Will It Be Sous Vide? Beer Soaked Sausage Party
Welcome to this week’sWill It Sous Vide? , the weekly column that I usually do whatever you want with my immersion circulator.
There was a lot of enthusiasm for all kinds of sausages in the topic picking session this week , but I was really excited about the idea of adding beer to the mix.
I have always believed that grilled, beer-stewed pancakes can be easily made savory, juicy sausages, and sincerely believed that this was the case when sous viding seemed too valuable.
But I’m not one of those who pass up the opportunity to eat salted pork, so I went to the store to buy a real sausage batch of sausages, cheddars and chicken basil sausages, just to be on the safe side.
According to the Food Lab , 150 ℉ is the temperature at which sausages are “hard and very juicy, with a very smooth texture.” I found this to be pretty ideal, so I dropped one link of each link in a bag of beer and about a quarter of an onion.
The sausages then had a small 45-minute hot tub beer party, which was also attended by our beloved friend of the woodland creatures.
With about 15 minutes left in the bath, I brought a couple of beers to a boil, tossed in the remaining three sausages (along with the onions), then lowered the heat and let them simmer for about 10 minutes.
Since I live in a tiny apartment with no yard, I don’t have a grill. I was considering using a friend’s cast iron pan, but it rained (shocking) that day in Portland, so I had to break out an old cast iron pan.
I carefully examined all six links, sous vide and not, gave them a couple of minutes to rest, and cut them open to take a look at their insides. I first took a look at a simple classic sausage.
As you can see in the photo above, the two pork specimens were very similar. I took a bite off of each and found the textures to be nearly identical. Both were soft and juicy and a pleasure to eat, but I wasn’t particularly impressed. Then I turned my attention to cheddar and chicken sausages and found that the results were similar.
Basically, I was not thrilled. To be honest, I thought a good grill – damn rain – would benefit all the bastards, but it didn’t look like the sous video did any real benefit. To make sure the beer isn’t the problem – stewing meat in liquid can take away some of its flavor thanks to osmosis – I decided to cook one last asshole myself, no beer or onions. This meant I had to go back to the grocery store and buy one uncomfortable sausage.
“What can I offer you?” the butcher asked.
“One sausage, please,” I replied.
“Would you like only one sausage?” he asked in surprise.
“Am I stuttering?”
Just kidding. I did not say that. Instead, I mumbled something about the odd job, nodding and not looking into my eyes.
Anyway. I cooked this boy the same way I cooked the one soaked in beer, only this time without beer.
They were, for lack of a better description, the same. Not worse than traditional beer stewed links, but no worse. They were juicy, soft and just lovely.
So, will there be sous vide sausages?
Answer? I mean, yes, they will, but I didn’t find this particularly useful and it took longer. There was no discernible difference between the sausages, no matter how they were cooked. However, they were still good with stone-ground mustard.
But, it seems, everything is fine with mustard.