Professional Charcuterie: Sausage Making, Curing, Terrines, and Pâtes

An excellent book, more professional information and recipes. a must have for the serious home sausage maker, that's why I got it !! all of these books could use larger print, im getting older, and darker print also, and the paper could be a higher grade too, gross, like a playboy magazine.I like that the cover is printed and doesn't have a paper cover on it. it explains a lot of different things in plain English!

Great item and great service.

good

I was pleasantly looking forward to this book, since there are not many books that cover this subject. Sadly, this one is rather inadequate. The explanations and essays are scatterbrained and perfunctory, although I thought the recipes were `interesting'. I do not recommend this book, unless you are already knowledgeable on the subject and are only looking for recipes and can distinguish good recipes from bad.Starting right off in the Preface, the author steps into the proverbial cow-pie. `We wanted to address the professional chef, student, and the dedicated amateur-anyone, in fact, who wants to explore the art and practice of fine charcuterie'. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is not nearly enough educational material for an `amateur' let alone `anyone'. Page ix has a long winded essay on nutrition, yet the writing is laughably circumspect, vague, and non-committal.The author makes a number of statements that I have serious issues with. I will dismiss them as a simple difference of opinion, but I believe the author to be simply wrong. IMHO, this book is not a source of unimpeachable information on charcuterie or anything else.The entire issue of fresh charcuterie, cured charcuterie, drying, brining, and smoking is a critical subject that all must thoroughly understand before undertaking any recipe in this book, yet all the author devotes to the interweaving of these important subjects is a couple of confusing sentences on page 51. The author does not demonstrate why curing is necessary, what the difference is between wet and dry brines, when to use each one, or what changes in the meat occur, but just skips ahead to discussions of Prague powder and different types of injection needles. The author does not describe why meats were smoked in the first place, why it is still done today, and even if you really have to smoke your charcuterie if you really do not want to or cannot do so because you do not have the proper equipment or expertise. He cannot even bother to describe sodium nitrate, what it is, what it does, and why it is necessary (answer: it is not necessary, but if you leave it out your meats will be various, unappealing shades of grey or brown, and not the happy pink people expect for hot-smoked sausage; if you are brave enough to do a cold-smoked or dried sausage, it is essential to control bacteria).The information on safety and sanitation is brief, inadequate, and lacking in practical particulars. This can actually be dangerous, since the uninitiated may attempt the recipes without knowing the necessary precautions required in all charcuterie, cured or otherwise (listing various types of bacterial poisoning and their symptoms is nice, but worthless unless you also describe how to avoid them in exacting detail; even here, the author fails: he does not mention Listeria, a much more common and serious bacterial contamination than the ones he lists, ditto for E. Coli).The first 75 pages are devoted to essays, explanations, and information. Yet, the author does not go into any subject in any depth. The material tends to be vague and perfunctory, sort of like brief excerpts randomly pulled from a student's lecture notes. About the most charitable thing I can say about this section is that it might serve as refresher material for a foodservice professional who may have forgotten some aspects of charcuterie. It is certainly not adequate enough to serve as an educational or learning resource by itself.Happily, I did like the recipes very much. There are some 150 recipes, presumably tested, professional ones from a cooking school. Most, but not all, recipes are for sausages. Sadly, even here, there is a serious format problem. They are listed in alphabetical order, not very helpful. It would have been more useful (and educational) to have them categorized: cooked, cured, fresh, wet brine, dry brine, hot smoked, cold smoked, hams, sauces, etc. Also useful would have been a complete listing of all recipes and pages numbers in the beginning of the recipe section.Perhaps the recipes for simple, fresh sausages are within easy reach of any home cook, but a better source is a cookbook devoted entirely to the subject:  Bruce Aidells's Complete Sausage Book : Recipes from America's Premium Sausage Maker  is specifically aimed at the average home cook.Even in the recipe section, however, I have some doubts about; based on the first 75 pages, I found it difficult to take the recipes seriously. Many of the fresh sausages seem to have too much added liquid and not enough fat. There is no mention that chunks of meat should NOT be trimmed of fat, or that extra-fatty pieces of meat work better in sausages than lean ones. The recipes do not list the expected fat % of the finished product, nor is there advice anywhere in the book about controlling the fat content of sausages. Many recipes use soy protein concentrate, but the author does not cover this ingredient in his essays; this is a serious deficiency, as few people, even professionals, have ever used it or even know what it is, much less know why it is included in various sausages or how to handle it.

