Classic Louisiana Andouille Sausage

Name: Classic Louisiana Andouille Sausage
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 120 min
Total time: 150 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 3 lb Pork Shoulder (3 pounds pork shoulder); 5 oz Fat Back (5 ounces pork fat back, cut into 1/2" cubes); 1 ¼ tsp Curing Salt (1 1/4 teaspoons Prague Powder #1); 1 ¼ tsp Kosher Salt (1 1/4 teaspoons Morton Coarse Kosher Salt); ⅓ cup Cajun Seasoning (1/3 cup Cajun Seasoning); 10 cloves Garlic (10 cloves garlic, peeled); 5 oz Water (5 ounces cold water (10 tablespoons)); 1 pinch Hog Casing (Well cleaned hog casings for 12 links)

Classic Louisiana smoked andouille sausage made from pork shoulder and fat back, seasoned with Cajun spices, stuffed into hog casings, and slow-smoked.

150 minAmerican

Servings4

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Halal

Steps

1Prep. Roughly chop all the pork shoulder into 1/4" pieces. You will grind about 2/3 of the mix and the other 1/3 will be left as chunks. Chop the fat back into 1/2" pieces (you’ll grind all of that).
2Place about 2/3 of the pork and all the fat back into the freezer to chill for 15 to 20 minutes. Toss a coarse die for the grinder and all the parts that will contact the meat into the freezer too. Don’t freeze the meat solid. Just firm it up.
3Put the remaining 1/3 of the pork in the grinder bowl and mix in the Prague Powder #1, salt, and Cajun Seasoning. Put the bowl in the fridge. You want to keep everything cold.
4Once the meat, fat, and grinder parts in the freezer have chilled for 15 to 20 minutes, remove them and assemble your grinder.
5Turn the grinder to medium speed and place the bowl from the fridge under the grinder end to catch the ground meat. Start by feeding in the garlic, followed by the fat and the partially frozen pork.
6Add the water to the bowl, mix everything together thoroughly, cover with plastic wrap, and chill the mix for 8 to 12 hours to allow the Prague Powder #1 to cure the pork.
7Prepare your sausage stuffer with the large diameter stuffing horn, slide on the casings, and feed the sausage mixture into the casings. Twist or tie the sausages into whatever lengths you want or to fit your favorite buns. I usually do 6 to 7" links. Refrigerate the sausages until you are ready to smoke them.
8Fire up. Set up a smoker for 225°F (or a grill for 2-zone cooking with the indirect zone at about 225°F).
9Cook. Smoke the sausages to an internal temperature of 165°F, approximately 2 hours.
10Serve. Serve immediately whole or in your favorite New Orleans recipe such as red beans and rice or gumbo. Alternatively you can refrigerate or freeze until needed.