Hunter's sausages are smoked sausages of small sizes. Mini sausages are made from beef, pork and bacon with the addition of garlic, salt and spices. The product has a pronounced smoked-spicy taste and aroma. The surface of the sausages is a homogeneous and natural casing; when cut, the product is heterogeneous due to inclusions of bacon with a diameter of 2-4 mm.
From the history! The recipe for making hunting sausages was first invented in Poland at the beginning of the 20th century. Sausages appeared in Russia 8 years later, at the same time when the first order to launch sausage production was signed.
Thanks to their small size and extraordinary taste, hunting sausages take pride of place among other types of smoked sausages.
Origin! Initially, hunting sausages were planned to be produced for hunters. Their small size was convenient for long hikes, and their calorie content contributed to quick satiety. This is where the name of the Okhotnichy sausages comes from.
Shell
“Hunting” sausages of the highest grade according to GOST are produced only from natural raw materials. This rule also applies to shells. For them, lamb casings with a diameter of 18-20 mm are used. Natural casings made from intestinal raw materials have many advantages:
- easily permeable to smoke and steam;
- tolerate all stages of heat treatment well;
- during processing, their strength increases;
- increase the shelf life of the product and additionally protect it from spoilage;
- edible and healthy;
- environmentally friendly.
Before use, the casings are thoroughly cleaned and washed with running water.
Benefit
When consumed in limited quantities, hunting sausages can have a positive effect on the body. They improve the functioning of the digestive organs, reduce nervous excitability, stimulate hematopoietic processes, and improve metabolism. They also stimulate the body’s defense system and accelerate wound healing.
Interesting fact! During smoking, products are not saturated with an additional portion of cholesterol, unlike processing methods such as frying and baking. This means that smoking is more beneficial for the body, because it receives exactly the same amount of cholesterol as was originally in the food raw material.
Raw material quality
According to GOST, the composition of “Okhotnichiye” must exactly correspond to the recipe. It necessarily includes beef, pork and pork lard. Garlic and other spices give it a special taste. No preservatives or dyes.
Beef is used from healthy adult animals in a steamed, chilled or frozen state.
Pork bacon is selected from the shoulder blades, sides and from the thoraco-abdominal part. It must be freshly salted.
Pork that has been stored for more than 3 months or has been frozen twice is not used.
Mexican salad
The salad contains the following products:
- Canned beans
- Hunter's sausages
- Red onion
- Garlic
- Tomatoes
- Canned Corn Cobs
- Salad
- Hot pepper
- Vegetable oil
- Salt
- Sweet paprika
In the video you can see in detail how to make a Mexican salad so that it turns out completely unusual and truly reminiscent of Mexican cuisine.
Raw material processing
Carcasses examined by veterinary and sanitary inspection are sent for cutting. There they are divided into cuts according to patterns. After this, the raw materials are deboned and the muscle, connective and fatty tissue is separated from the bones. This is done manually or using special knives on stationary or conveyor tables.
The next stage of meat processing is trimming. During this process, small bones, tendons, blood vessels and films are manually separated from the meat. After trimming, the beef is cut into pieces of 400 grams.
Pork is also lived in. Excess fat (content up to 30%) is removed from non-fat. Bold pork meat according to GOST must contain at least 30% fat.
The bacon is crushed into 4 mm cubes.
A little history
The first written mentions of sausages as such date back to the 12th century, although if you believe historians, the recipe for preparing this product was known to the Slavs long before that: the predecessors of the sausages known to us were pork intestines stuffed with finely chopped meat, buckwheat, flour and eggs. Sausage workshops appeared in the Russian Empire thanks to Peter I, with whose light hand German sausage makers were invited.
As for the object of our research, the recipe for hunting sausages was invented in Poland in 1928. They came to the USSR in 1936 thanks to the Commissioner of the Food Industry Anastas Mikoyan, who signed a decree on their production. It is noteworthy that the production of this product was first mastered by socialist countries, and only after several years did it become known in the West.
Pre-grinding
"Hunting" sausages of the highest grade, small in size. The meat for them is ground in two stages. At the first stage, trimmed beef is passed through a meat grinder with a 16-25 mm grid and salted. For 100 kg of raw materials, take 3 kg of salt and 100 grams of saltpeter and sugar.
The purpose of salting is to impart certain properties and taste to raw materials necessary to increase the moisture capacity of meat, stickiness and plasticity. During salting, it is kept in aluminum or stainless steel containers for 48-72 hours at a temperature of 3-4°C.
Pork is salted in a similar way, but per 100 kg of raw materials, 100 grams of sugar and 30 grams of saltpeter are used.
Pea soup with hunting sausages
Hunting sausages, distinguished by their bright aroma and pronounced smoked taste, will give pea soup a special piquancy and zest.
What you will need (for 6 servings):
- split peas – 1 cup;
- hunting sausages – 3-4 pcs.;
- potatoes – 3 pcs. medium size;
- meat broth - 2 l;
- onion – 1 pc.;
- carrots – 1 pc.;
- vegetable oil – 1 tbsp;
- salt, pepper - to taste.
Step by step recipe:
- Rinse and then soak the peas for at least 6 hours, but preferably overnight. A little trick: so that the peas are well absorbed by the stomach and do not cause discomfort from the gastrointestinal tract, it is advisable to change the water at least once during soaking.
- Peel the potatoes and cut into medium slices. Finely chop the onion and grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Cut the hunting sausages into circles.
- Sauté onions and carrots in vegetable oil in a well-heated frying pan for 5-7 minutes until golden brown. Then transfer the onions and carrots to a bowl.
