Smoked Turkey Sausage
Submitted by wleeser
Homemade smoked turkey sausage stuffed into natural casings with potato, paprika, sage, red pepper flakes and a touch of nutmeg. Ground, stuffed and smoked for 4 hours of real pit flavor.
YIELD
8 servingsPREP
90 minCOOK
4 hrsREADY
5 hrsMaking your own sausage from scratch is one of those projects that sounds intimidating until you actually do it. Then you wonder why you ever bought the store-bought stuff.
Boneless turkey breast gets ground with potato for moisture and body, then seasoned with a warm blend of paprika, sage, garlic, red pepper flakes, white pepper and just a whisper of nutmeg.
Packed into natural casings and slow-smoked for four hours, turning once halfway through.
The result is a lean, deeply flavorful sausage with real smoke character that blows anything from a package out of the water.
Pro Tips
- Keep the turkey and grinder parts cold. Warm meat smears instead of grinding cleanly, and the texture suffers.
- Soak casings for the full hour and run water through them to check for holes before stuffing. One tiny tear means a blowout in the smoker.
- The potato isn’t filler. It adds moisture to lean turkey breast that would otherwise dry out during smoking.
- Let the sausage rest for 15 minutes after smoking before slicing. The juices redistribute and you get a cleaner cut.
Ingredients
Directions
Following the manufacturer’s directions, light the smoker, cover and allow the heat and smoke to accumulate.
In a meat grinder or food processor, grind together the turkey and potatoes until coarsely ground.
Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients, mixing thoroughly.
Refrigerate until ready to use.
SAUSAGE-CASING Soak the sausage casings for 1 hour in a small bowl with enough water to cover.
Rinse the casings thoroughly to remove the excess salt.
Running water through the casings will indicate if there are any holes in the casing.
Place one of the casings on a sausage horn stuffer, taking care not to tear it, tie a knot in the other end and stuff the casing with the turkey mixture.
When stuffed, tie a knot to enclose the open end.
Place the sausage on the rack in the smoker and smoke for 2 hours.
Turn the sausage and smoke for additional 2 hours.
Comments
