This week we are making a sausage that reigns supreme in the Big Easy. This Spanish influenced sausage (originally chorizo) found its way in the Crescent City and slowly became adapted to the local ingredients by the creole people. Today we know this sausage as Chaurice and it is a staple in New Orleans cooking.
Chaurice is one of those sausage that can be eaten by itself or added to a dish and although this sausage works great with bean dishes you will find it in some of the best Gumbos, Jambalayas, Creoles, Crawfish boils, and stuffing’s that New Orleans has to offer. It is a very flavorful sausage that reminds me a lot of andouille and boudin combined.
Chaurice is a fresh sausage and is often pan fried but can be cooked however you like. If you plan on cold smoking this sausage (like I did) then you’ll want to add the Insta Cure #1 to your recipe. This will protect your sausage against any harmful bacteria that could grow during the cold smoking phase.
There’s a lot of room for creativity with this sausage so don’t be afraid to experiment. The recipe below is a great place to start and you can adjust according to your preferences.
Follow basic sausage preparation practices when making this sausage.
- Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment.
- Chill your meat to below 35F
- Keep your meat and grinder parts very cold while grinding
- Any liquid that is added to the mince needs to be ice cold
- Mix your very chilled meat and seasonings till the mince becomes very tacky
- Stuff the mince into sausage casings and prick out any air pockets
- Cook till the internal temperature reaches 155F
Here are a few things you might find useful when making sausage
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Iodophor Sanitizer
- MK4 Thermapen (Accurate Thermometer)
- Chef Knife – KOTAI
- Boning Knife
- Sausage Pricker
- Iwatani Professional Chef Torch
- Insta Cure #1
- Non Fat Dry Milk Powder
- Meat Grinders
- Meat Mixers
- Sausage Stuffers
- Smokers
- Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask away. If you make this at home I’d love to hear about how it came out!!
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Chaurice
Ingredients
- 1000 g fatty pork shoulder 70/30 lean to fat
- 15 g kosher salt
- 2.5 g insta cure #1 optional unless you plan on cold smoking
- 60 g onion rough chopped
- 10 g garlic finely minced
- 2 g black pepper
- 1.5 g red pepper flakes
- 6 g smoked paprika
- 2 g cayenne pepper powder or more if you like it super spicy
- 2 g celery seed
- 1 g dried thyme if using fresh double the amount
- 15 g green onions chopped finely
- 1.5 g dried parsley if using fresh double the amount
- 20 g non fat dry milk powder
- 1/4 cup ice cold water
- hog casings
Instructions
- Clean your meat of any silver skin, sinew, arteries and cut into small strips or cubes. Place your meat and fat in the freezer for an hour or until the temp reaches 32f – 34F.
- clean and rehydrate your hog casings
- Rough chop your onion and set it to the side.
- Grind your very chilled meat/fat and the onion on a course plate (10mm). Make sure everything is very chilled while grinding. After grinding your meat, rechill to keep your meat below 35F
- When it comes time to mix your meat add the ice cold water (or beer) and all of the above mentioned seasonings (along with the minced garlic, parsley, and green onions) to the meat and mix till it becomes very tacky. If you grab a small handful it will stick to your hand if you hold your hand upside down.
- Stuff your mince meat into the casings, link, and prick out any air pockets. Let your sausages rest in the refrigerator overnight to develop it's flavor
- Enjoy your chaurice by itself or add it to your favorite dish. This sausage freezes great
If you plan on Cold Smoking
- Be sure to add Insta Cure #1 to your recipe
- Cold smoke for 2-6 hours depending on how smoky you like it
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Eric… From the spice list and pictures, this sausage looks really delicious… It’s on my to-do list now…. Thanks…
Dave
Hey Dave. It’s a winner!! You’ll love the flavor, especially if you give it a kiss of smoke..
Eric,
Made the chaurice today but changed it to a two pound batch. Didn’t have extra fat available so used 1/4 cup olive oil to make up the difference. So far so good. Test piece was very flavorful.
Mac
Excellent!!! Way to think outside of the box!!
I made a (double) batch of chaurice this weekend following your recipe and it looks and smells absolutely delicious!
I accidentally used insta cure #2 though instead of insta cure #1. I know cure 2 is usually used for longer term sausages and I wouldn’t mind letting this hang cure for a long time but there are fresh ingredients (onions, garlic).
Is the whole batch bad? Or would the sausage be able to last long enough for the amounts of nitrates to decrease? (I have no idea how long it would take the nitrates to convert to safe amounts of nitrites)
Cure #2 needs at least 31 days for the nitrates to convert into nitrites, then nitric oxide gas. You could technically vac seal it and keep it in your fridge for 4+ weeks. Because it isn’t fermented I probably wouldn’t hang it to dry cure…
I used your recipe to make 20lbs of sausage and was very pleased with the outcome. I’ll definitely make more! I love the spice calculator function, it speeds things up quite a bit and the results are repeatable!
Thanks guy’s!
I’m glad you liked it!! That calculator is super helpful!!!
Could this be hot smoked until internal temp is 150 or so? Sort of how you do Andouille
absolutely.
This was excellent. Tried it on my new mini smoke house…needs some tweaking, but the sausage was awesome. I finished it up in the sous vide and texture and juiciness were off the scale. Needs more smoke and that’s on me.
I made an 8lb match of this recipe a two weeks ago and according to my family my search for the perfect smoked sausage has ended, in fact my super critical daughter said that now I can quit experimenting and just make more of this. Really great flavor with perfect feel and moisture. I smoked most of it but left some fresh and it was excellent also. I can’t wait to make an old fashioned jambalaya and chicken and sausage gumbo with the smoked chaurice. I am a La. native and lived in N.O. for a few years after college but this recipe beats anything I remember eating there.
I also love the recipe format, tremendous help. I’m afraid I won’t abide by my daughters demand because I will be trying more of your recipes lol.
LOL. That’s awesome!!! A great sausage is a delightful thing!!
Just made this today, and I made a patty from what was left in the tube and fried it up. I’d never had chaurice before. As soon as it hit my tongue, I was wishing I’d made 4 kilos instead of one. This is by far the best sausage I’ve ever tasted in my life- and by much farther the best I’ve ever made. Thank you!
NICE!!! Thanks for sharing!
Hey Eric, If I left the cure out for a fresh sausage would this be what they call a “Green Onion Sausage” or is that something different?
Great site ya have here and thanks for sharing.
Green onion sausage is slightly different. I’ll have to make it for the site😉