A Genuine Andouille Sausage Recipe from Cajun Country

Cajun Andouille Sausage Recipe

A Real Cajun andouille sausage recipe will be strong on the smoke flavor and spicy enough that there's no questioning what you are eating.

Because of its assertive and savory flavor, andouille is often used as an ingredient in other Cajun dishes. A true andouille lover though, can and will make a meal of just the sausage by itself.

Of all the wonderful things that the Cajun people do with pork, andouille ranks toward the top of the treat list.

This particular formula calls for some of the pork to be hand chopped instead of ground. That helps give our andouille sausage recipe a more truly authentic taste and texture.

Recipe

5 lbs 80% lean pork shoulder

2 tablespoons Kosher Salt

2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper

2 teaspoons ground thyme

3 tablespoons crushed red pepper flakes

5 tablespoons crushed and minced fresh garlic

1 level teaspoon Prague powder or Instacure #1

1 cup ice water

Cut 3 lbs of the pork into 1 inch cubes and then grind them with the coarse plate of your meat grinder.
Take the other 2 lbs of pork and cut it into small chunks about 1/8 inch square. This will be easier to do if the pork is very cold or still partially frozen.
Mix the spices and cure with the 1 cup of ice water.
Pour the spice, cure and water combination into the ground and chopped meat and mix thoroughly. Make sure there is even distribution of all the spice and cure.
Stuff the meat and spice mixture into 35-38 mm natural pork casings or small beef middles. I have used collagen casings, but they need to be the kind specifically designed for hanging in the meat smoker.
When your links are ready for the smoke house, apply about 4 hours of smoke for best flavor, using pecan or hickory wood for the smoke.

For step by step smoking directions, Click Here.

To make sure I get as much smoke flavor into my andouille as I can before it is fully cooked, I like to start the smoking process out at a bit lower temperature and stretch the smoking time. I find my smoker will produce good smoke at temperatures as low as 135 degrees F, as long as I use wood chips that haven't been soaked in water.