jeffjenkins1
Babbling Farker
Seeing Barbefunkoramaque's thread about old school boxes and looking at that sausage has me wanting to make some good smoked sausage.
Anyone got a good recipe?
Jeff
Anyone got a good recipe?
Jeff
Need a good smoked Sausage Recipe
- Thread starter jeffjenkins1
- Start date
I'm guessing that you aren't interested in bratwurst, kielbasa or Italian sausages, but rather want a BBQ joint type of sausage......I would recommend Bigwheels Genuine Texas Hot Links. Now you can see what I was talking about in Barbefunkoramaque's thread, when I mentioned how perfectly cooked those links he showed really were. I grind mine coarse and cook them slow so they swell up first, then I adjust the pit temp so they only sweat, but don't ever spit and never split. I like to make rings better than links.
Now, I have seen slight variations to this classic hot link recipe, the most common is to go with all pork instead of the 2# of beef & some call for a cup of beer instead of a bottle. I use a whole bottle but only mix some into the cut meat before grinding. The remainder I mix into the meat after grinding. Then I let it sit in the beer fridge overnight before stuffing or wrapping in bulk. This lets all of the moisture get absorbed and the flavors blend. This does have some heat, use your own judgement on the red pepper and cayenne. For some reason, fatties or hand-rolled links are not as hot as stuffed links. I guess some of the fat rendering out takes some heat with it.
Anyways, here is the original recipe
Now, I have seen slight variations to this classic hot link recipe, the most common is to go with all pork instead of the 2# of beef & some call for a cup of beer instead of a bottle. I use a whole bottle but only mix some into the cut meat before grinding. The remainder I mix into the meat after grinding. Then I let it sit in the beer fridge overnight before stuffing or wrapping in bulk. This lets all of the moisture get absorbed and the flavors blend. This does have some heat, use your own judgement on the red pepper and cayenne. For some reason, fatties or hand-rolled links are not as hot as stuffed links. I guess some of the fat rendering out takes some heat with it.
Anyways, here is the original recipe
Bigwheel's World Famous Genuine Texas Hotlinks
5 pounds boston butt
2 pounds lean beef
1 bottle cold beer
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole anise seeds
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground thyme
6 teaspoons Mortons Tender Quick
1 teaspoon MSG
2 pounds lean beef
1 bottle cold beer
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole anise seeds
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground thyme
6 teaspoons Mortons Tender Quick
1 teaspoon MSG
Mix all the spices, cure, and garlic into the beer and place in refrigerator while you cut up the meats into grinder sized pieces. Dump the spiced beer on the cut meat and mix it up good. Run spiced meat mixture through the grinder coarse or medium plate and stuff into medium hog casings. Smoke or slow grill till they are done. Wrap in a piece of bread and slap on the mustard heavy. Wash it down with ice cold beer.
jeffjenkins1
Babbling Farker
Man, that looks like a great recipe. You were correct, I am looking for a good BBQ type sausage.
Jeff
Jeff
Well, the purpose of the Tenderquick is to extend the safety zone for lower temp cooks (but it also changes the color and texture slightly, and I think keeps the meat moist). The lower the better on the pit temp, but the real key is an even cook. Even as high as 250° will work. Bigwheel calls it "slow grilling". Think of it as trying to sneak up on the finish temp, instead of getting there quicker like you do when grilling a link over a hot fire.
If you can keep the internal temp of the sausage less than 175° it will be much less greasy. The one thing you will notice with low temp smoking, the casing will look great when it comes off the pit, but sometimes it will wrinkle as the sausage cools or if you get a pinhole leak (a squirter). Flavor wise, the wrinkles are no big deal and if you are smoking enough to have leftover, you can use a spray bottle of water and mist it before it cools on its own. See that one in the back row? That's what I mean.
