Making Smoked Andouille Sausage

If you want to do true Cajun Jambalaya and want even be more authentic, you should make your own Andouille Sausage for the dish. It will impress everyone!

Step 1: Gather Ingredients

5 pounds of nice shoulder pork and diced it into 1/2 inch cubes.
3 tablespoon Kosher Salt
3 teaspoons Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Pink Salt(Curing Salt)
2 teaspoons Fresh Minced Thyme
1/8 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Cloves
1/8 teaspoon Allspice
3/4 teaspoon Dry Mustard
3/4 cup chopped Onion
1/4 cup chopped Shallot
1 tablespoon Minced Garlic
10 Feet or so of washed hog casings
Couple poundsof Applewood Chips
Smoker and Whole Wood Charcoal

Comments

[Henkie]

You smoke it at a 150 degrees. degrees F or degrees C?

[tldudenhoeffer]

He actually said to smoke them for 3 hours until the INTERNAL TEMPURATURE of the sausages reach 150 degrees F. This means that after 3 hours of smoking time, you will insert a meat thermometer into one end of the sausage until the probe is about half way in and see what it's temperature is. If it says it's only 145 F inside the sausage, then you need to smoke for another 20 - 30 minutes until the internal temperature of the sausage is 150 F.

[bayouhawk]

i like to smoke till internal is 155 for pork. food safety.
then shower with cold water until temp is 110. keeps sausage casings from shrivrelling

[Henkie]

Thanks for the reply. Not many people realize that there are many ways to measure. Metric, imperial and a few more. And because internet is a world wide phenomenon it would be nice to add the units behind the quantities.

[tldudenhoeffer]

That's okay. I make haggis 3 times a year and I measure the internal temperature the same way as I described. I don't always smoke it though. Most of the time I put it in a cast iron pot out on the grill for 2 - 4 hours and begin checking it after 2 hours.

[tldudenhoeffer]

In response to a recipe request: I cook haggis in many different ways. Sometimes I steam it in the oven, sometimes I leave it simmer outside over a nice cookfire and sometimes, yes, I smoke it! I prefer applewood for smoking haggis, It gives it a nice subtle flavor and gives new meaning to a '2 week old bag of haggis'!! Recipe: 1 large sheep stomach (cleaned - 1st by running cold water through it, then by plunging it into a boiling water bath, then scrape the inside as best you can without damaging it. When clean, it may be stored in saltwater in the fridge for a couple of days) NOTE: if the idea of a sheep's stomach grosses you out, use a cheese cloth bag (or make one). 1 sheep heart - boiled (cow's heart will do in a pinch, just don't use so much of it) 1 sheep liver - boiled (cow will do, but use less of it) save the water from boiling these Grate 1/3 of the liver and mince 1/3 of the heart. Place in bowl and set aside. 1/2 lb finely chopped beef suet (try to obtain from a butcher or make your own) toast 3 handfuls of rolled oats or steel cut oats (nothing instant) Mix everything together in a large bowl adding up to 1 tsp of salt and ground black pepper to your liking. Add enough of the reserved boiling water to the mixture to make a soft ball. Fill the stomach (or cheesecloth bag) with the mix until about 1/2 full, then sew it closed. It will swell while cooking. To cook: place a trivet into the bottom of a large pot. place the haggis onto the trivet. add water to almost cover the haggis. boil steady for 3 hours, pricking top of the haggis as needed to let steam out. When smoking the haggis, you'll have to prick it occasionally to let the steam out, but it takes about 6 hours to smoke it. This is the basic recipe. I use a lot of herbs in my haggis (marjoram, tarragon, and sage). I sometimes add green peppers, hot peppers, mushrooms, etc. It depends on my mood. Afterall, all a haggis is, is a mixed lot meatloaf of sorts. My next endeavor is to see if I can smoke a sweet haggis (dessert). Cheers! TLMacD

[bayouhawk]

if you add about 3/4 cup of powderd milk to this recipe it will keep the sausages plump and not change the flavor. when you take them off the smoker shower them with cold water until the internal temp reaches 110 degrees. this will help keep them from shrivelling up.

[rtcarlson]

when do you keep add more of the wood chips, like every hour or 30 mins??

[zeebiz]

Thank you so much. LarouexBBKing, is it the same way to make fish sausage ?

[WarLockStar]

'Great Tutorial!' My Dads side of My Family are all from New Orleans, LA and I Have Not Been There In quite a while since My Dad Past away But I Sure Miss Andouille Sausage, and You Can Send Me Some If You Like :),... I wish I Had all the things to Make It for sure... Its Great In Gumbo and with Red Beans and rice... It Looks so Good vacuum Packed there. To Bad you were Not My Next door neighbor lol I would be Borrowing Some Once In a while... Missing My Andouille Sausage!

