Louisiana Hot Links are some of my favorite sausages. I love how spicy they are. I searched all over the internet to find a recipe that I liked. Finally, I came across a Canadian blogger called The Old Fat Guy (https://oldfatguy.ca). I tried his recipe and really liked it, but since he was Canadian his hot link wasn’t really hot. I knew what I had to do…I had to create my own version based on The Old Fat Guy’s recipe. I have created a variation on the hot link sausage that I call the Low Country Hot Link. I will show you how to make these using your smoker or using a Ninja Foodie Grill if you don’t have a smoker.
Ingredients:
3 lbs of pork
3/4 cup beer
1 Tbs black pepper
2 Tbs crushed pepper flakes
2 Tbs cayenne pepper
3 Tbs paprika
2 tsp mustard seed
1 1/2 Tbs minced garlic
3/4 tsp ground coriander
3/4 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbs skim milk powder
1/2 tsp pink curing salt #1
Directions:
- Dice up your meat into cubes and place in the freezer for 30 minutes. It is necessary to chill the meat to enable it to grind properly.
- Mix all ingredients except the pork in a large bowl to create a slurry.
- Grind you meat in a meat grinder. I like to use a 5 cutting plate. If you use a kitchenaid meat grinder you will need to purchase a cutting plate that is larger than what comes with the kitchenaid. The cutting plates that come with the kitchenaid make your meat come out very small and the consistency of your sausage will be like a hot dog and we want it to be more like a brat.
- Mix you ground meat with the slurry.
- Rinse your casings out prior to use and then insert your casings onto your sausage stuffer and then stuff your sausages.
- Once the casing is full with meat you will want to twist the sausages. I made mine about the size of hot dog buns. Once twisted set in the refrigerator overnight to allow all the seasoning to mix into the meat.
- To cook in a Ninja Foodie Grill turn on your Ninja Foodie Grill and set on the dehydrator setting at 180 degrees. This is necessary to be able to cook on a low heat. Cook the sausages for 1 hour at 180 degrees then increase the temperature to 195 degrees and cook for an additional 2 hours. They are finished when the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees.
- To cook in a smoker preheat your smoker to 180 degrees. Place the meat in the smoker and cook the sausages for 1 hour at 180 degrees then increase the temperature to 195 degrees and cook for an additional 2 hours. They are finished when the internal temperature of the meat reaches 160 degrees.
- After the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees you want to let them rest for 1 hours. Then you can place them in the refrigerator or freezer until you are ready to eat. To eat just reheat them on your grill, a pan, or the microwave.