Classic Louisiana Andouille Sausage Recipe
Andouille is the sausage of choice for so many Cajun recipes and here's how to make it yourself at home.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds pork shoulder
- 5 ounces pork fat back, cut into 1/2" cubes
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Prague Powder #1
- 1 1/4 teaspoons Morton Coarse Kosher Salt
- 1/3 cup Cajun Seasoning
- 10 cloves garlic, peeled
- 5 ounces cold water (10 tablespoons)
- Well cleaned hog casings for 12 links
Method
- Prep. 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).
- Place 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.
- Put 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.
- Once the meat, fat, and grinder parts in the freezer have chilled for 15 to 20 minutes, remove them and assemble your grinder.
- Turn 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.
- Add 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.
- Prepare 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.
- Fire up. Set up a smoker for 225°F (or a grill for 2-zone cooking with the indirect zone at about 225°F).
- Cook. Smoke the sausages to an internal temperature of 165°F, approximately 2 hours.
- Serve. 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.
Notes
About fat back. As it sounds, fat back is pork fat from the back of the hog. It is solid and can be cut easily. If your butcher doesn’t have any, she can order it. In a pinch, you can use pork belly, just use a bit more in the mix because belly has some meat on it. Do not use lard, which has been rendered (melted), and is too soft for this recipe.
About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.
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