A couple o' sausage questions

TJ,
1. To allow the casing to pull up against the meat as it cools, do this slowly/gradually.

2. See above, also, you may be over cooking them or at too high a cooking temp'.
Cook them slowly to an internal of somewhere between 160 - 190 F.
Personally, I like to water poach my sausage first, then dry them of (not too dry) and smoke until the desired color/ flavor.

Joe Ames

Hi TJR,

According to Rytek Kutas, author of a very respected sausage making cookbook, the cold shower is to prevent shriveling. He also mentions that if the sausage should become shriveled that you can put it into hot water and cook it to bring it back to firmness then shower with cold water. Never tried it, but I'd be interested to know if you do.

Later-MAC

Hey Joe,

Your poaching concept intrigues me. How long do you poach your sausages before smoking? Are there certain types of sausage that you don't poach?

Thanx-MAC

Dr. Mac,

While searching for the "Holy Grail" of sausages, I rarely make batches larger than one containing one or two pounds of meat.
Also, I do them all by weight (grams).
There are literallt 1000's of sausage varieties to try, and then there is the "tweaking".
Soooo, I have pretty much standardized a base formula and procedure which includes poaching. Satisfied with that, the variations are meat combinations, grind sizes, and spice blends.
Using one pound of meat in a formula is a nice meal for two. ;-)

To answer your timing question, poach in 170 to 190 F water this range will keep the meat juices inside the casing. Cook until they float well (the specific gravity changes) I like an internal temp of 170 F.

Then I just dry them off and smoke or vacuum pack and freeze.

Joe

Pack tight, you said you do that, then let them cool submerged in a water bath. This will keep the shriveling thing away. This is how we do ours and never a wrinkle
Jon

Thanks, folks. Should be making a batch o' summer sausage in a couple weeks if the mad cow don't get me, so will try cooling in water to see how it works.