What is Andouille

Andouille is a Cajun Sausage that can be made either Fresh, which would be without cure, or Smoked where cure is added and then it can be slow smoked. Andouille is sometimes double-smoked but we don’t like that method as we think it picks up all the smoke it needs the first time. It can be served lots of ways but it is very commonly added to Gumbo.

We are going to take the Andouille Cajun Seasoning and add cure to it as we wanted to smoke it. You could also simply use the Cajun Sausage Seasoning that comes with cure, but we wanted a more authentic Andouille taste.

Meat Block

23 lb of Pork Butt
2 lb Uncooked Shrimp

Additives

1 Bag Andouille Cajun Seasoning
Sodium Erythorbate or Encapsulated Citric Acid
Sure Gel

Process

If necessary debone your pork butts and cut into pieces that are small enough to fit in your grinder’s throat. I recommend that you put your meat into a freezer for about 30 minutes after it has been deboned but before stuffing. Cold meat grinds faster, especially on the second grind) and that will help protect the proteins in the meat and keep it safer from microorganisms. Oil your plates and knives before putting them on the grinder. You should have 1 knife for every plate you have and you should use them only with each other, this will ensure that your plate and knife wear at the same rate and it will increase the life of both.

Putting your grinder head assembly, including plates, knives, and auger into the freezer for at least 15 minutes before grinding.

Grinding

Grind your Pork twice, first through a 3/8" plate and then through a 1/8" plate. If your second grind is taking too long put your meat back in the freezer 10 minutes freezing the meat will help speed up your grind. Grind your shrimp through the 3/8 plate once.

Meat Mixing

Add ground pork, seasoning, additives and water to your mixer and mix for 4 minutes making sure to switch directions every minute or so. After 4 minutes add your shrimp and mix for another 4 minutes or until the desired level of protein extraction has been reached.

Sausage Stuffing

Load the casings on to the largest stuffing tube that your casing will fit over. We chose Clear Collagen Casings but 32-35MM Hog will work just as well. Stuff until your casings are full, remember if you are wanting to link these you should slightly understuff them so that the casing does not burst during the linking process. We elected to just hang them in long lines in our smoker and then cut them down to size.

Thermal Processing

110° - 10 minutes with dampers wide open (drying phase)
120° - 1 Hour (add smoke and water)
145° - 1/2 Hour
165° - 1/2 Hour
185° - Until internal temperature reaches 160°

Cooling

If your smoker has a shower cycle go ahead and run that once the sausage has reached 160° or place in an ice bath for 20 minutes. Let it sit out for an hour before moving to the cooler overnight before vac packing.

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