cooking my sausages
Sausages are a comfort food for me, not something to go all fancy about. I like to keep things simple. I either boil, stew or pan-fry them, or give them a combination treatment.
I have experimented once with Deep-frying Sausages and abandoned that idea forever because I didn't care for the result. Baking and grilling are two possibilities that I haven't really explored for sausages.
To reduce the risk of food-borne diseases or parasites, I always cook sausages throughout, even the ones that claim to be fully cooked already.
With Italian-type sausages that have a lot of fat, it can take up to 30 minutes to get the center well done. That means I start over high heat to get some brown skin, then lower the heat and simmer quietly to give them time to cook without burning. I'll sometimes cut the sausage in shorter pieces, in thin slices or butterfly them lengthwise to speed things up.
Because they take such a long time to cook, my sausages often end up as a stew. I start out pan-frying and after 15 minutes or so, I add potatoes and/or vegetables and life goes on as a 1-skillet stew.
All sausages shown on this page—except for Pic2—started out as pan-fried, then moved on to being stewed. Still, it is possible to pan-fry, grill, roast those sausages too. I hardly ever do it, hence no pictures.
1. boil
Pic1 a:
boiling wieners a.o. mystery meat sausages, 5-8 minutes - internet picturePic1 b: served with sauerkraut
2. stew:
optional: boil and/or pan-fry sliced sausage first
Pic2 a:
optional: pan-frying sliced sausage, 10 minutes for thin slices - internet picturePic2 b: stewing kielbasa after pan-frying, 20 minutes after frying, served in sauerkraut
3. pan-fry - 3 methods:
1. whole sausages:
Pic3 a: pan-frying / stewing whole 30 minutesPic3 b: served whole
- One big question: Do you poke holes in the sausage skin to let the fat out or not?
- If you do, the sausages will be leaner and dryer.
- If you don't, be careful. The hot content will be under pressure and melted fat can squirt out when you cut the sausage.
2. sausages halved lengthwise:
Pic4 a: pan-frying / stewing halved sausages 20 minutesPic4 b: served halved
- This is an optional continuation from previous.
- To avoid having to cook forever, I may butterfly the sausage lengthwise after 8-10 minutes and then fry flat sides down for extra browning points. That reduces the remaining cooking time by half.
- You should wait until the sausage is mostly heated through. If you try this right away, the sausage may well fall apart.
3. sliced sausages:
Pic5 a: pan-frying / stewing sliced, 10 minutes - internet picture
Pic5 b: served sliced
- This happens most often with pre-cooked sausages that keep their shape better. The skin of raw sausages tends to shrink more than the meat, and some of the meat may be pushed out of the skin.
- When the sausages are done, I usually add other things and turn this into a stew.
However, that is not required. You can serve the sausages like that.
4. grill, BBQ, roast:
Yes, it can be done. I rarely do it; still boil them before grilling them.
2020-03-27
Pic6 a: before cookingPic6 b: after cooking
Pic6 c: grilled sausage served, rhubarb compote, creamed spinach
2020-04-11
Pic7 a: cheddar jalapeno sausages, boudin on the grillPic7 b+c: served with applesauce