What causes a sausage to burst when cooking?

[_Darkstream_]

What causes a sausage to burst when cooking?

I allways prick or slash bought sausages when frying/grilling. Sometimes the sausages still burst. It seems more prevalent with larger diameter sausages than chipolatas, and also if cooked too hard.

But what is it that actually makes them swell so much as to burst at all?

[aris]

Water probably. When it boils the steam has to escape somewhere.

Water is one of the favorite ingridents in shop-bought sausages - it's very cheap!

[_Darkstream_]

UUrgh!!

Now I am confused.

Franco recommended me to ADD water or cracked ice to the mix for texture/softening, and many other makers do too. I appreciate the "cheap" point.

Is what you are really saying that those that burst have been over watered?

I think a number of new makers on the forum would appreciate a more detailed answer.

[Franco]

If your sausages are bursting it probably means you are cooking the sausage too quickly and at a too high a temperature.

Franco

[aris]

Yeah - Franco is right - that can cause it too - as well as over-stuffing the sausage.

[_Darkstream_]

Yeah. I allways thought that was the cause. In fact, I allways tried to fry sausages slowly, to get them good and brown/black, even sticky. But the other half often cooks them but does not eat them so......


Now I am making my own, I have not used skins yet (trying to get the m sausage tasting-some success). Still, I will need to know soon.

[Parson Snows]

If you cook them in the oven you will find that this then very rarely it at all ever happens. You should also NEVER prick natural skinned sausages as you are allowing all of the juices and thus flavour to seep out and be lost.

Typical causes (listed in order of severity)
1) too much water in the mix
2) cooking the sausages at too high a temperature
3) stuffing the sausages too tightly.

It is in fact for the first reason that sausages inherited their tag/nickname as "Bangers" after the second world war.

hope that this is of some use to you.

kind regards

Parson Snows

[porkpal]

I agree with parson snows on the oven. I cook allmost all my sausages in a tosteroven and they come out great even all brown and black.

[Parson Snows]

Typically, unless you are trying to save costs - as water is generally cheaper than meat - any water added is usually to facilitate mixing and stuffing. For the mixing part it's to keep the meat temperatures lower, and for the stuffing to make it easier.

kind regards

Parson Snows