This book goes into great detail on the subject which can be a bit intimidating.

Master Chef John Kinsella trained me in the culinary arts. He is an extremely passionate and talented chef and was also the president of the American Culinary Federation (ACF). This is the organization that certifies one as a master chef in America. This was a required textbook for my butchery, chaurcuterie, and advanced butchery classes. It is NOT meant for a casual beginner cook. Just like "The Escoffier" by George Auguste Escoffier (look it/him up), it is intended for those who already know culinary theory and are educated in food and beverage sanitation and hygiene. I am an avid sausage maker and charcutier and often adapt recipes I learned from this book. Every time I serve something inspired by this book I receive nothing more than the highest compliments. As for how it appears somewhat slapped together, well, it was put together using his own personal notes from his own work and not intended to be read as haute literature. If one wants an incredible compilation of notes on charcuterie and sausage making and don't require the author to spell out every detail and step in the process than this is an a absolutely vital work. I recommend every trained chef or advanced cook have a copy of this book.

This is quite an advanced book. If you are looking for something suitable for the home kitchen, see if you can locate a copy of Jane Grigson's <<The Art of Making Sausages, Pates, and Other Charcuterie>>. It's out of print, but readily available used at Amazon.com.

This book is not worth the price! It is light on the educational aspects required for successful and SAFE sausage making. The art of sausage making is not difficult, but some of the techniques can be challenging for a beginner to understand without examples, such as drawings, photos, etc . . . this book contains VERY FEW illustrations, and NO PHOTOS. This book appears to primarily be a recipe collection, of which I've noticed that a number of the recipes are strikingly similar to those found in other, far superior books available. I would highly recommend either ' Great Sausage Recipes & Meat Curing ' by Rytek Kutas, or my absolute favorite, ' Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing ' by Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn over this book. Either of the alternative titles would be a much better match for someone just venturing into, or expanding on their skills in sausage making or any other type of charcuterie.

Very disappointing book with very little technical and practical knowledge. There are more pages treating things like spices or sauces than curing. Even when it comes to curing (2 pages + charts), 1 basic recipe for wet and one for dry both using some "prague powder", more or less nothing on air drying.I m a French chef and done some charcuterie before quite a few years ago and did want to come back into it... Not being precise enough I consider this book as a potential health hazard. And would like to remind to every Charcutier to be that charcuterie is a very precise work where mistakes can bring some serious health issues .

watch out pigs , is all i can say about this comprehensive manual . if you don't find any more reviews from me for the next six months you'll know i've been arrested for loitering with intent at my local abattoir

At last I've read this book, I've waited years to receive this book for past birthdays and yet the hints I dropped never sunk in with my family members. I'm a Professional Charcutier myself and yet I learnt a few things from this book once I purchased it myself that is. Excellent for the hobbyist charcutier or beginner to get on the road of culinary success.

At first glance this book will look expensive, but there are none of the usual pictures you get in cookbooks, so it is solid information. Although this is a professional guide it is very useful for the home/hobby cook. If you have never made Sausages, terrines or pate before I would not recommend this book to the beginner. Also a lot of the recipes call for smoking the products, so if you don't have access to a smoker you should be aware of this.All recipes contain temperature guides from smoking which is excellent and measurements are in both US and Metric.This is a very rich source of information for both professionals and experienced sausage makers.

love the topic as I am a Butcher 4th Generation