Also known as “Russians” this South African smoked sausage takes care of business!!! Smoky, snappy, juicy, and packed with flavor. Enjoy the recipe.
Follow basic smoked sausage preparation practices when making this sausage.
- Clean and sanitize all of your equipment before and after use
- Prepare your casings a day in advance and let them soak in the refrigerator.
- Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 34F or 1c) at all times.
- Mix your very chilled meat (under 34f or 1c), liquid, and seasonings till the mince becomes very tacky.
- Stuff the mince into your sausage casings and prick out any air pockets.
- If you plan on using a curing salt let your sausage rest in the refrigerator overnight to allow the cure to work.
- The next day follow a low and slow smoking schedule.
- Cook sausage till you reach your desired cooking temperature
- Once the internal temp has been reached place the sausages in a cold-water bath to cool down and let them bloom at room temperature for 3-4 hours
Here are a few things you might find useful when making a smoked sausage.
- SavorYe Flavor Booster
- Digital Smokers (I use the model 4D Pro-series WiFi)
- Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Non Fat Dry Milk (Binder for better texture and moisture retention)
- Potato Starch (Binder for better texture and moisture retention)
- Insta Cure #1
- Eco Cure #1 (A Nitrite free alternative to curing your meat)
- Cure Accelerator
- Thermapen ONE (Accurate Thermometer)
- Sausage Pricker
- Kotai Chef Knife
- Sausage Stuffers
- Meat Grinder
- Meat Mixers
- Stuffing Horn Cleaner
- Butcher Twine & Dispenser
- Small accurate Scale for spices
- Large Capacity Scale (33 pounds)
- Drying rack and tray
- Custom Cutting Board
- Jende Lapping plate for sharpening our grinder plates and knife
Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away.
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South African Russian Sausage
Authentic SA "Russians"
How much do you want to make? 1000 grams
Ingredients
- 800 g pork shoulder
- 200 g pork back fat
- 13 g salt
- 2.5 g insta cure #1
- 7 g savorye
- 5 g course ground black pepper
- 4 g garlic powder
- 5 g onion powder
- 3 g ginger powder
- 3 g coriander powder
- 1.5 g cardamon
- 30 g potato starch
- 100 g water
- hog casings
Instructions
Prepare the casings
- Rinse off the salt and flush the casings with some cool water. Place the cleaned casings in some fresh water with some baking soda in it (I use 1 tsp per quart of water) and place in the refrigerator. If you let your casings soak for at least 12 hours, they will be nice and tender by the time you use them.
Prepare the Meat
- Clean meat from any silver skin and arteries. Chill the meat and the fat so that the temperature is below 34f (1.1c)
- Grind chilled meat and fat on a course 10mm plate. Then take half of your ground meat and regrind it on a smaller 6mm plate. Rechill. Keep the temp under 34f (1.1c)
- Add the rest of the ingredients to the meat (spices, liquids, binder) and mix till the meat turns into a sticky batter. The meat mixture will stick to your hand when you grab a small handful of it and turn your hand upside down.
- Stuff mixture in your casings and link them to your desired size. If you notice any air pockets, be sure to prick them out
- Place the sausage in your refrigerator overnight so that the cure can do its job
- The next day, smoke the sausage using incremental adjustments in temperature to slowly bring the sausage up to a core temperature of 145f (62.7c) – 150F (65.5c).
If you have a digital convection smoker:
- 1 hour at 100f (37.7c) with the fan on at 50%. This dries out the sausage.
- 1 hour at 125f (51.6c) start adding smoke. Fan still on at 50%
- 1.5 hours at 150f (65.5c)
- The finally increase the temp to 170f (76.6c) till the internal temperature of your sausage reaches 145f (62.7c). Once you hit your target internal, let the sausage remain there for 3-5 minutes for proper pasteurization. I like to add an additional warming stage to my smoker where I'll back the temperature down to 145f to complete pasteurization.
If you have a digital smoker this is a great cooking schedule:
- 1 hours at 100f (37.7c) – this dries out the sausage (leave the dampers wide open and leave the door slightly ajar)
- 1 hour at 125f (51.6c) – this is when I start applying smoke
- 1 hour at 155f (68.3c)
- 1 hour at 175f (79.4c)
- then I bump up to 200f (93.3c) until I reach an internal of 145f (62.7c). Make sure you let the sausage cook for at least 3-5 minutes once you hit the 145f (62.7c) temperature to achieve proper pasteurization.
If you are cooking on a pit or offset:
- on indirect heat start smoking sausages while the pit is at 150f (65.5c) and smoke for 3 hours.
- Increase the temperature to 250f (121.1c) and cook till you get to an internal of 150f (65.5c)
Once finished
- After your sausage has finished cooking, place them in a cold-water bath till the internal temp gets below 100f (37.7c). Then place the sausage on a rack or hang them at room temp for 3-4 hours to bloom. After they bloom, refrigerate. Reheat to enjoy.
Storage Instructions
- For long term storage, place the smoked sausages in a vacuum sealed bag and freeze. They will last up to a year in the freezer.
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Another interesting sausage recipe to try. I have learned a lot about making sausage from you and now I am really into experimenting with my own creations. Thank goodness you use a kilo of meat because this has taught me I won’t have to eat my screw ups forever and ever–just until the kilo is eaten.
One of these days I’ll make this sausage too. I’m really getting behind making all the good recipes.
Please include me in the list of those who need to win a smoker from Smokin’-It. I do need a smoker. Smokin’-It is generously providing Professional Model 3.5 Convection Digital WiFi Smoker for the prize. Smokin’-It Smokers is a family owned company that strives to excel in customer satisfaction and have well constructed smokers at affordable prices. Eric has been well satisfied with Smokin’-It Smokers for years.
what can I use instead of SavorYe ?
I’m in the UK and you can’t get it here.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I’m original from South Africa and living in Panama / Dolega / Potrerillos / La Acequia.
Please include me in the list of those who need to win a smoker from Smokin’-It. I do need a smoker. Smokin’-It is generously providing Professional Model 3.5 Convection Digital WiFi Smoker for the prize.
I can not wait to make Russian Sausage. My family will love it.
Very cool!!! We are almost neighbors. I’m close to Dolega as well😉
what can I use instead of SavorYe ?
I’m in the UK and you can’t get it here.
You could use MSG or simply omit it.