Texas Hot Links
User Reviews
5
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Prep Time
2 hrs
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Cook Time
2 hrs
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Total Time
4 hrs
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Servings
20 servings
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Calories
131 kcal
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Course
Main Course, Lunch
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Cuisine
American
Texas Hot Links
Description
The preparation starts by cutting venison and pork shoulder into grinder-sized chunks and mixing them with salt and sugar to enhance binding. The pork casings are soaked to soften. The meats and spices—including paprika, cayenne, black pepper, thyme, ground bay leaves, and garlic—are combined and ground, maintaining cold temperature during grinding to ensure quality. Beer or water is incorporated to aid mixing and binding, and the sausage is stuffed into prepared hog casings.
The resulting links offer a balance of rich meat flavors with a robustly spiced exterior. These sausages can be cooked by grilling, smoking, or pan-frying depending on preference. Including a meat binder can improve texture and produce a better snap when bitten.
This recipe is adjustable to personal seasoning choices and roughly weighs about 5 pounds of meat, making a substantial quantity of links. Following the suggested process ensures the sausage binds well and has optimal flavor development.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds venison
- 2 pounds pork shoulder or belly, fatty
- 34 grams salt a little less than 2 tablespoons
- 5 grams Instacure No. 1 optional, a little less than a teaspoon
- 1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon black pepper freshly ground
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 2 teaspoons thyme
- 6 bay leaves ground fine
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/3 cup lager beer or ice water
- Hog casings
Instructions
- Cut the venison and pork into chunks that will fit into your grinder. Mix well with the salt and sugar. Let this sit in the fridge for as long as you can stand, up to overnight if you have time; it helps the sausage bind to itself better.
- Get out about 10 to 15 feet of hog casings and soak them in warm water.
- Mix the spices and garlic with the meat and fat and grind though a coarse die, about 10 mm. If you don't have that, grind with as coarse a die as you have. If your room is warmer than about 70°F, grind into a container that is set in ice, to keep things very cold.
- If the meat is still below 40°F, go ahead and grind again through a 6 mm die or similar. TIP: If you have some bread around, rip off a piece and make that the last thing in the grinder: It pushes out all of the rest of the meat so you don't waste any. If the meat is above 40°F, put it in the freezer for 30 minutes while you clean up everything.
- Add the beer (or water) to the sausage mixer and mix well with your (clean) hands, or a mixer with a paddle attachment set on low, for about 2 minutes. The sausage will adhere to itself and you will see whitish streaks in the bowl. Put the sausage in a sausage stuffer.
- Thread a casing onto the stuffer, leaving a few inches as a "tail" so you can tie it off later. Stuff the whole casing at once, again leaving a tail at the other end. Repeat until you've stuffed all the sausage.
- Make links by pinching them off and spinning them, first one way, then the other. This prevents them from unraveling when you hang the links to dry. You can also tie them off with twine. Here's a quick video on making the links. Tie off the ends of the casings.
- Carefully compress the links to reveal air pockets, and prick the links with a needle to remove them, gently compressing the meat.
- Hang your sausages to dry, for an hour at room temperature, or up to a day if you can do so in 40°F or below.
- Smoke your hot links at 200°F or thereabouts until they reach about 150°F internal temperature. Then, either eat them or plunge them into a bath of ice water to stop the cooking. Dry them off and store in the fridge for a week, or freeze.
Notes
- Adding a meat binder helps achieve better sausage snap and binding.
- Keep meat mixtures cold during grinding, using ice or chilling steps, to maintain quality.
- Soak hog casings well before stuffing to soften and prevent tearing.
Nutrition Information
Show DetailsNutrition Facts
Serving: 20servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 131 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 131kcal | 7% |
| Carbohydrates | 2g | 1% |
| Protein | 21g | 42% |
| Fat | 4g | 6% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1g | 6% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 76mg | 25% |
| Sodium | 715mg | 30% |
| Potassium | 340mg | 7% |
| Fiber | 0.4g | 2% |
| Sugar | 1g | 2% |
| Vitamin A | 464IU | 9% |
| Vitamin C | 1mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 13mg | 1% |
| Iron | 3mg | 17% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
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