Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing

As a professional chef, I have taught sausage making and charcuterie to students and other professionals throughout the U.S. This is the book I use for reference. It is easy to follow and very comprehensive. I like the fact that Rytek is a second generation cuiseur-de-chair and draws his knowledge from practical experience. The resources in his book are from his mail-order house- "The Sausage Maker" in Buffalo, N.Y which carries everything you could imagine to make any kind of sausage.

More than a cookbook, sausage guru Rytek Kutas gives the background information important for processing and curing meats. Since meat curing is potentially a dangerous undertaking, it is important to have the facts at one's disposal. Kutas was a professional sausage maker for years and learned his lessons the hard way. The book is written simply in the authors voice--you will get to know the author and you will be educated.Since reading this book, I have read other sausage making books that suggest salt peter (gunpowder) and citric acid are acceptable cures. Simply, they are not. Had I not read this sausage making book first, my family would probably be dead.

This is definitely the definitive book on sausage making. The explanation of how cures work and what they are for is worth the price of the book. I haven't found this information anywhere else. Add all of the other details on every possible aspect of home or professional sausage making and the book becomes a bargain! Several hints on working with the recipes: 1) I like to increase the spices from the proportions listed. Mix and then fry a bit and adjust thhe spices until you get the taste you want. 2) You can leave out the more exotic, "professional" ingredients such as soy protein concentrate. 3) You also might want to cut the recipes down. The smallest quantity the recipes are for is 10 pounds. I usually make 5 pounds at a time. If you are just starting out in sausage-making, this should be the first book you buy. There is an accompanying video that Kutas produced that is also a tremendous help.