basic Homemade Breakfast Sausage

This traditional sage homemade breakfast sausage is about as straight forward as you can get. Like any fresh sausage recipe it can be stuffed into casings or left in bulk.

We used to make this recipe in large quantities to serve it at our annual church pancake dinner. No one ever complained.

6 lbs moderately lean, boned pork shoulder

2 tablespoons salt (I prefer pickling salt)

1 tablespoon rubbed sage

1 tablespoon fresh fine ground pepper

1 cup ice water

Trim the pork, cut it into 1 inch cubes, and grind it through the medium plate of your meat grinder.
Combine the spices in a container and mix with the 1 cup of ice water.
Pour the spice and water combination into the ground pork and mix thoroughly for at least 2 minutes. Use your hands for mixing to assure even distribution.
Once the sausage is fully mixed, either stuff it into casings or make it into patties or bulk packages.

This sausage can be used as soon as it is mixed, but it really is better to let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let the spices mature in the meat.

Don't try to keep this sausage in the refrigerator more than a couple of days. Freeze it if you have made more than you can use in that time.