Food - Drink
Mistakes Everyone Makes With Sausage
By CRAWFORD SMITH
Raw Or Cooked?
Since some recipes call for pre-cooked sausages and others ask for raw ones, pay attention to what you buy at the store. Using cooked and raw sausages interchangeably can negatively impact the cooking process and your final dish.
Leaning Towards Lean
Buying meat products that contain less fat is tempting, but sausage needs fat to add flavor, hold the structure together, and prevent the meat from drying out when cooking. Sausages might be the exception to lean meat being better.
High Temperatures
Just like other meats, sausages taste great with a nice char, but too much heat can melt away the sausages' fat and/or cause the casings to burst. Instead, cook at low or medium temperatures for a better outcome.
Pricking The Skin
While pricking sausage with a fork before cooking is a common practice, this can cause fat and moisture to drip out of the meat. If you’re worried about your links combusting on the grill, just watch your cooking temperature.
Cutting Spiral Sausage
What sets Italian spiral sausage apart is the long, ropy shape, in contrast to individual links. You may be tempted to cut up spiral sausage before cooking, but doing so will prevent it from becoming juicy and cause it to dry out.