Cooking fresh sausage

[JPMN]

I’m fairly new to this but would like some advise. I’m planning on making some fresh sausage links and would like to cook it right away (probably boil it to almost done temp) then vacuum pack and freeze. Anything I need to be aware of. Thanks

[twilliams]

JPMN only thing i can think of right now is, boil or cook all the way. Let them chill to refrigerator temp before vacuum sealing, then freeze

[processhead]

I would suggest keeping the kettle temperature below boiling. 180 degree water will make it less likely to split casing and render the fat out of the sausage.

[Jonathon]

JPMN Both of them have good points. As twilliams said, you don’t want to grind, mix and stuff and then partially cook. The reason for this is that most (if not all) of the bacteria and harmful microbes live on the surface of the meat. When you grind it you then introduce that to all of the meat, so cooking to 140 and then saving for future finishing isn’t a great idea. Should cook till you get instant lethality. Check appendix A from USDA to see a chart for instant lethality if you don’t want to cook to 160.

processhead is also correct, you don’t want to boil it simmer it maybe but around 170-180 should be your goal.

Hope it helped and welcome to the community!

[JPMN]

JPMN Thank you everyone. Just the kind of advice I was lookin for.

[TexLaw]

I agree all around. Poaching or grilling is the way to go, as they are pretty quick and can accommodate large amounts.

Personally, I cook by sous vide and then refrigerate. Sometimes I pack and freeze them just like that, but I sometimes go ahead and grill them first for easy reheating.