Ground meat, fat and salt in a casing, uncured and uncooked. The fat ratio decides everything — below about 25% it comes out dry and crumbly no matter how carefully you cook it — and the two things that ruin it are heat during grinding and a fork.
Coarsely ground pork shoulder with added back fat to reach roughly 70:30 or 75:25 meat to fat, seasoned, and stuffed into natural hog casings. Regional versions differ mostly in seasoning and grind: Italian with fennel and chili, bratwurst finer with nutmeg and marjoram, British bangers with rusk as a binder, breakfast sausage with sage. Natural casings — cleaned intestine — snap when bitten and shrink with the sausage; collagen casings are more uniform and don't. Uncured, so it must be cooked through and doesn't keep like salami.
Two failure modes, both physical. Fat smear happens when the meat, grinder or hands warm above roughly 55°F: the fat softens and smears through the mix rather than staying in discrete particles, so it renders straight out during cooking and leaves a dry, crumbly sausage sitting in grease. Keeping everything at 32-35°F is the single most important variable in sausage-making. The second is the bind: salt dissolves myosin, and mixing after salting develops a sticky protein matrix that holds the fat and water in place, which is why a properly mixed sausage is juicy and an under-mixed one falls apart. Casings should be soaked and rinsed, and the sausage pricked only if you want to lose fat, which you don't.
The most reliable method — gentle heat cooks the interior evenly without bursting the casing, then a hard sear browns it.
HowSimmer gently in water or beer at 175-180°F for ten to twelve minutes to 150°F internal, then dry and sear hard in a pan for two minutes for colour. The casing stays intact.
Slower than instinct suggests, because high heat bursts the casing and renders the fat out before the middle is done.
HowMedium heat, a splash of water in the pan, covered for six to eight minutes, then uncovered and turned until browned. Total twelve to fifteen minutes to 160°F.
Direct flame the whole way splits casings and flares as fat drips; indirect cooks them through first.
HowIndirect at 350°F for twelve to fifteen minutes, then two to three minutes over direct heat to colour.
Total control of the fat ratio and seasoning, and shoulder plus back fat costs a fraction of good sausage.
HowPork shoulder and back fat at 75:25 by weight, cubed and frozen thirty minutes. Grind through a coarse plate with everything at 32-35°F. Add 1.5-2% salt and seasoning, mix hard two minutes until sticky, fry a test patty, adjust, then stuff into soaked hog casings without overpacking.
Pricking sausages is widely repeated advice and it does exactly the wrong thing. The casing is holding in fat and rendered juices, and puncturing it lets both escape into the pan — the sausage ends up drier, and the fat you paid for is on the bottom of the skillet. Casings burst because the interior is heating too fast and the water inside is turning to steam faster than it can escape; the fix is lower heat, not a hole. Which is the same root cause as the second error. High heat browns the casing and renders the fat long before the centre reaches 160°F, so you end up with a burst, dark sausage that's raw in the middle. Medium heat, or poach first and sear at the end.
Ask what the fat percentage is — good butchers know, and anything below 25% will be dry. Natural casings are worth choosing for the snap. Look for a coarse grind with visible distinct fat rather than a uniform pink paste, which suggests fat smear or heavy emulsification. Fresh sausage should smell of meat and seasoning, not sour. It's uncured, so treat it as raw meat and use within a couple of days or freeze. Butcher-made is usually far better than supermarket and often not much more expensive, since it's made from shoulder trim either way.
Doneness: 160°F internal for pork sausage, or 150°F if poaching then searing since it carries over. Poach at 175-180°F, never boiling. Fresh sausage is uncured and must be cooked through — this is not a cut where pink is acceptable.
No. The casing is retaining fat and juice, and piercing it lets both run out, giving a drier sausage and a greasy pan. Casings split when the interior heats too fast and steam builds faster than it can escape — the answer is lower heat or a gentle poach first, not a hole. The advice persists from an era of much fattier sausages cooked over open fire.
Almost always one of two things. The fat ratio was too low — under about 25% by weight there simply isn't enough. Or the fat smeared during grinding because the meat and equipment weren't cold enough, so it rendered out in the pan instead of staying suspended. Keep everything at 32-35°F, including the grinder parts, and freeze the cubed meat for thirty minutes before grinding.
Natural — cleaned hog intestine — shrink with the sausage as it cooks and give the snap people associate with a good sausage. Collagen casings are more uniform, easier to stuff and don't need soaking, but they can be slightly tough and don't have the same bite. For anything you're cooking whole, natural is worth the extra handling.