- Fry the sausages in a frying pan until crispy.
- Place the broth on the fire and wait until it boils. Then add potatoes, onions, carrots and peas to the broth. Stir, close the lid. Cook the soup for about an hour over medium heat.
- 20 minutes before cooking, add the fried sausages. 5 minutes before cooking, salt and pepper the dish.
- Serve the soup with white bread croutons, sprinkled with fresh herbs. Bon appetit!
Secondary grinding
At the second stage of grinding, the minced meat is ground more finely. Prepared and salted beef is ground in a meat grinder with a 2-3 mm grid and processed on a cutter with a small addition of water (chilled) or crushed ice.
Lean pork is ground in the same way as cow meat, but is not cut. Bold is crushed in a speed cutter or meat grinder into 8 mm cubes. When slicing using a speed cutter, for smoother pieces, it is recommended to slightly freeze the raw material.
During grinding, it is very important to monitor the temperature of the minced meat, as the destruction of meat tissue and fat consistency occurs. In the process, raw materials are not only cut, but also crushed and ground. An increase in temperature as a result has a negative effect on minced meat and promotes the development of microorganisms. Proper cutting affects the structure, consistency, quality and yield of the finished product as a whole.
Spicy beans
Busy housewives will love this dish because it doesn’t take much time to prepare. We will prepare beans with hunting sausages like this:
- Rinse 800 grams of canned beans under running water and drain in a colander.
- Peel one onion, two carrots, two celery stalks, and then cut them into small cubes.
- Remove the skin from 400 grams and mash with a fork.
- Chop 300 grams of smoked sausages with a knife.
- Place the food in a bowl, pour 200 ml of water into it and add spices.
Cook the dish in the oven for one hour, and before serving, sprinkle it with chopped herbs.
Mixing
While mixing the minced meat, the following processes occur:
- fat is evenly distributed
- the water capacity of the mass increases
- the consistency becomes elastic and plastic
- losses during heat treatment are reduced.
All ingredients for “Hunter” sausages are mixed in mixers. They alternately contain beef and pork meat, crumbled bacon and spices. Stir until smooth with pieces of bacon evenly distributed in it.
Cooking methods
Hunting sausages can be served as an independent dish as an appetizer. But there are also many more ways to prepare sausages, from boiling to stewing.
As a meat supplement, they go well with vegetable soups. Their taste is revealed especially well in rich soups such as cabbage soup, borscht or solyanka.
You can also serve it as a second course with side dishes: mashed potatoes, pasta or assorted vegetables.
Hunting sausages are an indispensable snack for gatherings with beer. They can be served as they are sold, or lightly fried over a fire or in the microwave.
Sausages can also be stewed with potatoes or lentils. The smoked taste of meat goes very well with stewed vegetables.
As another savory ingredient, sausages are well suited for making pizza. You only need a small amount, and the taste of the finished dish will be unique.
Roasting
Thermal treatment of semi-smoked sausage consists of several stages: frying, boiling and smoking. They must be carried out alternately, without disturbing the temperature regime. During frying occurs:
- coagulation of proteins and drying of the shell.
- the stability of sausage products and their shelf life increases
- bacteria in the casing and minced meat are destroyed.
Roasting is carried out in chambers, in which firewood from deciduous trees is used as fuel. This additionally saturates the sausages with a specific pleasant taste and aroma.
For frying, “Hunting” premium sausages are hung on thin sticks at a distance of at least 3 cm from each other. Fry at a temperature of 60-90°C for 30 minutes. The finished sausages are bright red with a completely dry casing.
Hunter's operational salad
An interesting variation of salad with smoked sausage and croutons.
The salad contains the following products:
- 4 hunting sausages,
- 1 fresh cucumber
- can of corn
- 1 bag of crackers
- dill and green onions
- mayonnaise
The preparation process is simple and takes minimal time.
- Cut hunting sausages into rings.
- Cucumbers - into strips.
- Add corn and croutons (“Smoky” or similar ones work well).
- Add mayonnaise and mix everything.
Cooking
Cooking is the second stage of heat treatment, but the most important of them. During this process, up to 99% of all microflora in the product is destroyed, the minced meat softens and the product becomes usable.
Boil “Hunter” in cauldrons with water or steam at a temperature of 75-80°C for about 30 minutes. Cooking sausages at a lower temperature is unacceptable; the minced meat will begin to sour and spoil. Too high a temperature dries out the minced meat.
Cabbage salad with smoked sausage
You can’t think of anything simpler than this salad - a minimum of ingredients, but tasty and healthy.
All we need is:
- a quarter of a head of cabbage (you can use Chinese cabbage, it is more tender)
- 150-200g hunting sausages
- 1 onion
- mayonnaise
We are sure that you will do a great job yourself, but it’s always interesting to watch the whole process. So we invite you to see how this salad is prepared.
Hearty scrambled eggs
If you have a busy day ahead, prepare for it with a delicious breakfast that includes eggs and hunting sausages. The cooking recipe is as follows:
- Cut 80 grams of bacon into small pieces and melt in a frying pan for five minutes.
- Cut three hunting sausages into slices and add them to the bacon.
- Thinly slice the onion, yellow and red pepper. Cut the tomatoes into slices and chop the greens.
- Place the vegetables in the pan and fry them for a few minutes.
- Whisk six eggs together with cream and salt, and then pour the resulting mass into the frying pan.
Serve the dish when the scrambled eggs are set at the bottom and remain a little moist on top.
