Place the links onto your cutting board and slice them diagonally at a 45-degree angle. This type of cut will help your sausages to sear perfectly when cooking, and it also adds an interesting touch to the presentation.
Check if your sausages are cooked by cutting into one in the middle. If the meat is firm it's ready, but if it's still pink and soft, it needs more time. Thickly slicing sausages before cooking can reduce cooking time.
Let them cool for 5 minutes minimum, 10 if you can manage to wait that long.
While most sausage lovers will cook a sausage in its casing, there are times when the casings can be removed. Removing a sausage casing gives you access to the deliciousness inside, allowing you to use the filling for other recipe ideas.
As Standing says, "That casing is holding in all of the juices and fats and all the stuff you want in there." Scoring the sausage not only allows the fat to escape, that lost fat can cause flare-ups which will char your sausage on the outside before the inside is completely cooked.
Place the links onto your cutting board and slice them diagonally at a 45-degree angle. This type of cut will help your sausages to sear perfectly when cooking, and it also adds an interesting touch to the presentation.
Traditionally the sausage knife has a serrated blade which makes it very effective in cutting slices of sausage.
Poking holes in your sausage will not only let a good deal of the juices and fat escape, resulting in a dry sausage, but this technique will also diminish the sausage's flavor. Good Food notes that if you're concerned about your sausages splitting or exploding, it's important to cook them over a low heat.
Cooking Sausage in a Pan
The sausage packaging recommended pan-frying it one of two ways—either by cutting the sausage into 1-inch medallions or cutting the rope in half for an even crisp.
Butterflying is the process of splitting a piece of meat (like a whole chicken or leg of lamb) down the middle but not all the way through, then opening it like a book and flattening it into a single layer.
If you cook the sausages for too long or allow too much to drain, it will cause your sausages to become dry and brittle, falling apart.
Using water to cook to cook your sausage will allow it to cook more evenly, as the hot water will more thoroughly penetrate the interior of the sausage. Fill a saucepan with enough water to cover your sausages, then bring it to a boil.
So, let's get into the many benefits of hanging meat and answer the question of Why do butchers hang meat. The simple answer is, that enzymes in the meat make the muscle fibres softer and more elastic. Which, ultimately, leads to a more tender cut that is easier to chew and generally more palatable than harder meat.
Add at least 1 oz. of water per pound of meat to aid in the stuffing process. This aid in mixing the meat with the seasoning and will ease the stress put on the gears of your meat mixer and sausage stuffer.
Fill skillet with enough water to reach a quarter of the way up sides of sausages. Simmer, covered, until sausages are cooked through and water evaporates, 10 to 15 minutes. (If sausages have cooked through but water has not evaporated, uncover, and continue to cook until water evaporates.)
Putting holes in the sausage will allow the liquid inside the sausage to leak out during cooking, and the sausage will be less moist. It is sometimes said that puncturing sausage before grilling will keep the casing from bursting, but a better solution to this problem is to cook over low to medium heat.
That said, the rules of cooking meat still apply to sausages: You do not want to overcook them. Here's what's going on inside your sausage as it cooks: Under 120°F (48.9°C): The meat is still considered raw. Eat your sausage now and it'll taste more wet and mushy than juicy and bouncy.
It's really up to personal preference. If you like a coarse, chunky sausage then once should be enough. If you prefer a smoother sausage, then you probably want to grind it twice. If you want to grind twice, you can firstly grind with a coarse, ⅜” plate, then a smaller ¼” plate or finer 3/16” plate second.
At 400 degrees Fahrenheit in an oven, sausage takes between 10-45 minutes to cook fully. Thin slices or patties may cook in just 10 minutes, while thicker links can take up to 45. Regardless of the meat's thickness, you should turn the sausage every 10 minutes so it cooks evenly.