Sausage Help and Advice Needed


 
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Konrad Haskins

R.I.P. 3/23/2014
There is a competition in two weeks with Sausage as a category. Sausage is "provided" but I think you can BYOS.
What type of sausage works best for BBQ? I am more than willing to make my own with a good recipe.
List of questions;
Type of sausage?
Marinade? Little difficult as it's a same day format.
Rub? if yes, dry or with mustard?
Prick the skin with a fork or not?
Natural casing better?
What temp to smoke at?
Texas Crutch AKA Foil /infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif ?
Finishing sauce or not?
Wood/meat combinations?
Internal temp/Cooking time I realize is a function of the base meat(s)and size of sausage.
Thanks,
 
Konrad
Saucage is one of the biggest crap shoots will competing. I would suggest that you remove the casing and then cook what you like and hope you can get 6 judges to agree.
Jim
 
Hi Konrad,
Yeah like Jim said and I've noticed some look
like mini meat loafs which is what sausage really is meat loaf stuffed into intestine.
I've had better "luck" with casing. But it's
really a crap shoot.
Hey Konrad it was good seeing you and
those were damn good brownies.
Congrats on the ribbons man way to go.
Thanks
John
 
Hey Konrad!

I agree about a crap shoot!! Sausage is fairly rare anymore, the only place I cook it is at Michigan. Last year took 6th and the year before 8th.

I make a fresh batch of sausage the week of the event....it takes 3 days to season(my own personal recipe for Italian sausage).

I never use casings on any of my sausages. The fear I would have of using casings is that they are too tough and will turn off a judge.

I then cook them up into small patties. I serve nothing with them except a light brushing of maple syrup.

Good Luck!
 
Konrad,
I've had a little luck with this at contests:
Before you stuff your sausages, run vinegar through the casings. Smoke them at 190 deg on Friday afternoon until the internal temp is around 155 deg. Rinse with cold water. Put them on ice overnight. Before turn-in, peel the casings off (the vinegar makes the casings stick less). Grill the sausages over med coals while brushing with honey. Keep turning and brushing til it gets thick and stickey. Then, brush with some bbq sauce towards the end.
 
Hey DB!

I must ask this question....why go thru all the trouble of casing only to remove it the next day?

Just curious.
 
Hello Stogie.
When I try to hang sausages without casings from the rod in my smoker they all fall to the bottom and it makes a hell of a mess.
No, but seriously folks, I think the casings hold in the moisture, plus I like the texture I get from a tightly packed casing (I think I'm getting aroused). The meat is more solid and slices nicely. When I've done them with wrap, it seems more like a meat loaf. I'm not fond of meat loaf, and I don't care who knows it.
 
DB.....

LOL

Always a good chuckle when reading your posts!

All those reasons make perfect sense to me. Thanks for pointing them out, DB.

Good luck this year on the trail!
 
I think with enough of the right fat sausage stays moist without a casing. Juju's Dad made some excellent very tender moist sausage that was cooked without a casing.

A very kind person who did not want their recipe posted, sent it to me via email. THANK YOU!

I bought a meat grinder for my Kitchen Aid. last week and made sausage for the first time ever. I made South African Boerewors (Farmers Sausage)and the secret Beer Sausage recipe. The Boerewors in a casing brought back great memories of my childhood, but I did not think it had a grab the judges attention flavorprint.

Our Beer sausage was cooked as patties, sprayed with apple juice and then finished with my finishing sauce (using the Jim Minion secret ingredient). It was good enough for 2nd place /infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

I'll post the Boerewors recipe to the Recipe section.
 
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