Cajun Gumbo Sausage
A chicken and sausage gumbo...... sausage, yeah you heard it right😉
Ingredients
The Cajun Pork Sausage
- 700 g pork shoulder
- 300 g pork back fat
- 13 g salt
- 2.5 g insta cure #1
- 7.5 g black pepper
- 5 g garlic powder
- 7.5 g paprika
- 2.5 g cayenne
- 2.5 g onion powder
- 1 g thyme
- 10 g minced garlic
- 5 g fresh parsley
- 10 g chives chopped
- 100 g vegetable mix
- 20 g potato starch
- 100 g gumbo base see recipe below
- Hog Casings 32mm-35mm
The Chicken Sausage
- 300 g breast meat
- 400 g thigh meat
- 300 g pork back fat you can use chicken skin if you want
- 13 g salt
- 2.5 g Insta Cure #1
- 7 g black pepper
- 10 g chives chopped
- 5 g fresh parsley
- 10 g minced garlic
- 20 g potato starch
- 100 g gumbo base see recipe below
- 100 g vegetable mix
- hog casings 32mm-35mm
The Vegetable Mix
- 200 g onions diced
- 200 g celery diced
- 200 g bell pepper diced diced
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 Vegetable Mix
- In a skillet with a little oil, sauté the onions, celery, and bell peppers till soft and translucent. Once finished, remove from heat and let the mixture cool. Set aside the amount needed for the pork and chicken portions of this recipe.
Prepare the Gumbo Base
- I used the liquid from a pot of Gumbo that I made for this recipe but if you can't get any gumbo, I've added a link in this recipe for Gumbo Base. It's basically instant Gumbo. Follow the package instructions to make the gumbo base. Basically, add the base to water and bring to a boil and stir well. Once you have made the gumbo liquid take what you need for both the chicken and the pork portions of this recipe and set that to the side to cool. As for the rest of the gumbo liquid, add some chicken, the unused vegetables from the vegetable mix, and you now have chicken gumbo for dinner!
Prepare the Meat and Spices
- Clean meat from any silver skin and arteries. Cut the meat into pieces that are small enough to fit into your grinder. Keep the pork portion and the chicken portion separate. Chill the meat and the fat so that the temperature is below 34f (1.1c)
- Grind chilled meat and fat on a 6mm plate. Keep the temp under 34f (1.1c)
- Here you are going to make 2 completely different sausage batters. Start with the pork sausage. Combine all of the above ingredients listed for the pork sausage 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.
- Now make the chicken sausage. Combine all of the above ingredients listed for the chicken sausage 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
- Time to get this sausage into a casing, grab a small handful of the pork sausage mixture and put it into the hopper of your sausage stuffer, next grab a small handful of the chicken sausage batter and add that to the hopper, next do the same with the pork and continue alternating till your hopper is full or you run out of meat.
- 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 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%
- Bump up the temp to 175f (79.4c) 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.
If you have a digital smoker this is a great cooking schedule:
- 1.5 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 and 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.