The smoking method here comes from Meathead Goldwyn of AmazingRibs.com and his page The Best Methods For Smoking And Grilling Sausages. For readers who want to make their own, the same site’s Classic Louisiana Andouille Sausage Recipe is linked below. Safety temperatures and storage times are from USDA.
First, work out what kind of sausage you have
USDA splits sausages into uncooked and ready-to-eat. Its guidance counts fresh sausage (bulk, patties or links) and smoked sausage among the uncooked kinds, while dry, semi-dry and cooked sausages are ready to eat. It lists hot dogs and cooked bratwurst among the cooked and/or smoked sausages. The label matters: if it says cook before eating or needs to be fully cooked, treat it as raw.
USDA’s numbers for uncooked sausage are:
- Sausage containing ground beef, pork, lamb or veal: 160°F (71°C)
- Sausage containing ground turkey or chicken: 165°F (74°C)
Meathead uses the 160°F figure for the sausages he smokes, adding that ground meat is riskier than whole-muscle meat and that going no higher than 160°F is better for juiciness. (Celsius conversions here are ours.)
Smoking sausages step by step
You need sausages, wood chunks, chips or pellets, and an instant-read thermometer. Meathead says he has had good results smoking Italian sausage, bangers, bratwurst, boudin blanc, chorizo, kishka, weisswurst and breakfast sausage. He usually starts with sausages that are not pre-smoked, but says polies, kielbasa and hot dogs, which are already smoked at the factory, usually taste better with a fresh coat of smoke.
- Preheat a smoker, or a grill set up for indirect (two-zone) cooking, to about 225°F (107°C).
- On a grill, put the sausages on the indirect side, then add wood to the direct-heat side after the meat goes on. Meathead’s reasoning is that cold surfaces attract smoke, so you want the smoke going while the meat is still cold.
- Do not bother turning them.
- Check the internal temperature through the end of a link with a digital thermometer and take them to at least 160°F (71°C). He says this should take no more than an hour.
Because 160°F is a pasteurization-level finish, the page says smoked sausages cooked to it will keep longer in the fridge and can also be frozen. A warning from the same page: do not try to cold smoke sausages at temperatures lower than 200°F (93°C).
Making your own cured sausage
AmazingRibs also publishes a Classic Louisiana Andouille Sausage recipe that uses curing salt (Prague Powder #1, which contains sodium nitrite). We do not reproduce its quantities here. Curing needs exact, weighed measurements, and the publisher warns that curing requires meticulous attention to detail, that you should read his curing-science article first, and that you must not use more curing salt than the recipe calls for. Follow the source page directly if you try it.
Storage
USDA’s storage chart gives these refrigerator times: fresh sausage cooked by the consumer keeps 3 to 4 days (freezer 2 to 3 months), and hot dogs and other cooked sausage keep 7 days once opened (2 weeks unopened). Uncooked fresh sausage is 1 to 2 days, opened or not. Which line applies depends on what you started with: fresh sausage you cooked yourself, or a ready-cooked sausage you only refreshed with smoke.
Keep reading
- How to Grill Sausages and Brats Without Splitting
- The Aussie Sausage Sizzle: Method, Rules and History
- Meathead’s Last Meal Ribs: Smoked Baby Back Method
- Meathead’s Georgia-Style Smoked Chicken Recipe