Sausage Making (9 page)

This is not a perfect science, so you'll have to do some experimenting to determine how smoky you like your sausages. Because the cooking time must remain the same in order to cook the sausages through, adjustments to the smoke level need to be made by adding fewer or more wood chips. I like to use hickory, apple, cherry, or any other hardwood chips.

I prefer to make the sausages the day before I plan to smoke them. I place them on a cooling rack set over a rimmed baking sheet or hang them, uncovered, in the refrigerator and leave them overnight.

This step gives the casings some time to dry, which will help the smoke cling better to the surface. After I smoke the sausages, I refrigerate them overnight a second time, uncovered, which allows the smoke to mellow and the flavors to meld.

If you do not have a smoker, you can also smoke sausages in your oven. Heat the oven to the desired temperature and suspend the sausages from the oven racks. Place a small pile of wood chips in a large disposable aluminum baking pan and light them on fire (I like to use a blowtorch for this). When the chips are smoldering, transfer the aluminum pan to the oven. Check periodically to ensure that the wood chips are still smoldering or to add more as necessary. If your oven has a convection feature, make sure that it is turned off when you're smoking, otherwise the fan will extinguish the smoldering wood chips.

Regardless of whether you are using an electric smoker or your oven, you should set the temperature to 170°F/77°C and smoke the sausage until doneness is reached, 45 to 60 minutes. Beef, lamb, and pork sausages should be smoked to an internal temperature of 145°F/63°C, poultry sausages to an internal temperature of 160°F/71°C. Insert a probe-style
thermometer into one of the links before you add it to the smoker; that way you can monitor the internal temperature without continually opening the smoker, which would lower the temperature and release the smoke.

You should not set the temperature of your smoker or oven above 170°F/77°C. At any higher temperature the fat in the sausage will melt and drip out, both lowering your yield and resulting in a dry final product. Once the sausages have reached the desired internal temperature, they are then fully cooked and can be eaten immediately or cooled and stored and later steamed or gently grilled until heated through.

One of the simplest ways to prepare sausage is to cook it on a griddle or in a sauté pan. This method is especially well suited to coarse sausages or to sausages that are stuffed in sheep casings, which are more delicate than hog casings and have a greater risk of bursting on the grill. I will also occasionally cook soft sausages using this method.

Heat a pan over medium heat and add a film of oil. When the pan is hot, add the sausages.

Cook the sausages, turning them gently, until they are browned on all sides and cooked within.

Do not cut the sausage in half to check doneness, as you'll release all of the juices. Instead, insert an instant-read thermometer into the center of one link to check. For poultry sausages, the internal temperature should be 155°F/68°C. For beef, lamb, and pork sausages, cook to an internal temperature of 145°F/63°C.

In the case of soft sausages, I often add a few additional tablespoons of butter to the pan and baste the sausages with the hot fat so they cook from all sides; you can also add some sprigs of rosemary or thyme to the hot fat, which add a nice, herbal flavor.

This cooking method is excellent for sausages that have been previously poached or smoked, as it's a slow way of heating them through quickly and gently.

If I can avoid it, I prefer not to freeze sausages. But there are times, for reasons of convenience or necessity, that it makes sense to freeze them. Because the casings are delicate and can tear easily in the freezing and thawing process, I recommend first open-freezing the links
(see page 23)
on a parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Ensure that the links are not touching, then freeze until firm.

Vacuum-seal the frozen links or transfer them to a resealable plastic freezer bag—it's wise to pack the sausages in the quantities that you will later eat them, so you can pull entire packages from the freezer for thawing.

Thaw the frozen sausages in the refrigerator overnight before you cook them. Do not refreeze thawed sausages, as the quality and texture will suffer. It's very important to label sausages before they go into the freezer with the type, the date the sausages were made, and whether they are fully cooked.

Coarse sausage is the most basic type of sausage. It's a family that includes breakfast sausage as well as the Italian-style links you get at the state fair or ballpark. Boldly flavored and juicy, the pieces of fat and meat in this type of sausage remain distinct, giving the sausage a crumbly texture. For this reason, coarse-style sausage farce is often left uncased; it can be browned in a pan or formed into meatballs.

Coarse-style sausages are entry-level sausages, perfect for fledgling sausage-makers. You don't have to be terribly concerned about the amount of fat or liquid in a coarse sausage; well-marbled meat of any kind (about 75 percent lean, 25 percent fat), combined with salt, herbs, and spices, will make a good coarse sausage.

Lean meat
(about 95% lean, 5% fat)

• U.S. MEASUREMENT:
  1.80 lb
  
• GRAMS:
  817
  
• % OF TOTAL (100%):
  60.00
  

Not-so-lean meat
(about 75% lean, 25% fat)

• U.S. MEASUREMENT:
  0.90 lb
  
• GRAMS:
  409
  
• % OF TOTAL (100%):
  30.00
  

Hard fat

• U.S. MEASUREMENT:
  ¹
  /
  ₃
  cup
  
• GRAMS:
  68
  
• % OF TOTAL (100%):
  5.00
  

Liquid

• U.S. MEASUREMENT:
  ¹
  /
  ₄
  cup
  
• GRAMS:
  48
  
• % OF TOTAL (100%):
  3.50