Lots of people prefer their breakfast meat to be made from a hot sausage recipe, just to bring a little spice into their morning. Here’s a good one that uses thyme, nutmeg, and ginger and adds the heat of red pepper.

When I make this sausage recipe I like to stuff it into casing instead of leaving it in bulk.

There’s just something about the snap of the casing along with the subtle blast of the pepper that gets me going in the morning.

This is a sausage that we often take with us when we go camping, and it’s especially good on crisp, cool, late fall mornings before heading out on the lake to chase fish. It’s a real sausage making treat.

Ingredients

• 5 lbs of boneless pork butt
• 2 tablespoons non-iodized salt
• 2 teaspoons fine ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon ground dried thyme
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 cup ice water

Preparation

1. Trim the pork, cut it into 1 inch cubes, and grind it through the fine 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, stuff it into 24-26mm natural sheep casings.
   This sausage should be cooled as soon as it is done. It can be kept in the refrigerator for 2-3 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
2. I always like to use natural casings for stuffing these sausages because they have such a great “snap” when you bite into them. You can use collagen casings, but the experience won’t be quite the same.