Link sausage question

[Ol Dad]

I buy link sausage (raw) from a store near me and it is real good as far as flavor and texture. I smoke it on the pit 2hrs. at 225 and it comes out just right every time....EXECPT for the fact that the casing is a little tough and at times its like tryin to eat celephane. The people who make it said it was all natural casing so there must be a trick I can do to it to soften it up when I take it off the pit.

Mesquite Country? betcha you know

[Bowanta]

Try rubbing it down before you cook it with some Vegetable Oil. The Natural Casing will dry out and become hard to chew/tough.
This is what I do with the fresh sausage I have when I cook it on the grill or smoker

[Casey]

Seems 225 might be a little hot for smoking it. That might contribute to the drying out/toughness of the casing.

[mesquitecountry]

generally it's over cooking actually the act of over drying like casey said.

To smoke sausage you need to do it at about 120-130 degrees. meat has a hard time excepting smoke after about 135-140 degrees internally. Once you're sausage becomes fully cooked around 165 degrees you will not get any other color and will only absorb a minimal amount of smoke flavor.

If you're smoking at about 225 for two hours most likely you are completely cooked within 45 minutes. So the rest of the time you are just drying it out and turning it in to a rubber filled sock! No offense..

If you want to cook fresh sausage do it fast and put it near the smoke box. Smoke and cook within about 20-30 minutes at about 275.

Another thing that could effect this is the casings that you are using. If you're using cheap natural casings then they will be thick and chewy. Casings come in many various thicknesses and diameters. Cheap equals not good stuff. Beef collagen casing can be very tough if you over dry it.

Okay enough rambling. Does that help?

[Ol Dad]

Thanks so much for your input

Thanks, I will have to do some more R&D on this sausage. I cannot contol the casing but I can work with the product till I get it right.I just ordered a top end meat therm. so I can get an acurate reading on my briskets and other stuff.[Thermapen]
I am like you in that I am a hobby cook and I will work on some thing till I get right. The store is not far away so and the sausage is not expensive so I can screw some up till I perfect it. Besides they make some top shelf boudain there so it's a twofold trip over there. Any bad sausage goes in the freezer for red beans&rice or jambalaya.
Love those recipes by the way,my customers love them at the nascar parties.

[mesquitecountry]

glad i can help ol dad. I dont like anyone to eat substandard sausage!

[Grillen Joe]

I like to boil my link sausage in coke before I grill them. I know it sounds crazy but thats how I like to cook zumo links. When almost done I bast with BBQ sauce till its all cooked to the link. I think the sugar in the coke helps make the casing tinder.

[eradicator]

We soak them in "big boy soda". I sure hate wasting the beer, but it makes the sausage OUTSTANDING.

[mesquitecountry]

it's actually the acid in the soda not the sugars grillen joe.

[Ol Dad]

Idea...

Could I let them sit in Coke or Pepsi in the fridge....maybe 3hrs.?
Then put them on the pit.
How long would the soda bath take before it would be too long?
Good question,time for some R&D and Crown & water.

[PEC]

I think you need them to define "all natural" even synthetic casings will be made from "all natural" products.

[mesquitecountry]

ol dad,

the soda bath will be good for a couple of hours. but it wont break down the casing like you're thinking. intestine's are very tough body parts. They can withstand the acid in your stomach so a soda of with a pH around 4.5 really wont do that much. It will help some but not a life saver. just dont over dry/cook it.

[teamfirstcast]

Guys, I'm no expert but am learning and it seems we are talking about two different processes... Smoking and cooking! MC is right on about the smoking temp (120-130f) and that is only for applying smoke flavor to fresh links that have been made with "meat cure (pink)". The smoking process does not fully cook the links and they are "cooked" at a later time bringing the internal temp up to about 160'. Buying fresh links at the market are prob not made with "pink cure" and should be fully cooked with whatever method you want as long as the temp quickly gets up to about 160' internal to prevent problems. From the 1st post, I would say you are over cooking them and that makes the casing too tough. When they swell and bubble and sizzle inside they are done, right MC?

[Grillen Joe]

I never thought about the acid but it makes sence. I boil my links till there plump then throw them on the grill. Learned it from the cajuns in the beaumont area.

[mesquitecountry]

yes that is correct firstcast. fresh link sausage has no cure in it whatsoever. I prefer fresh links. The flavor is much better than cured products. Something in the cure changes the flavor IMO.

Smoked sausage should definitely be cooked to 165 degrees internally after smoking. DO NOT SMOKE TO 130 and then pull them off! You will be putting your family at risk for e coli, listeria, and clostridium perfringens (explosive diarrhea) If you only cook to 130 and then chill it back down the bacteria in the meat (that are always and will always be there) will grow and reproduce like crazy. So even if you do everything right and if you dont fully cook smoked sausage then you can still have a chance for an illness. Cure will kill the clostridium but you have to take it to 145+ degrees to activate the sodium nitrite. I could go on for about an hour on how all this works with protein structure and crosslinking and nitrite nitrate conversion but I'll spare yall.

Always cook sausage to 165 degrees. If it's fresh you'll know it's cooked if the center is grey.


If it's smoked sausage you can cook it till the casing gets nice and shiny right before it busts. That's how I know it's ready. But always cook to 165.