Central Texas Pork Sausage

Name: Central Texas Pork Sausage
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 3 h 30 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Texan
Ingredients: 2 kg boneless pork shoulder, well chilled and cut into cubes; 300 g pork back fat, well chilled and cubed; 38 g kosher salt; 18 g coarsely cracked black pepper; 25 g garlic, finely minced; 8 g sweet paprika; 3 g cayenne pepper; 2 g dried marjoram; 120 ml ice-cold water; 3 m hog casings, rinsed and soaked; 4 pieces post oak or other mild hardwood chunks

Coarsely ground pork seasoned with the classic Central Texas combination of salt, cracked black pepper, garlic, and a touch of cayenne, then packed into natural casings and smoked over post oak. The…

Ingredients

2 kg boneless pork shoulder, well chilled and cut into cubes
300 g pork back fat, well chilled and cubed
38 g kosher salt
18 g coarsely cracked black pepper
25 g garlic, finely minced
8 g sweet paprika
3 g cayenne pepper
2 g dried marjoram
120 ml ice-cold water
3 m hog casings, rinsed and soaked
4 pieces post oak or other mild hardwood chunks

Instructions

Place the pork shoulder, back fat, grinder parts, and mixing bowl in the freezer for 30 to 45 minutes, until very cold but not frozen solid.
Grind the pork and fat together through a coarse 8 mm plate. Keep the ground meat cold throughout the process.
Combine the salt, black pepper, garlic, paprika, cayenne, and marjoram. Sprinkle the seasoning over the ground pork, add the ice-cold water, and mix vigorously by hand or with a paddle attachment for 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture becomes sticky and cohesive.
Fry a small patty of the sausage mixture in a skillet. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary, then cover and refrigerate the mixture for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Rinse the soaked hog casings under cool running water, then flush the inside with water. Fit a casing onto the sausage stuffer tube, leaving several centimetres unfilled at the end.
Stuff the sausage into the casing firmly but gently, avoiding air pockets. Form links about 15 cm long by twisting every other link in the opposite direction. Refrigerate the linked sausages uncovered for 2 to 4 hours to dry the casings.
Prepare a smoker for indirect cooking at 110°C. Add the post oak and smoke the sausages until the casings are richly colored and the internal temperature reaches 68°C, usually 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Rest the sausages for 10 minutes before serving. For a traditional Central Texas plate, serve them with white bread, sliced onions, dill pickles, and barbecue sauce on the side.

Watch the Central Texas Pork Sausage cooking video

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