[peede1]

you just made my day bro. what would be a good ratio of fat if using lean venison? could i use pork fat?

[t.rohner]

Very nice instructable will try it soon. Besides brewing beer, making cider and mead, baking bread and making sauerkraut, sausages could be a interesting addition. But i need to build a smoker first.

[caitlinsdad]

Looks good. I've never made cured type sausages but can you leave out the pickling salt? I'm trying to shy away from nitrates for the picky eaters in the house. Oh, and I had to think twice to remember that LA means Lower Alabama or Louisianna when talking about andouille.

[philbar]

What is the possiblility of my butcher making putting them in the casing after I incorperate all the ingredients?

[static]

Wouldn't hurt to ask. I would think the health department might have a problem with bring in meat from an uninspected into a location to a location that is required to pass inspection to sell to the general public. Who knows the butcher may decide to make batch to test if there is a market for it in the area.

[jvherbin]

what kind and size casing did you use? natural or colagen?

[static]

Except for the purists, I'd think it wouldn't matter that much.

[Crash2108]

Labor intensive? Bah, humbug. You had a standing mixer do all the work for you.

[static]

That reads like someone may be a bit jealous. :)

[CajunBorn]

This is a good recipe for Cajun sausage, but it's not andouille. Andouille is stuffed with chittlins otherwise known as intestines. In other words, the stuffing is just more of the casing. When a sausage is stuffed with pork shoulder, it's just called pork sausage. Now before y'all start ranting and raving ... I was born, raised, and live in Lafayette, LA. My ancestors go back to the 1630's in Acadia (Nova Scotia.) I know what I speak of!

[static]

Then again you both may be correct. That's often the case with ethnic foods in the US I had to look up the pronunciation. I live near a Kansas community of Acadians, I never heard the term. Then again they may speak in a localized dialect, and could sound way different, for the same thing.
You might consider if you would be allowed to edit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouille , to reflect the andouille of your culture. Good eating to all.

[DutyRD]

laissez les bons temps rouler

Lafayette is the heart of the GOOD TIMES. Howdy from a Texas Aggie.

[littleironhorse]

YAY Nova Scotia :-)

[plique]

Awesome instructable, I need to get my hands on a meat grinder. You can't get proper sausage in this country :(

[Cyrus]

What country are you in where you can't get good sausage?

[plique]

Netherlands. Gotta go to Belgium or Germany to get the good stuff.

[Henkie]

You can get good sausage in the Netherlands but you have to look for it. Indeed Belgium and germany the supply is much greater. But if you want the top of the bill, go to France. The supply of sausage is immense and mouth-watering.

[artlet]

This looks very doable. Thanks for the great information.

[paulpcc]

hey nice one :) btw is that burner/bbq made from that other instructible where they make a gas canister into a bbq oven? if so, that's double cool :)

[jvherbin]

never mind the type, i missed it in the recipe. could you use the cologen casings instead?

[CajunBorn]

BTW. This is a very well done instructable. Good job!

[tercero]

I add duck fat (and the meat) to my Andouille.

[blaminack]

Great Instructable! I have spent a large portion of my life in LA and the food is what I miss. I can cook like a real Cajun but I have not attempted sausage before. I must move in this direction!!!!

[Yerboogieman]

mmmm, those look good, and perfect for jambalaya... if you have a homemade recipe for jambalaya, that'd be kool.

[I Am An Evil Taco]

Well done. I do my own andoullie as well. Add a bit of chipotle and a bit of beef, and you do the exact same thing I do. looks tasty.

[Tobita]

i boil then smoke(in a smoke house design from a survival hand book(go figure)) then put lime juice, red onions, cut pickled eggs, mushrooms(usually any i can get my hands on), carrots, red and orange pepper, oh, and vinegar wine(the alcohol evaporates,(thank god or my parents wouldn't let me eat more than 2:P)) then put it in a toaster oven cuz i hate the big oven, and i am afraid of the microwave.

[conceptualstratagem]

OMG handcrafted sausage looks ssooo tasty. Just the thought of all those ingredients is making me hungry. I'm faving this one for sho+

[mewantbigboom]

me like sausage!!!!!!

[briann]

I don't have everything I need to do this yet.....but you just made my day. I am from LA and moved to TN 2 years ago...My dad brings me andouille when he visits and I recently ran out. It made me incredibly homesick. It never occured to me that I could make andouille myself. If only I could get decent crawfish....:)

[arwen]

Wow! Not something I ever thought I'd want/need to know, but now I can't think what I did without knowin:-) thanks....