NEVER Poke Your Sausages Again | An Old Butcher's Trick Keeps Them Juicy

📖 41 years behind the meat counter, all written down: The Old Butcher's Counter, three books on buying meat (At the Counter), cooking the cheap cuts (At the Stove), and cutting, wrapping and keeping it (At the Block) 👉 https://hankskitchen.store Why does store sausage split, shrink and dry out in the pan? I made sausage every week for 41 years, and here's what's really in that cheap package, and how to cook any sausage so it stays juicy. I spent my whole working life behind a small-town meat counter. In this video I'll show you how to read a sausage label like a butcher, the cooking mistake almost every family makes, and how to make better sausage at home in about ten minutes, with no casings or special tools. Quick answer: Don't poke the casing. Start sausages in a cold skillet with a finger's depth of water, cover and steam on medium for 8 to 10 minutes, then let the water cook off and brown them in their own fat. Fresh pork or beef sausage is done at 160°F (71°C) in the center; chicken or turkey sausage at 165°F (74°C). In this video: - How to read a sausage label: fillers, added water, mechanically separated meat - Raw vs. fully cooked sausage, and the safe temperatures - Why you should never poke sausages with a fork - The water-then-brown method for juicy sausage - Checking doneness with a thermometer instead of cutting - Using the pan drippings for onions, peppers or sausage gravy - Homemade breakfast and Italian sausage from plain pork, salt and spices Butcher's extra: Fry one small spoonful of your homemade sausage mix before shaping the batch. Taste it, adjust the salt and spice, then rest the mix overnight in the fridge so the flavors settle. Chapters (fill in times after upload): 0:00 Why your sausage splits and dries out #7 Buying sausage by the picture on the front #6 Raw or fully cooked? #5 Poking holes in the casing #4 The water-then-brown method #3 Cutting a sausage to check it #2 Throwing out the pan drippings #1 The back-room trick: make your own 👉 Subscribe for more old butcher tricks: https://www.youtube.com/@HankElleryKitchen?sub_confirmation=1 💬 Turn a package of sausage over and count the ingredients. How many did you find, and did your family always poke their sausage with a fork? Watch next: I Stopped Buying Pork Chops | This Butcher Trick Gets 12 Thick Chops for Half the Price [link] Hank's Kitchen shares traditional kitchen wisdom from an old butcher's counter. Hank is an AI-generated character. Food safety: cook fresh pork and beef sausage to 160°F (71°C) and poultry sausage to 165°F (74°C). Take extra care for anyone pregnant, very young, elderly or unwell. #Sausage #ButcherTips #HomeCooking