Below are two recipes - one for 1 pound of ground pork and one for 3 pounds of ground pork.
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
Place all ingredients in a bowl; however, start with only 2 tsp. vinegar (for 1 pound pork) or 2 Tbsp. (for 3 pounds of pork).
Take about a tablespoon or two of sausage and cook it up in a skillet. Taste. Adjust seasoning to your taste.
Place in the refrigerator for 3 days. This allows the seasoned to penetrate the ground pork yielding the best result.
After 3 days, use or freeze by dividing the sausage into 1/4 pound packages, about the weight of a link of sausage.
This recipe was inspired by many sausage recipes that I reviewed to get an idea of what goes into making a good sausage, specifically chorizo. I do not claim that is a classic chorizo recipe, but, after going through several combinations of spices and proportions, this is the one we like the best.
Keep in mind that this is “Mexican” chorizo. “Spanish” chorizo is a completely different type of sausage and the two are usually not interchangeable in recipes.
Ground Pork – Use a fatty pork sausage, between 20% to 30%, to ensure a juicer end product. Too little fat and your cooked sausage will be dry. If you want the challenge, you could always buy a pork shoulder (an ideal cut for sausage), and grind your own meat.
Pork substitutions – If you don’t want to use pork, substitute ground turkey and/or chicken, using most or all dark meat. Too much white meat could lead to a dry sausage. You could also add a tablespoon or two of oil or butter to add some fat to the mixture. As with any sausage, the lower the fat content, the drier the outcome.
Chile powders – The most important thing about the chile powders is that you use ground chilE powder, not a chilI powder blend (a blend of red pepper, salt, garlic and many, many other ingredients). This recipe uses four different chile powders – New Mexico red chile, cayenne, aleppo, and paprika. The NM chile powder adds a flavor I love, the cayenne adds the heat, and the paprika and Aleppo add depth. However, use whatever chile powders you have or like, but try to use at least 3 different flavors with one really hot chile.
Vinegar – There are a variety of vinegars used in making chorizo - red wine vinegar, white wine, just white vinegar, and cider vinegar. Some recipes also added or substituted the vinegar with an alcohol such as tequila, sherry or wine. So play with different acid as well as amounts. I prefer a smaller amount of vinegar, whereas Bobby prefers a larger amount.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen