by Parson Snows » Mon Nov 15, 2004 2:19 pm
What you are asking is actually two different questions. The reason that Antonio Carluccio pricked the sausages was because of entrapped air. When you watched him he probably pricked them with what is called a sausage pricker, obviously. This has small diameter sharp pointed prongs and leaves a minute hole which will actually heal over. Leaving the air in the sausages can cause three things to happen.
1) the casings/sausages can spit/burst due to the entrapped air expanding during cooking.
2) the sausages may spoil, even if the are frozen, as the air will act as a breeding ground for the bacteria present.
3) The sausage may well crumble at that point if the air pocket is rather large.
If there had been no air entrapped under the skin, he still may or may not have pricked the sausages before cooking them. There are two schools of thought on this, and this argument goes back to the 16th century when they first started linking sausages. I personally believe that if they are natural skins then they ARE NOT TO BE PRICKED, as doing so will allow some of the juices to escape during cooking, resulting in a drier sausage than if you had not pricked them. As to the juices escaping from the ends. NO. The next time you cook a sausage watch it and see, not too close though. The actual ends very rarely, if at all come into contact with the cooking surface. Typically it�s the middle third of the sausage that is in contact with the heat.
Hope that this is some use to you
Kind Regards
Parson Snows
Heavenly Father Bless us
And keep us all alive
There's ten around the table
And food enough for five... Amen