How To Cook Sausage

Learn how to cook sausage easily and effortlessly for juicy golden brown results. Find out how easy it is to cook fried, grilled or bulk sausage for a quick enjoyable meal.

Grilling Links

There are not many foods that don’t taste absolutely delicious when grilled and sausage is right in there with the best of other grilling meats. Most people enjoy grilling outdoors in the summer rather than heating up the kitchen.

Sausage links can be grilled raw on either a gas or charcoal grill. Care needs to be taken when grilling raw sausage because there are more flare ups with uncooked fat and they may burn more easily.

The preferred method for grilling links is to poach them before hand so they are partially cooked and won’t flare up as much with excess juices and fat hitting the grill. This helps to ensure more of a thorough cooking process and reduces the chance of burning or splitting.

Don’t pierce the skins with a fork or knife; use a pair of tongs to turn them as needed. Cook over a very low flame, turn often; serve hot with your favorite side dishes.

Frying

One method for frying sausage is to cook the sausage in a large skillet that is preferably nonstick; coating the pan with cooking spray may also be necessary to prevent sticking. Another method is to use an electric skillet with cooking spray to save calories or place a couple of pats of margarine in the pan.

In either case warm the pan up to a medium setting, certainly not over medium high heat. The key to cooking sausage is to never push too much heat to quickly; a gentle even heat is the best cooking method. Slow cooking can be done on a low setting turning the sausages about every 10 minutes for even cooking and they should brown nicely and remain juicy and tender.

Bulk Sausage

Place the sausage in a nonstick pan on a medium setting in an electric skillet or on the stove. Use a plastic utensil (to prevent scratching) stirring frequently. Break up the sausage and cook until the meat is done with no pink spots. The more sausage in the pan the longer the cooking time; generally cooks within 10 minutes or less.

Tips

Sausage should be stored in the refrigerator immediately after purchasing. Cook it within two days of purchase or freeze.

The best way to be assured that sausage is thoroughly cooked is to check for pink color in the center; needs more cooking time if still pink. A meat thermometer should read 165°F when done.

Cooked sausage should be frozen or eaten within four days of cooking. Ideally defrost frozen sausage slowly in the refrigerator and not on the counter.

Learning how to cook sausage is not very difficult provided it is cooked at a relatively slow even pace. Enjoy quick to fix tasty meals with sausage.

Sausage Cooking Video