McDonald's Breakfast Sausage

Home reconstruction

American breakfast sausage has a distinctive savoury, slightly medicinal warmth that most people cannot name. It is sage, and it is used far more heavily than in almost any other application.

Copycat attempts under-sage it, taste the gap, and compensate with black pepper. That gives you a peppery sausage rather than a breakfast sausage.

The overnight rest

Ground meat with dry seasoning mixed through is exactly that on day one: meat, with seasoning in it. Twelve hours in the fridge and it becomes seasoned meat.

Salt has time to dissolve and penetrate. The sage and thyme's oils distribute through the fat. The mixture also firms up, which makes patties much easier to shape.

Twelve hours minimum, 24 is better. Skipping it is the single biggest reason a home version tastes thin.

Pork shoulder, and the fat is not optional

Around 25–30% fat. Pork shoulder ground at home, or shop mince that has not been trimmed lean.

Lean pork makes a dry, crumbly patty that shrinks hard and tastes of very little. Fat carries the sage and the thyme — they are fat-soluble, so a lean sausage literally cannot deliver the flavour.

Shape them wide and flat

Breakfast patties are thinner than you think, and wider than the finished result. They shrink by roughly a quarter in diameter as they cook.

About 1 cm thick and slightly wider than the muffin you plan to put it in.

Press a shallow dimple in the middle of each. Meat patties dome as the proteins contract, and a dimple gives them somewhere to go, so they cook flat.

What you need

• 900 g pork mince, about 25% fat
• 2 tsp dried sage
• 1.5 tsp fine salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp light brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp crushed red chilli flakes
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp ice water

Method

1. Mix all the seasonings together in a small bowl first, so they distribute evenly rather than landing in clumps.
2. Sprinkle over the pork and add the ice water.
3. Mix by hand until just combined. Over-working makes the texture springy and sausage-like in the wrong way.
4. Cover and refrigerate 12–24 hours.
5. Shape into 10 patties, 1 cm thick, with a dimple in the middle of each.
6. Medium heat, dry pan — there is enough fat in the meat. **3–4 minutes a side**, until well browned and cooked through.

The ice water

Two tablespoons. It keeps the fat cold while you mix, which stops it smearing into the meat.

Smeared fat renders out in the pan and leaves the sausage dry. Fat that stays in distinct pieces melts into pockets and keeps the patty juicy.

Medium heat, not high

The sugar in the mixture browns fast. On a high heat the outside is dark before the middle is safe.

Medium, and let them take four minutes a side.

Storing

Raw mixture: two days in the fridge, three months frozen.

Shaped patties freeze well with parchment between them. Cook from frozen, adding two minutes a side.

Cooked: four days in the fridge, and they reheat well in a pan.