Pike-End Farm Visit

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 9:10 am

Hi

The Midland Group had a visit to Pike-End Farm in Yorkshire last weekend. It was a brilliant day and what a set up.

You can see photos on the Midland Group Web Site (www.midlanddextergrouo.co.uk).

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Sun Nov 18, 2007 6:12 pm

I never knew sausage making could be so fun! I also noticed that it was the ladies killing themselves laughing.....I can guess at the jokes :D

Seriously though, anyone want to share their sausage recipe? Mine are always dry no matter what meat I use.

PS Gotta love those pink-trimmed wellies. Only in the UK :laugh:

welshdexterboy · Post by **welshdexterboy** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:52 am

That one lady was laughing so much I was waiting for the bucket and mop to come out!!!!!!!!! :D

Post by **Mark Bowles** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 1:07 pm

Looks like i missed a good day out! A dexter day with dexter fun, pure and simple, shame it doesnt stay that simple.
Well done Martyn and Caroline ( the lady laughing the most) for hosting the day.

AlisonKirk · Post by **AlisonKirk** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 4:25 pm

Kathy - It really was a brilliant day .... Martyn & Caroline made everyone feel so welcome. I was the one making the sausage, wearing about 3 coats to keep warm!!! Yes, you're quite right about the jokes and they just kept coming...the more we laughed the worse the jokes got!! We should have kept to Dexterburgers.

Alison Kirk
Midland Dexter Group

Caroline Ryder · Post by **Caroline Ryder** » Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:43 pm

Hello Kathy
Oh yes! Dexters are fun, even when they are turned into sausages. Dexter beef is perfect for sausage because of their high fat content. My tips for a moist sausage are:-

1. Use at least 60/40 fat to meat ratio.
2. When measuring water and binder ie. rusk, crumb etc use volume rather than weight.
for example I use a 1litre measuring jug and use a full jug of each per 3kilos meat and fat.
3. Do not over process. Let the mincer or blade do the work as quickly as possible.
4. Try not to overfil your skins (like Alison did) it will cause much hilarity.

Hope this helps
Regards
Caroline:)

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:07 pm

I was interested in the cylinders of hay/silage. We don't have those here in NZ. I was thinking they would be much easier to move around than the big heavy reactange wrapped bales they make here. There are a few people making little oval bales, that weigh around 60 kgs, but there's more wrapping on them than haylage inside. :;):

welshdexterboy · Post by **welshdexterboy** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 11:19 pm

Looks can be deceiveing Inger the big round bales are about 500kg or a little lighter for haylage. They go in the ring feeders with very little waste. Wrap them 24 revolutions for haylage 16 for silage. It does a good job but is no good for arable silage as it attracts our furry friends, they make holes in the bale and the whole thing can be waste. There must be a round baler down with you surely!!!! ???

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Fri Nov 23, 2007 7:03 pm

Thanks, Caroline,

That is a lot of water (1 litre to 3 kg meat) compared to some of the recipes I have seen unless I didn't understand it correctly. If I don't have enough fat, can I use pork fat? I will do some experimenting. My husband likes ANY sort of sausage I make, so nothing is wasted!