Homemade Chorizo Sausage

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   How do you make chorizo? Gather all the ingredients for making the sausage at home. Use a piece of pork with some fat on it.

2. Step 2:

   

   Rinse the pork under running water, then pat it dry (with paper towels, for example). Cut the meat into pieces small enough to fit through a meat grinder. Put the cut meat in a plain plastic bag and place it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes so it firms up slightly.

3. Step 3:

   

   Set up the meat grinder with a coarse plate. Run all the chilled meat through it. You can also chop the meat finely by hand if you'd rather not use a grinder.

4. Step 4:

   

   In a separate small bowl, combine all the dry ingredients: ground paprika, ground black pepper, and sea salt. Mix them, then add them to the ground meat. Mix again so the spices are evenly distributed throughout.

5. Step 5:

   

   Now peel all the garlic cloves and grate them on a fine grater. Add the grated garlic to the meat and pour in a little red wine. Mix everything again.

6. Step 6:

   

   Cover the bowl of ground pork tightly with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 12 hours so the mixture cures.

7. Step 7:

   

   Prepare the casings for filling and shaping the sausages. Rinse the salt off the casing. Soak it for 30 minutes in lukewarm water, then flush warm running water through the inside of the casing.

8. Step 8:

   

   Once the casing is ready, slide it onto a sausage-stuffing attachment as snugly as you can (the attachment should be fitted to the meat grinder) and fill it with the prepared meat. Make the links not too short but not too long - about 25 cm is ideal. Twist the casing or tie it off with twine every 25 cm. Prick any air pockets with a needle.

9. Step 9:

   

   Hang the prepared sausages - on the refrigerator door, say - so they get air on all sides, or in any other dry, well-ventilated spot; the key is a temperature no higher than 50-59°F (10-15°C). Leave the chorizo in the fridge to cure for 1 month. Over that time it becomes quite firm, shrinks to the right consistency, and takes on a red hue.