Mastering the Craft of Making Sausage (16 page)

Professional sausage makers often use a special steam cabinet to cook sausages. Surprisingly, however, steaming—for some reason that is a mystery to me—is not a commonly suggested cooking method for sausages made at home.

Steaming sausage is simple:

1. Fill the bottom of the steamer with enough water to finish the steaming without going dry.

2. Place the cable probe of an electronic cable thermometer in the top rack of the steamer, and locate it so that the pointed half of the probe will touch neither the sausage nor the inside wall of the steamer.

3. Cover the steamer and heat it until the thermometer reads about 180° F (82° C). Place the sausages on the racks in such a way that the sausages do not touch the sides of the steamer and do not touch each other. Insert the cable probe of another electronic thermometer into a sausage to a depth of about 2½ inches (6.5 cm). Replace the tight-fitting lid on top.
Note: To minimize loss of flavor when steaming sausage stuffed in fibrous casing, each chub of sausage should be wrapped in at least two layers of plastic food wrap, and the food wrap should be twisted and sealed at both ends with wire bread-ties. This will provide water-resistant properties comparable to that of a plastic casing.

4.
 
Monitor and adjust the heat so that the steam temperature stabilizes somewhere between 170° F
(77°
C) and 180° F (82° C). Monitor both thermometers until the cooking is complete; remember to allow afterheat to raise the internal temperature after the sausages are removed from the steamer.

5. The links, or fibrous casing chubs, are done when the internal temperature is between 155° F (68° C) and 160° F (71° C). Depending on the thickness of the sausage, afterheat should carry the temperature to 160° F (71° C). If the sausage contains poultry or wildfowl, the target temperature is 165° F (74° C), so you need to remove the sausages from the steamer when the internal temperature is between 160° F (71° C) and 165° F (74° C).

6. If the sausages stuffed in natural casings will not be eaten soon, immerse them in ice water until the internal temperature is 110˚ F (43˚ C). Refrigerate immediately. Sausage stuffed in fibrous casing should be air-cooled at room temperature for about one hour; it is best to use an electric fan. After one hour of cooling, refrigerate the chubs, uncovered. (Cooling these sausages in ice water might cause a loss of flavor when the sausage cools and shrinks while immersed in water; the shrinking can suck cold water into the casing, and the water will dilute the flavor of the sausage.)

After a few steaming sessions, the proper setting of the kitchen range required to maintain the 170° F
(77°
C) to 180° F (82° C) temperature will be learned. If the alarms on the thermometers are used, most of the sausage steaming can be accomplished while you are watching TV or reading a novel.

ROASTING SAUSAGE

Roasting sausages is an easy way to cook them. Heat the oven to 300° F (150° C). While the oven is heating, put a little oil in an ovenproof pan and heat it over medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, place the sausages in the pan, making sure that the links do not touch. If you have an electronic thermometer with a cable probe, insert the probe about 2½ inches (6.5 cm) into one of the links. Set the temperature alarm of the electronic thermometer to ring a few degrees before the target temperature is reached. The target temperature is normally 160° F (71° C), but it is 165° F (74° C) if the sausage contains poultry. If a cable probe thermometer is not available, use an instant-read thermometer to check the internal temperature from time to time.

There are two negative points about roasting sausages: They will not be browned as attractively as sausages cooked by grilling or sautéing, and the 300° F (150° C) temperature is rather harsh.

SMOKING SAUSAGE AND GRILLING SAUSAGE OUTSIDE

Please see Chapter 7 for information about smoking sausage and grilling sausage outside on a barbecue.

CHAPTER 7

Sausage Smoking and Food Smokers

About Cold SmokinHg oatn Sdmoking

WARNING: Do not smoke fresh, uncured sausage; it could result in a potentially fatal form of food poisoning called botulism. To be sure you have prevented botulism, all sausages to be smoked must have been properly cured with a sausage curing powder (Cure #1) such as Prague Powder #1, Modern Cure, or Instacure #1. For additional information, please see the section on Botulism in Chapter 4, HEALTH MATTERS.

S
ausage does not need to be smoked, but most people like the unique and incomparable flavor imparted by hardwood smoke, and this is the main reason for smoking sausage; the smoke gives only a little protection against spoilage. The smoke deposited on the casing has anti-bacterial properties, but significant drying would have to occur to retard spoilage. And, in most cases, the goal is to give a smoke flavor to the sausage without drying it excessively.

The smoke flavor is most effectively imparted to the sausage when the sausage links are raw and the outsides of the casings are dry. If the smoking is done at a relatively low temperature, the sausage remains raw and the sausage casing tends to remain dry because very little juice and melted fat appear on the surface. This is called
cold smoking.
Under these conditions, the sausage will be infused with a rich, smoky flavor. The longer the sausage is cold smoked, the stronger the smoke flavor. The ideal intensity of the smoke flavor is purely a matter of taste. Tr y two hours for your first smoking session, and then increase the time, if desired, for future smoking sessions.

The exact definition of cold smoking is not carved in stone. Depending on the “expert,” it can mean smoking at less than 85° F (29° C), or smoking at less than 120° F (49° C)—or anything between these temperatures. Actually, the definition of cold smoking often depends on the product being smoked. When I smoke cheese, for example, I consider cold smoking to be less than 80° F (27° C). Consequently, it might be said that the product being smoked influences the definition of cold smoking.

