Deep Fry Sausage Time Calculator

Sausages are also all about pressure. When they’re cooked deep, you has to deal with internal pressure within the sausage itself. If it’s not done correctly, when it hits the heat the sausage will start to pop. You know what I mean: you’ll hear the casings go pop-pop-pop and at that point it’s game over, because now it’s just a greasy pile and not any kind of crispy link.

No, this isn’t usualy a case of bad meat. This is a question of physics. You want to get in there and cook it through, but you don’t want to burn the outsides. And you can’t split open the skin either, that’s tricky business.

How to Cook Sausages Perfectly

What’s the timing on pulling the sausage out? Most people guess. Out they come after it’s turned brown. That assumes diameter is most important variable. It’s the dominant variable. Cooking time has nothing to do with length. The distance between the outside and center determines cooking time; that’s why width is relevant dimension.

If you’re using thick bratwurst they’ll burns while interior remains unsafe to eat. Treat thin breakfast links as such: cook too long, and they’ll be dry. Get geometry of the operation, and you’ll rethink your approach in the fryer.

It calculates it for you after you put in your measurements. No more eyeballing it. How far along is the meat? Fresh unsmoked sausages requires sufficient time to get the interior temperature to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Smoked fully cooked links only need to be warmed and browned on the outside. Because of this, they do not stay in the hot oil as long. Cooking them identically will result in smoking the others while leaving the first ones raw.

There’s another wrinkle: casing type. Certain types (natural) are thinner, more porous, and more prone to tearing (if there’s too much steam buildup inside). Others (collagen) is thicker and have more consistency; they hold up to higher temperatures. To take this into account, the tool factors in the pricked/casings status, which lowers the risk assessment because pricking allows steam out and keeps it from splitting. Of course, that’s at the expense of juice running down in the oil. A question of moisture vs. Presentation. You can prick all your links (some do), or not prick them at all (others don’t want flavor lost); both succeed, though different than others.

In the real world, batch size is where you will have most trouble. It’s tempting to put ten links into the fryer together because it seems like a time-saver, but this plunges the oil temp by thirty degrees or more. That’s enough to reduce speed of cooking as well as cause the sausage to steam rather than fry. Look again at that reference table above, you’ll notice that crowding not only prolongs the time, but also creates greater variability in results. For large crowds, do multiple rounds with fewer links each; give the oil a chance to re-warm between batches.

Sausages continue to cook even after you take them off the heat. By pulling your sausage when it reads exactly 160 degrees internal temp, you run the risk of having it be over cooked before it gets served. So account for some additional residual heat by pulling it just shy of that number. You should of pulled it earlier. The same principle carries over to poultry sausages, but they do requires a higher target internal temperature.

Resting is equally important. Settling the casing by letting the links drain on a rack helps redistribute the juices and let it set up. If you serve right away, all the fats will run out and not stay inside the bite. If timed well, each link should be hot and juicy with just the right amount of crispiness. The calculator includes this downtime in your total schedule. This gives you an accurate roadmap of how long everything takes to be ready for your guests so you don’t have to panic.

Splitting casings is few and far between if you respect diameter, monitor oil temperature, and allow your meat to rest. The result? You get deep fried sausage that looks good, tastes good, and is everything you could want.