Cooking Italian Sausage

There are several ways to approach cooking Italian sausage - it depends on what type of sausage you are cooking and for what type of dish. Before you learn more about cooking Italian sausage, there are a few basic safety tips you should know about storing and handling sausage.



Safe Handling of Italian Sausage

Storing Sausage:

  • Put the sausage in your refrigerator as soon as you get home from the store or after preparing your own.

  • Use fresh sausage within 2 days of preparing or purchasing. If you are not going to cook your sausage immediately, it can be kept frozen in a freezer or vacuum seal bag.

  • Once you have cooked your sausage, eat it or freeze it within 4 days.

    • Preparing: Before learning how to cook Italian sausage, you should be aware of the following safety in preparation rules.

  • Pork in the U.S. is much cleaner than it used to be but there is still some danger of a parasite, Trichinella spiralis, in undercooked pork. Be sure to fully cook sausage.

  • To be sure your sausage is done, the internal temperature should reach at least 165ºF and there should be no pink.

  • Never defrost sausage on your counter. Defrost slowly in your refrigerator or use your microwave on defrost setting. Cook immediately after microwave defrosting.

  • Be sure to carefully wash your hands after handling raw meat before you touch anything – especially fresh foods like vegetables.

  • Either use a separate cutting board fro you meat and vegetables, or thoroughly wash then sanitize your cutting board after cutting raw meat. A tablespoon of bleach will kill the germs, then thoroughly rinse the board.

  • Refrigerate your sausage within 2 hours of cooking.

    • Cooking Italian Sausage


    Cooking Italian Sausage - Bulk Sausage:

  • It is easiest to cook bulk sausage is in a large skillet on your stove. Use a non-stick skillet, especially for low-fat sausage, or lightly coat or spray the pan with oil first to prevent sticking.

  • Cook the sausage over a medium-high heat. You don’t want to cook the sausage too quickly.

  • There isn't much to know about how to cook Italian sausage when it is in bulk. You cook it in the same way as browning ground beef. You can use a large flat-edged wooden spoon to break up the meat and stir while cooking. Make sure all of the sausage turns a nice brown and there are no pink spots inside any of the clumps of meat. Sausage cooks quickly this way and should be done in about 5 - 10 minutes depending upon how much sausage you are cooking and the temperature you use.

    • Cooking Italian Sausage - Link Sausages:

  • Sausage links can be fried in a skillet, baked, poached or grilled. There is no one right way to cook sausage; each method has its own advantages but there are some general rules.

  • Cook sausages slowly to ensure their skins do not burst. Intact skins are needed to hold in the juices and keep your sausage links moist.

  • Do not pierce the skins before cooking as this will allow the fat and juices to drain and lose moisture. The dripping fat on a grill can also cause flames to flare up and burn the outside of your sausage.
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    Cooking Italian Sausage - Other Methods...

    Frying:

  • It is easiest to use a large nonstick skillet to prevent sticking. Even with the nonstick skillet, you may want to coat it lightly with a cooking spray.

  • Another method is to add a little water and cook the links covered.

  • Do not cook over more than medium-high heat. High heat will cook the sausages too quickly causing the skins to burst and blacken the outside before the meat inside is cooked through. Slower is better. You can use a low heat and leave the sausages to slowly cook unattended, turning every 10 minutes or so. This method can take an hour or more, but if you have the time it will produce a moist, flavorful sausage.

  • Make sure you use kitchen tongs to turn the sausages while cooking to prevent piercing the skin.

  • To test if they are done, cut one of the links in half and check the center for pinkness and touch to see if heated through. To be completely safe, use a meat thermometer. Links are done when internal temperature is at least 165° F.
    • Baking:
  • Baking can dry out your sausage, so you will want to baste them while cooking or use a marinade and bake them with some liquid.

  • Preheat oven to 200° - you don’t want to bake them at a high temperature.

  • Put the sausage links in a baking pan and bake in until the internal temperature reaches 165°F. This should take between 30 – 45 minutes.
    • Poached:
  • Sausages can be poached until done and then eaten, or poached to precook them before grilling or frying.

  • Poaching is not the same as boiling. Put the sausages in a pot with water or other liquid (beer can add flavor) that is just simmering.

  • Poach the sausages for about 10 minutes to prepare them for the grill. If you don’t plan to grill or fry them, test one of the poached links for doneness after about 30 minutes.
    • Grilling:

  • Grilling adds a wonderful flavor to sausages and is a favorite cooking method especially in the summer.

  • You can grill raw sausage links, but poaching the first will make grilling easier and ensure they are cooked through and not burned on the outside. Do not pierce the skins. This will release the fat and juices and create flame flare-ups that will burn the sausage and dry out the inside.

  • Cook over a low flame using a gas grill, and cook slowly to prevent the skins from bursting. For a charcoal grill, wait until the charcoal has some white ash and is not too hot.

  • You can cook with your grill’s lid down to heat the sausages through.
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    Make Your own Sausage

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