The great English breakfast would not be complete without a slice of fried black pudding. Read on to learn how to make black pudding or blood sausage at home so you can make the very most of nose to tail butchering. Black pudding is also known as blood sausage and is made from the blood of the pig. For those of you who are squeamish, don’t read any further there are photos of blood and reader discretion is advised.
We were able to buy a locally raised pig from a homesteader nearby for an amazing price. This pig had lived with the sun on his back, the wind in his face, time to frolic with his friends in the fields. He had a bum leg which was why we were able to butcher him. We’re thankful each time we sit to eat something made from Wilbur and he is feeding us for the whole year, dogs included.
We’re big believers in using as much as possible so you can to honor the animal who’s live was taken to provide meat for the table.
Readers with a delicate constitution or aversion to blood or butchering should not read any further, images of blood are below. Reader discretion is advised.
How To Make Black Pudding
The name blood sausage indicates one of the ingredients which is pigs blood. In Europe you can buy dried pigs blood then reconstitute it with water. For us, we were able to save the blood from the pig during the butchering process since this was only for our consumption and nothing which we are going to sell.
Other ingredients you will need include:
- large sausage casings
- mace
- salt
- sage
- ground white pepper
- good quality pork fat
- 3 medium onions
- oats
- pearl barley
It’s quite a simple recipe but does take some time to make, we made ours one Saturday afternoon so give yourselves plenty of time to make it and clean up afterwards as it is a bit of a messy process.
Step 1: Soak Grains
Weigh out 500 g /17.6 oz of pearl barley and place into a large pan with water and bring to a boil then simmer for 45 minutes. Strain off any water and allow to cool.
Weigh out 500 g /17.6 oz or oats and cover with water and allow to soak. You can prepare the oats by allowing them to soak overnight and you can use the regular porridge or oatmeal oats, old fashioned oats or the Irish style pin head coarse oats, whichever you happen to have on hand.
Step 2: Prepare The Onions
Peel and finely chip 3 medium sized onions then sweat them in a pan with a little pork fat or lard until they turn translucent or clear. You don’t want to brown or caramelize the onions so once they turn clear, remove them from the pan and allow to cool.
Step 3: Prepare The Fat
I used the good firm back fat and belly fat from the joints and cuts off the pig we had put to one side during the butchering process. You will need 500 g /17.6 oz of pork fat which you need to cube into small chunks. They need to be small enough to go into the sausage casings.
Bring a pan of water up to boiling and blanch the diced fat for a minute then take off the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer.
Step 4: Prepare The Blood
If you are using the dried blood, reconstitute according to the manufacturer’s instructions or with 1.25 L / 2.6 pints of lukewarm water. If you are using fresh pig’s blood it may have clotted. This is a natural process but does look yucky. We placed batches of blood into the blender and whizzed it up on a low speed to break up any clots. We had about 1.5 L / 3 pints of pig’s blood which was used in this recipe.
Step 5: Making The Spice Mix
In a bowl combine the following spices:
- 30 g / 1.06 oz salt (Kosher, sea or pickling)
- 20 g / 0.71 oz ground white pepper
- 20 g / 0.71 oz ground mace
- 20 g / 0.71 oz ground sage
Step 6: Prepare The Casings
Depending on what sausage casings you are using you may need to soak them in water for a period of time or rinse off the salt then soak them. Read the manufacturer’s instructions to see how you need to handle your sausage casing. We used some summer sausage casing which needed soaking for a few minutes in water until soft.
Step 7: Putting It Together
In a large stock pot combine the onions, blood, fat, oats, pearl barley and the spices by stirring well.
Using a small ladle and wide funnel, you can full the casing with the mixture leaving enough room at the top to tie with butcher’s string. If you are using summer sausage casing like I did, you can cut the bottom off a small plastic water bottle and use that as the funnel, it worked really well.
Step 8: Cook The Blood Sausage
Now your black puddings are in their casings they need to be cooked. To do this, bring a large pan of water to the boil then turn the heat down to a simmer. Puncture the casing of the black pudding a couple of times before you place in the pan. These need to be pricked during cooking to stop them from bursting. I use a thin skewer or clean knitting needle but a cocktail stick also works well. Cook 1-3 blood sausages in the pan of water for 25 minutes until there is no blood coming out of the casing when you puncture it.
Allow to cool then either store in the fridge and fry a slice or two for breakfast throughout the week or vacuum seal
There you have it, 8 steps to making traditional English black pudding to make something edible and tasty from pig’s blood, pearl barley, pork fat, oats and spices. Black pudding is good fried with an egg or two, baked beans and of course a rasher of bacon and some toast. You can learn more homesteading skills in my previous post here.
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