What does all this mean to a sausage maker? It means the following:

When the goal is to impart a smoky flavor to the sausage, keep the chamber temperature as low as possible—preferably below 100° F (38° C). The absolute maximum chamber temperature for cold smoking sausage is 120° F (49° C); if the temperature rises above 120° F (49° C), the sausage will begin to cook. Cooking is not bad, but when cooking begins, cold smoking has ended, and the ability of the sausage to absorb a smoky flavor will be reduced.

After the sausage is cold smoked, it needs to be cooked. One of several methods of cooking is to leave the sausage in the smoker, raise the chamber temperature, and
hot smoke
it. The details of how to do both cold smoking and hot smoking are given below.

HOW TO COLD SMOKE SAUSAGE

Sausages that are to be smoked should have been placed in the refrigerator overnight so that the Cure #1 (curing power) will have had time to migrate to all parts of the sausage mixture.

The first step is to dry the outside surface of the sausage so that the smoky aroma will adhere. Remove the sausage links or chubs from the refrigerator, and place them on a table (on wire racks or on paper towels). Direct an electric fan at them, and turn them over from time to time. (If there are pets in the house, it is best to use a room that can be secured against their entry.) At first, moisture will condense on the cold casings. Drying will be faster if this moisture is removed with a paper towel. The sausages are dry when the tips of the fingers slide easily on the surface of the casing and they do not feel clammy or tacky. This will require at least one hour.

Another way to dry the sausage is to place it in a 130° F (54° C) to 140° F (60° C) smoker with the smoker vents fully open.

When the surface is dry, place the sausages in the smoker by laying them on wire racks or hanging them on rods. If the sausages touch each other, smoke flavor cannot adhere at that point, and there will be no coloration at that point. If the sausages are on wire racks, it is best to turn them over from time to time to minimize the marks left by the racks.

Smoke at the lowest temperature possible for at least two hours—or as long as six hours if a stronger smoky flavor is desired. Do everything that can be done to keep the temperature below 100° F (38° C)—or to make the temperature as low as possible: Open the vent fully, direct a large fan at the smoker, place a shallow pan of ice in the chamber, and open the smoker door from time to time.

After this cold smoking is finished, raise the smoke chamber temperature to about 140° F (60° C)—with or without smoke—and hold this temperature for one or two hours until the sausages take on an attractive mahogany coloration. While smoking at this temperature, close the damper most of the way in order to reduce the airflow and, thereby, reduce dehydration. (The damper should never be closed all of the way, no matter what kind of food is being smoked. If the smoke becomes stagnant in the smoke chamber, it will impart an unpleasant taste to the product.) Holding the sausages at this temperature is done only to impart coloration, so it is optional.

After the desired coloration has been accomplished, cool the sausages at room temperature for 30 minutes to one hour. During this time, the sausages will
“bloom”
(become darker)—blooming will make them even more attractive.

After this cooling and blooming period has been finished, refrigerate them immediately, overnight, to allow the smoke flavor to mellow. Do not cover the sausages—or cover them with paper towels only. If they are tightly covered, they will “sweat” and their appearance will suffer.

The next morning, these smoked, raw sausages may be cooked by any method explained in Chapter 6, or they may be frozen for up to two months for later use. They should be eaten or frozen within two days. If they will be frozen, it is best to wrap each link or chub in plastic food wrap before placing it in a sealed plastic bag.

HOW TO HOT SMOKE SAUSAGE

Two things should be kept in mind when deciding whether to hot smoke sausage instead of cooking it by another method. The first consideration is that hot smoking takes more time than cooking by any other method. The reason for this is that hot, dry air is a very poor conductor of heat; it does not impart heat into the sausage effectively. The second consideration is that hot air continuously flowing past the sausage removes moisture from the sausage. The loss of moisture is not significant for sausage stuffed in fibrous casing, but it is significant for sausage stuffed in sheep casing. When sheep or hog casing is used, the loss of moisture needs to be considered. In general, if juicy sausage is the goal, hot smoking may not be a good option for cooking; it might be better to cold smoke the sausage and then cook it by some other method. If, however, your goal is to make semi-dried sausage such as pepperoni sticks, drying in the smoker is the best way process it.

Hot smoked sausages are first cold smoked, or at least smoked at the lowest possible temperature for a while, and then the temperature is raised until they are fully cooked.

In order to have the entire hot smoking process all in one place, much of the initial cold smoking step, explained above, is repeated here.

Sausages that are to be smoked should have been placed in the refrigerator overnight so that the Cure #1 (curing power) and seasoning will have had time to migrate to all parts of the sausage mixture.

The first step is to dry the outside surface so that the smoky aroma will adhere to it. Remove the sausage links or fibrous casing chubs from the refrigerator, and place them on a table (on wire racks or paper towels). Direct an electric fan at them, and turn them over from time to time. (If there are pets in the house, it is best to use a room that can be secured against their entry.) At first, moisture will condense on the cold casings. Drying will be faster if this moisture is removed with a paper towel. The sausages are dry when the tips of the fingers slide easily on the surface of the casing, and it does not feel clammy or tacky. This will require at least one hour.