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Q: What are “Bangers”? A: A classic style of sausage made in the British Isles, Bangers contain a filler and binding component termed ‘rusk’ (unleaven wheat flour dough) which serves to hold moisture and help the meat bind. According to some sources the term “bangers” was first coined in the UK during WWII for filler / water logged sausages that split when cooked, the term is likely older, with it said that even sausages made during WWI during the wartime meat shortages were prone to split or pop during cooking due to high water content. It’s likely the term is even older, and there’s another possible cause for casings splitting, ancient sausage recipes used rice and or stale ‘day old’ bread as a filler / binder, the viable yeast sometimes present in bread even after baking, will ferment carbohydrate thereby generating carbon dioxide which causes ‘gas pockets’. This has even lead to some misguided folks thinking they need to ‘prick’ their sausages before cooking to prevent ‘banging’….So wrong in so many ways! We will make “bangers” and discuss how to cook them correctly to avoid any casing failures….. As St Patrick’s day is close approaching, we are going to make “Irish Bangers” rather than the “English” or “Scottish” versions. ( All three versions are pork sausages with added rusk, the spicing of the “Irish” version includes allspice, white pepper, ginger, sage, mace and nutmeg and is a very tasty item.)
Q: What are “Bangers”? A: A classic style of sausage made in the British Isles, Bangers contain a filler and binding component termed ‘rusk’ (unleaven wheat flour dough) which serves to hold moisture and help the meat bind.
According to some sources the term “bangers” was first coined in the UK during WWII for filler / water logged sausages that split when cooked, the term is likely older, with it said that even sausages made during WWI during the wartime meat shortages were prone to split or pop during cooking due to high water content. It’s likely the term is even older, and there’s another possible cause for casings splitting, ancient sausage recipes used rice and or stale ‘day old’ bread as a filler / binder, the viable yeast sometimes present in bread even after baking, will ferment carbohydrate thereby generating carbon dioxide which causes ‘gas pockets’. This has even lead to some misguided folks thinking they need to ‘prick’ their sausages before cooking to prevent ‘banging’….So wrong in so many ways!
We will make “bangers” and discuss how to cook them correctly to avoid any casing failures…..
As St Patrick’s day is close approaching, we are going to make “Irish Bangers” rather than the “English” or “Scottish” versions. ( All three versions are pork sausages with added rusk, the spicing of the “Irish” version includes allspice, white pepper, ginger, sage, mace and nutmeg and is a very tasty item.)
