How To Cook Sausage Links Perfectly

A perfectly cooked sausage is a thing of beauty; juicy on the inside, evenly browned on the outside with a casing that snaps and pops when you bite into it. In my previous life I was a professional sausage maker and a chef. House-made sausages were heavily featured on my restaurant menus in all of their various forms: bulk sausage, smoked links, poached and roasted links, etc. I have taught dozens of restaurant cooks how to cook the perfect sausage and now I am happy to share my knowledge with you:

Types of Sausages

When you buy sausages at the store, they come in 4 varieties:

• Raw/ Fresh Sausage Links
• Poached (Fully Cooked) Sausage Links
• Smoked (Fully Cooked) Sausage Links
• Bulk Sausage

Raw/Fresh Sausage Links

These sausages are minimally processed. Fresh/raw sausage has a shorter shelf life than poached or smoked sausages (though modern packaging technology has greatly increased it). An open package of raw sausage should be used within 3-5 days.

These sausages can be smoked, grilled, pan-fried or roasted directly, or they can be poached first and then grilled, pan-fried or roasted. Why take the extra step of poaching first? Because it makes it easier to attain a perfectly cooked sausage via the other methods and you don’t have to deal with raw meat at the time you are serving it.

At the restaurant, we always poach our sausage links first so we didn’t have raw meat on our pantry station during service, the same station that makes salads and desserts. If you’re taking sausages camping or storing them in a cooler at a BBQ, I prefer to poach them first to minimize the amount of raw meat that could potentially contaminate the other food when stored at questionable cooler temperatures.

How To Poach a Raw Sausage

This is my foolproof method for poaching raw sausages. Note this is for poaching, not boiling. There is a difference.

1. Bring a relatively large pot of SALTED water (or beer, or broth) to a boil. You want enough liquid that the temperature doesn’t drop too much when you add your sausages. For example, 2 quarts of water is good for a pack of 4 sausages. You want the water salted because salt seeks equilibrium. If the water is not salted, all the salt in your sausages will leach out into the water.
2. Put your sausages in the water, turn OFF the burner, cover the pot, and set a timer for 30 minutes.
3. Remove the sausages and drain in a colander.
4. If you plan to eat these at a later time, dunk them in ice water to cool quickly.

If you use this method, you will never overcook and split your sausages. Once your sausages are poached, they can be stored for up to a week in your fridge and pan-fried, roasted, or grilled to reheat and dry out the casing for that nice snap. Or you can peel the casings off, slice the links into coins, brown them in a skillet and add them to omelets, beans, soups, sauces, and so on. Or you can leave the casing on, slice into coins and roast in the oven and use the same way.

The casing on poached sausages tends to be rubbery and chewy because it is very hydrated. If you are adding poached sausage coins to a soup or a pot of beans with the casing still on, it might come off the sausage into your pot and then you would end up with pieces of rubbery loose casing floating around – not ideal. However, if you roast the coins in the oven first, the dry heat dries out the casing and you won’t have the same issue.

How To Pan Fry Raw Sausages

Pan-frying raw sausages is not my preferred method as you still tend to end up with a rubbery casing and it’s easy to overcook them. But if you are going to use this method, this is how I would do it:

1. Pull your sausages out of the fridge and let them come up to room temperature. This will take about 30-60 minutes.
2. Heat your pan over low heat.
3. Add a little bit of butter or oil to the pan. Then add the sausages.
4. Cook them gently in the pan, turning every couple minutes.
5. When they are firm to the touch and start to plump up, you can turn the heat up to brown the outside for a couple of minutes. If juices start pouring out of the sausages they are done, probably even overdone
6. Let them rest for a couple of minutes before eating them.

How To Grill or Roast Raw Sausages

These dry-heat cooking methods are the best for sausages. When done correctly, it results in a snappy casing and perfectly cooked sausage meat.

The biggest mistake people make when grilling sausages is using too high of heat. People often grill a lot of different things at once and steaks and vegetables generally are best with high heat and a short amount of cooking time. Raw sausages on the grill need to be cooked at a much lower heat or they will burn, sputter liquid fat that causes flare-ups, and split open. 350 F max is what you are going for, better at 300. A lot of the time we cook steaks at 450 F. So when cooking raw sausages on the grill, do so on medium-low heat or find the cool spot on the grill or put on the elevated rack if you have one.

The same goes for the oven. 250-300 F is the temperature you want to use to cook raw sausages. If you cook raw sausages too fast they will be undercooked in the middle and overcooked on the outside.

Whether using the grill or your oven, turn the sausages occasionally while cooking them. When the sausage starts to plump up, the casings are glossy with fat slowly escaping the sausage (but not squirting out), and the sausages are firm to the touch, they are done.

I recommend using a probe thermometer like this Thermoprobe…. at least until you get the hang of it. I use probe thermometers all the time for whole chickens, turkeys, and every large roast.

How To Smoke Raw Sausages

Smoked sausages are typically sliced into coins and added to other dishes like gumbo or baked beans or sliced and eaten cold, although I have definitely grilled up a kielbasa or andouille on many occasions to eat on a bun with mustard and grilled onions.

Smoking Sausages at a low temperature dehydrates the casings and if reheated at a really low temperature again (under 300 F), the casings may be tough to bite through. This can be a problem if you are using a campfire or charcoal grill with less control. You can score the casing with x’s all down them to make it easier or to bite through them,

To smoke raw sausages:

1. Leave your sausages uncovered in the fridge for at least 1 day to develop a pellicle (this helps them absorb smoke flavor).
2. Pull your sausages out of the fridge and let them come up to room temperature. This will take about 30-60 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, preheat your smoker to the “Smoke” setting, typically around 180 F, based on the manufacturers instructions. I use a Traeger Smoker and Grill and highly recommend them.
4. Put your sausages on the grill and smoke until your probe thermometer reads 160 F, or keep an eye out for the same doneness cues listed above: plump sausages, glossy casings, firm to the touch.
5. If you are smoking sausages to use at a later time, quickly cool them in ice water for a couple of minutes. This will keep them from shriveling up and becoming unattractive when they cool.

Cooked Sausage Links

If you are cooking sausages that have already been poached or smoked you have some options:

1. Slice them, brown them in a skillet and add them to beans, soups, scrambled eggs, pasta, jambalaya, gumbo, etc.
2. Reheat them in the oven, skillet or grill until they reach an internal temperature of 140-160 F.

Bulk Sausage

Bulk sausage is a versatile ingredient that can be used in sauces, soups, stuffings, scrambles, or formed into patties and pan fried.