How to smoke good sausage a la rudy's?

S

Sac

25+ Posts
Living in NC, I have no access to any good smoked sausage like I used to in Austin. Most of the bbq joints out here abuse their rights of "bbq" with some of the things they serve.

Nonetheless, I can cook a helluva mean brisket but have never done sausage. What are some good recipes techniques to use, brands of sausage, etc you use to get a good smoked sausage like something I would get over at Rudy's or Salt Lick?

TIA
 
Sausage is the easiest thing to smoke and have it come out great. The hardest thing for you might be finding a decent uncooked sausage to start with (I don't know what kind of grocery stores you have in NC).

I have had great success with Hungarian sausage (from a meat market in Chicago) and Cajun sausage (andouille or Louisiana hot links) from Whole Foods. Kielbasa also works well. Basically any pork sausage could work, though I avoid using Italian sausage, because I don't think smoking goes well with the fennel flavor that is typical of an Italian sausage.

Anyway, just throw it in the pit with whatever else you are smoking. Assuming you are smoking at a temp of anywhere from about 250-300 degrees, the sausage shouldn't take longer than about 90 minutes, perhaps less. Don't worry about drying it out, good sausage has so much fat content that this is virtually impossible, unless you leave it in for a LONG time.

If you use an instant read thermometer, just pull it out when it is about 165-180 degrees.
 
Cool, thanks for the input---when it warms up a bit around here, I'll run down to Whole Foods and see what they got. Do you ever do anything (e.g. injection, seasoning, whatever) to yours before cooking or just throw it on as is?
 
Nothing. Just smoke it. Even if it is a pretty plain sausage, it will be good. If it is a good sausage, it will be excellent.
 
The ones at Central Market do better as grilled. They are cut at the ends, if you try to smoke them they will be dry.
You can get the raw Elgin Southside Mkt. links at HEB and smoke them.
Do NOT puncture the casing.
Whoops, edit due to location.
You can make your own if you have a meat grinder with some casings.
 
MrMyke:

I think Sac is in North Carolina, so Elgin is a haul.

You are definitely right that the casing needs to be knotted though, otherwise all the good stuff will ooze out.
 
Ok, this is some great stuff, thanks for the replies guy---just what I was looking for. Now, if only the weather would hurry up and change.

I miss Texas--I could go out and grill in Jan and it was 70 degrees outside. Here, trying to hold a steel smoker at a consistent 225 degrees for 12 hours when it's 35 out side? Forget about it...

Thanks again, all!
 
Sac:

You just need to nut up. I cooked a turkey on Thanksgiving and a rack of pork (along with some sausage) on Christmas Eve in weather that was less than desirable. On Christmas Eve it was probably 40 degrees with a 15-20 mph wind.

You sir, sound like a fair weather barbecue man.
 
Ha ha--nah, it's not the weather that bothers me but it's the constant up and down of the smoke temp when it's freezing outside that drives me mad. Over and hour, no big deal but if you're smoking a brisket all day, it gets old.
 
did you mean to say ruby's sausage? that would make sense. rudy's sausage? mmm, thats kind of like asking how to make a kick *** hamburger like mcdonalds. seriously though i'm pretty sure you can order uncooked sausages shipped with dry ice/vaccuum packed from and maybe both elgin places and also from coopers in llano, via overnight delivery, if you cant find something you're looking for where you are at and really want to replicate something that you're used to from here. after that, its just slow on the smoker...
 
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