Hot Links! (Well...sorta hot.)

Bigmista · Jul 15, 2015

We had some fresh sausage links made for the shop. We used an enhanced version of Bigmista's Perfect Pork rub for the seasoning. These are all pork links and they were really tasty but the skin didn't have that snap. Suggestions?

How do they look to you?

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Yan can Cook · Jul 15, 2015

No snap? They look like they are cooked to perfection. Did you cook them in some sort of liquid or have them in a "bath" to keep them warm? When I let brats or sausage sit in a pan with liquid or sauce the skin tends to lose that snap. I never have issues with this otherwise.

Bigmista · Jul 15, 2015

Smoked in the Vault.

Yan can Cook · Jul 15, 2015

Bigmista said:
Smoked in the Vault.

Was there a lot of moisture or humidity? I have never used a vault. My guess would be humidity/moisture. I'm no pro, so all I can do is apply what I have experienced and take a guess. I have had brats that were held in a steamer and they tasted good but had absolutely no snap. Hope this helps.

They sure do look good though!

Big George's BBQ · Jul 15, 2015

I dont know about the snap They look awfully good to me

DUBBAGA · Jul 15, 2015

Those look great. Nice color and glistening with porky fatty goodness

THoey1963 · Jul 15, 2015

I agree, they look great. No idea about the snap.

Thingfish · Jul 15, 2015

I would "snap" about 4 into my belly PDQ!

ButtBurner · Jul 15, 2015

you cooked them to too high a IT

see the fat pockets? that's the fat melting out of the sausage

I cook them cooler then put them in a cold water bath to firm them up

Clay-b-que · Jul 15, 2015

Take one and put it on the grill and cook it a little and see if you get the skin a little more done. Maybe it will snap then? Just a thought. My wife boils ours and then I throw them on the grill and that's when the snap happens for us. Also, what casing did you use? It might be too thick???

gtr · Jul 15, 2015

Did you let the casings dry before cooking them? I'm not a pro by any stretch, but I will hang the links and let the casings dry before smoking them, or I'll go ahead and hang 'em in the cooker at a lower temp, like around 130 (I think - I would need to confirm that) until the casings dry.

Once the casings dry, then bump the heat up to cooking temps and introduce the smoke. Sausages done this way need to be cured btw. Once they are done (I do them to an IT of 150 or 155) I'll throw them in an ice bath to stop the cooking.

If I have wrinkled casings on any of 'em, a quick dunk in boiling water will fix that. When it's serving time, I'll either grill or smoke 'till they look like they're close to bursting. The casings will usually have a good snap.

I hope to have some time to make some sausage at the house before the summer is over - if you want, I can give you holler and maybe you can come up when I do that.

Richard1233 · Jul 15, 2015

No snap needed if it tastes good and it looks like it tastes really good!

Bigmista · Jul 15, 2015

gtr said:
Did you let the casings dry before cooking them? I'm not a pro by any stretch, but I will hang the links and let the casings dry before smoking them, or I'll go ahead and hang 'em in the cooker at a lower temp, like around 130 (I think - I would need to confirm that) until the casings dry.

Once the casings dry, then bump the heat up to cooking temps and introduce the smoke. Sausages done this way need to be cured btw. Once they are done (I do them to an IT of 150 or 155) I'll throw them in an ice bath to stop the cooking.

If I have wrinkled casings on any of 'em, a quick dunk in boiling water will fix that. When it's serving time, I'll either grill or smoke 'till they look like they're close to bursting. The casings will usually have a good snap.

I hope to have some time to make some sausage at the house before the summer is over - if you want, I can give you holler and maybe you can come up when I do that.

These were fresh, not cured.

gtr · Jul 15, 2015

I think I'm seeing air pockets I'm seeing in the pix. If your aren't already doing it, IMO it's a good idea to get a sausage pricker and give each link a couple jabs after stuffing.

The lack of snap could be due to not having dry casings when cooking, or maybe the meat not binding to the casing.

For fresh sausage, you can hang 'em in your walk-in and let the casings dry before cooking and see how that goes.

And - just trying to be helpful here - I can aid in proper disposal of your experiments. :hungry:

Enrico Brandizzi · Jul 15, 2015

Please ALL,
can You confirm your final IT for sausage?
Is 165F too much?

Bigmista · Jul 16, 2015

I think you need to take it to at least 165 for any ground meat.

shoebe · Jul 16, 2015

what counts

Richard1233 said:
No snap needed if it tastes good and it looks like it tastes really good!

Tastes is what counts

garyk1398 · Jul 16, 2015

They look fantastic to me!

GrillsGoneWild · Jul 16, 2015

Enrico said:
Please ALL,
can You confirm your final IT for sausage?
Is 165F too much?

All the recipes that I have followed in the past say to take them out when they hit 155 and dunk them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process.

Bigmista - Through trial and error there are a couple of things I have found to get a crispy casing. Make sure to let the casings "dry" in the fridge after you have stuffed them, poke holes in the casing with a toothpick after stuffing to get the air out and to make sure not to use a water pan in a smoker. Hope that helps. The problem can also come from your holding mechanism. If you are using a CVAP, the moisture could be getting to the casing.

gtr · Jul 16, 2015

Bigmista said:
I think you need to take it to at least 165 for any ground meat.

I believe that is correct. One thing to keep in mind is in the process that involves smoking and cooling in the prep stage, then cooking and serving the sausages, the final serving temp should probably be 165, but in the first smoke (in the prep stage) if you get over 150 or 155 the pork fat will start to render and you could end up with dry sausage come serving time, so I'm guessing (again - not a pro here) that you'd hit 165 at the serving stage rather than the prep stage.

It'd be interesting to know the process of some of those Central TX spots. They somehow serve nice juicy snappy sausages all day long, and a lot of the proprietors make their own. I'd love to know how they do that.

Hot Links! (Well...sorta hot.)

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