How to Tell if Sausage is Cooked?

One of the most versatile facts about sausage is that you can use different kinds of meat to prepare it. But the question remains, how to tell if sausage is cooked? Find the details about it here.

How to tell if sausage is cooked?

Sausage is one of the most versatile and delicious foods you can ever request. Not only does it taste great and can be made using different kinds of meat, but it can also be eaten in various ways as well.  You can have it with a cocktail, as a snack, as pizza toppings, in salads, and in many more ways.

You may have often come across the fact that the cooking instructions do not clearly mention how to tell if sausage is cooked. This is a concern because how can we find out if it is safe to eat?

The temperature for cooked sausage

When the internal temperature of a cooked sausage is 160F, you should know that the sausage has been cooked. You can remove them from the heat and let them rest for about 3 minutes. It shall continue to be cooked for more and retain its moisture. But what if the internal temperature of the sausage has gone above 160F? in such a case, you shall find that the fat content in the sausage starts dripping off, making it dry. It shall not taste good to eat.

To avoid this issue, cook the sausages at a low temperature for longer. Just before taking it out, you can increase the flame to give it that nice golden-brown texture. If you are new to cooking, then using a probe thermometer to check the sausage’s temperature shall be the best thing to do.

Sausage Meat	Minimum Internal Temperature	Resting Time
Beef sausage	160°F (71.1°C)	3 minutes
Pork sausage	160°F (71.1°C)	3 minutes
Pork and beef sausage	160°F (71.1°C)	3 minutes
Chicken sausage	165°F (73.8°C)	3 minutes
Game sausage	165°F (73.8°C)	3 minutes
Turkey sausage	165°F (73.8°C)	3 minutes
Wildfowl sausage	165°F (73.8°C)	3 minutes

Difference between a good and a bad sausage

There are two factors that result in bad sausage. First is the incorrect method of cooking the sausage. Each type of sausage has a different temperature to cook. And the second factor is incorrect seasoning. Sausages basically come in two categories, fresh and cured. Fresh sausages are made from uncured meat. While the cured sausages have either been salted or smoked before being sold. These two varieties of sausage are made from different cuts of meat, mostly pork. But of course, you can surely find sausages having other types of meat as well. There is vegetarian sausage as well. To pack the meat, natural or synthetic casings are used as well.

Normally cooking sausage does not require much time, and most people love having the simple version of this meat. But cooking the perfect sausage requires a little skill so that the color of the skin comes perfectly well, along with the meat being cooked properly. Just like you cannot have an undercooked sausage, the same way you cannot enjoy eating an overcooked sausage well.  The texture of an overcooked sausage becomes very rubbery and loses its taste as well.

Just how you prepare steaks is the same way care must be given to sausage. It must be cooked at the right temperature so that it remains juicy in the center, nice and moist, having a golden-brown cover.

How to cook sausage without splitting?

There are many ways of doing so. But one of the easiest ways to do so is to boil it at first for twenty minutes. If the sausage is thick, then you should boil it a little longer. Boiling cooks the meat inside the cover of the sausage. And so, it keeps the skin intact. Then sear the outer portion of the sausage in a hot skillet using very little olive oil. This shall turn the texture of the sausage into a beautiful brown color, cooking them perfectly without splitting. Using this way, you can even pre-prepare grilled sausage. To add more flavor to it, you may try adding herbs, garlic, or even beer to the water.

Another way of adding more flavor to the sausage is by marinating and resting it overnight. Make a mixture using ginger, garlic, honey, soy sauce, vinegar, chilies, black pepper, salt, and sugar. Marinate the sausage with it, keeping it overnight.  Then you can grill them perfectly before eating.