I built a mini ring for my drum but I'm sure you could take a big coffee can, cut the bottom out and drill some air holes in the sides and get a similar effect until you build a mini ring. They are really handy for smoking fish. Or you could go with a water pan on the lower rack, but that defeats the design of the drum.
jeffjenkins1
Babbling Farker
Man Third-I is there anything you don't know concerning meat?
Thanks again, going out to get the ingredients today. Might smoke them tomorrow.
Jeff
Thanks again, going out to get the ingredients today. Might smoke them tomorrow.
Jeff
yelonutz
is one Smokin' Farker
Jeff, since you asked for recipes and only got one, here are some I use when I don't get lazy and use a kit. :icon_blush:
NUTZ
http://www.wwf5.com/stuffers.com/content/recipes/sausrecp.pdf
NUTZ
http://www.wwf5.com/stuffers.com/content/recipes/sausrecp.pdf
yelonutz
is one Smokin' Farker
jeffjenkins1
Babbling Farker
Thanks Nutz, I appreciate it!
Jeff
Jeff
That is a good collection and the hot link they have there sounds good too. I clipped it and posted it below. I've always had a problem with keeping sausages with beef as moist as I want them, so I usually whight them heavier with pork. Bigwheel's is that way, heavier with pork.
Otis Boyd’s Famous Hot Link Sausage
2 1/2 lb ground pork (shoulder cut)
2 1/2 lb ground beef (brisket, round, or sirloin)
2 t dried sage
2 t crushed red pepper
2 t paprika
2 t ground cumin
2 t dried sweet basil
2 t anise seed
2 t dried oregano
Dash salt and ground black pepper
Mix the meats with the spices. For sausage links, attach 2 1/4-inchsausage casings to the stuffer nozzle on a hand meat grinder. Stuff the casings to the desired length, cut the links, and secure the ends with
string.
Barbecue at 225 deg F for 2 hours or slow-smoke at 185deg F for 4 hours.
For sausage patties, form the meat mixture into a roll and cover with wax paper. Slice the roll into patties and peel off the wax paper. Patties can be fried or grilled.
2 1/2 lb ground beef (brisket, round, or sirloin)
2 t dried sage
2 t crushed red pepper
2 t paprika
2 t ground cumin
2 t dried sweet basil
2 t anise seed
2 t dried oregano
Dash salt and ground black pepper
Mix the meats with the spices. For sausage links, attach 2 1/4-inchsausage casings to the stuffer nozzle on a hand meat grinder. Stuff the casings to the desired length, cut the links, and secure the ends with
string.
Barbecue at 225 deg F for 2 hours or slow-smoke at 185deg F for 4 hours.
For sausage patties, form the meat mixture into a roll and cover with wax paper. Slice the roll into patties and peel off the wax paper. Patties can be fried or grilled.
Kevin
Quintessential Chatty Farker
I've made that one. Just looked at my notes. It says to leave out the anise. It makes sense, I don't care much for anise.
jeffjenkins1
Babbling Farker
I wish I could find a place around here that sells the kits. I might look more to the butcher shops.
Jeff
Jeff
jeffjenkins1
Babbling Farker
The closest one is two hours away! Sometimes I get a taste for something and just want to go out and buy it..........you know what I mean?
Jeff
Yeah, me either. Well, in some older sausage recipes, especially European ones (and more specifically Italian ones), a reference to anise is really a reference to fennel.
Sausage basics have not changed for hundreds of years, and it is found in most every culture in one form or another, but the translation of ingredients is not always accurate. HERE is some backup on this.
Kevin
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Yeah, me either. Well, in some older sausage recipes, especially European ones (and more specifically Italian ones), a reference to anise is really a reference to fennel.
Good insight. I do use Fennel seed in Italian sausage. Used to leave it out because I didn't care much for the flavor. Then I learned to gently toast it to bring out the oil, and more importantly fragrance of it. The difference is like night and day. Much like store bought ground cumin versus fresh roasted cumin seeds.
Thanks,
Kevin
