home made andouille and tasso

This is my second attempt in making andouille sausages. It is also my second attempt in sausage making endeavor. I did a batch before my first taste of the real thing in Louisiana in my recent road trip.


i found out from my last sausage making that you want to make a big batch to make the effort worthwhile; i bought about 8 lbs of pork butt; i told the nice lady in An Dong Asian Market not to trim off any fat and this is the whole piece that came from Carlton Farms that also supplys to Edelweiss deli

 i want the fat to be chunky as in real Louisiana andouille so i hand cut all the pork fat

 the bowl of hand cut pork fat on the right

next is to grind the rest of the pork - i chose to use the coarsest die i have; in only wish i have a even coarser die

 next is to make the spices and seasoning mixture

 this Braun tool is great - i bought it long before the chefs begun using them on cooking shows; it is very well make from West Germany (yes, when there were still the East and the West Germany)

 i saved about 3 pound of pork but to make tasso - here is the strips after seasoning and spices are added

i bought 100 yards of large hog casing from Syracuse Casing Company; they are very reasonably priced and do not charge (thus gouges) you on shipping

 i used the large diameter stuffing nozzle; the meat has been in the refrigerator for 2 days now so the spices and seasoning has permeate the meat

 it is a bit of struggle to slip the casings onto the nozzle - i know what you are thinking...

 i cooked a small sample of the meat to check the seasoning - it is perfect

once the stuffing is done it went back into the refrigerator overnight to dry the casing; in retrospect i would immediate stuff the sausage and skip storing the seasoned meat the first time

fired up the barbecue pit and let the wood fire going strong first to rid the bad excess smoke; the firewood is very damp from the winter and spring wetness

 i first smoke the tasso and a small link of andouille to check the result before i commit the big batch

 the tasso is perfect - they taste very similar to those i bought from Bourgeois Meat Market

 i added quite a bit of chili pepper so they have quick a kick

 i rely sole on this 3" thermometer and it serves the purpose quite well; i am glad i didn't invest in a fancy wireless thermometer

this is a kick-arse smoker and i am very happy with the purchase; it is so easy to control the fire and add wood or charcoal

by turning the barbecue pit slightly i could easily monitor the temperature of the smoke chamber from the kitchen

The result of the andouille is great. Very smoky and full of flavor. They are as good as the good ones I bought in Louisiana except fresher. If there is something to improve it is the efficiency and I would like the lean pork meat to be chunky as the pork fats that I hand chopped.

I meant to take a photo of the entire batch of the andouille sausage when they are done but in the moments of excitement I somehow forgot. I gave some to my neighbors. I still have a lot to keep in my freezer.
here is a photo of what are left after i gave away some

 this photo is taken the next day after the sausage has been chilled in the refrigerator

Both andouille and tasso are meant to be used for cooking foremost so they are slightly salty if you snack on them directly. They are also over-the-top spicy and smokey for the same reason. Once you started snacking on them it is very difficult to stop as they are so delicious.
making a dish of fresh linguine with andouille, tasso, and cuttlefish

 yum!