Smoked Italian Sausage
Italian sausage is known for its characteristic fennel-garlic flavor and is offered in sweet or hot varieties. Hot smoking over oak and cherry wood gives it a complex depth that ideally complements the Mediterranean spice profile. This sausage is versatile: whether grilling, braising, or as a pizza topping.
Ingredients(for 1 kg)
Instructions
Preparing the Farce
30 min. + 2 hrs. chillingGrind pork shoulder through the 6mm plate, coarsely dice pork belly. Incorporate all spices, curing salt, garlic, and red wine and knead thoroughly. Rest covered in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours.
Stuffing and Drying
30-60 min.Fill the mixture into pork casings (32-35mm) and twist into sausages of approx. 15cm length or form into rings. Hang sausages at room temperature for 30 minutes to form a pellicle.
Smoking
2.5-3 hrs.Heat the smoker with oak and cherry wood chips to 85-105°C. Smoke the sausages until a core temperature of 72-75°C is measured. The casing should have taken on a deep mahogany-brown color. Rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
Pro Tip
Lightly crack the fennel seeds in a mortar but do not grind completely, so they remain visible and aromatic in the sausage meat. Use Calabrian chili flakes for the hot variety.
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