What Are the Best Tips for Cooking Sausages?

Some of the best tips for cooking sausages focus on techniques to avoid burning the meat during the cooking process. Pre-boiling, slow-cooking and baking are just a few of the tips for cooking sausages without burning them. Other tips for cooking sausages concentrate on additives that flavor the sausages during the cooking process, such as different types of liquid, vegetables and spices.

Many summertime lunches and dinners are focused around sausages cooking on a grill. One problem that often occurs when grilling a sausage is the meat becomes burned on the outside as the cook struggles with getting the inside of the meat properly cooked. A tip to remedy this frustrating problem is to boil the meat sausages before placing them on the grill. Boiling the sausage before grilling means the sausage will be cooked through and require only a browning on the grill. It also means much of the fat will melt off in the boiling water, leaving a sausage that can be served with less fat.

The reduction of fat also saves the meat from flareups when placed on the grill. Baking is another popular method for cooking sausages so that they will not burn. By baking the meat at a low temperature and turning occasionally, the finished dish will be both tender and juicy. Another tip is to cook the sausages in a slow roaster. This will allow the center to come up to temperature while saving the outside from burning. This method produces very juicy sausages, and this method allows for the addition of unique flavors to the sausages as they cook.

When cooking sausages in a slow roaster or an oven, a tip to bring a unique flavor to the meat is to cook the sausages in a small amount of beer or wine. The flavor of the beverage will permeate the cooking sausages while the alcohol will be cooked off, leaving only a flavorful and juicy sausage in the pan. A tip for sweet Italian sausage and bratwurst is to place a small amount of sugar in the boiling water as the sausage is pre-cooked, or to replace the water with beer and boil the bratwurst until fully cooked. This will leave a sweeter sausage or a uniquely flavored bratwurst. When pan-frying sausage, placing a bed of sweet, caramelized onion and slivers of green and red peppers in the pan imparts a taste of a summertime carnival into the sausages.