How To Tell If Sausage Is Cooked - The Definitive Guide

Sausages are a breakfast, lunch, and dinner staple. Many different dishes feature these amazing foods, but it can often be challenging to gauge when exactly a sausage has finished cooking.

An undercooked sausage can ruin the dish and the whole breakfast or dinner. Also, eating a sausage that is raw on the inside carries serious health risks.

So how do you know if a sausage is cooked? Use a thermometer to check the internal temperature of the sausage. The internal temperature of well-cooked sausage is 160°F for pork and beef and 165°F for chicken or turkey sausage. You can also cut the sausage to see if it is cooked or not. 

In this article, we will talk about the different techniques for cooking sausages. You will also learn to know if the sausage is cooked or not with the help of a thermometer and without it.

The problem of overcooked or undercooked sausages

Sausages are the favorite dishes of many people. They are available in various varieties and flavors. Also, sausages are versatile and go well with many other ingredients, from eggs to different vegetables.

You can use the sausages to make a number of dishes and serve them for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Sausages are made with different types of minced meat: pork, beef, chicken, turkey, etc.

The meat is packed in a natural or synthetic casing. Depending on the variety, sausages may contain added ingredients such as breadcrumbs, various spices, and grains. 

Although cooking sausages does not take much time and may seem like a fairly easy task, it is at the same time very delicate, since you never know what is under the charred skin.

Sausages may look appetizing and have beautiful red and gold skin, but when you bite into them you may find that the meat inside is still raw and runny. But what’s worse than undercooked sausage is overcooked.

Some people cook sausages too long to ensure they are cooked through. But they end up with dry and tasteless sausages.

To cook sausages to perfection, you have to know the different cooking techniques and how to use them correctly. You also have to know how to tell if the sausage is cooked or not, regardless of the cooking method you have chosen.

Ways to cook sausages

There are many different ways to cook sausage.

You should decide the cooking method taking into account your preferences in terms of the appearance and texture of the sausages, the time you have available and how healthy you want the dish to be. 

Here are the most popular methods for cooking sausages:

Boiled

If you are not confident in your cooking skills, this is the method to choose when you decide to cook sausages.

To boil the sausages, you only need a pot filled with water or another liquid, for example, broth, wine or beer . You can add onions, garlic or tomatoes to the cooking liquid to give the sausages more flavor.

When the liquid begins to boil, lower the sausages into the liquid. Let the liquid simmer for about 30 minutes. 

Since boiling doesn’t give sausages the crispy exterior that most people like, some prefer to give them a charred appearance and crispy texture by using a pan with a small amount of oil.

Fry in the pan

Pan frying sausages means cooking them in a pan with oil or butter. It takes about 15 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of the sausages. You need to turn the sausages so that they get a good color on both sides.

You can also skip the sausages. When sautéing food, the ingredients are continually turned over. Thus, the sausages acquire a nice red color on all sides.

Frying the sausages is also an option if you’re not worried about calories.

Grill

Grilling is one of the most popular methods of cooking sausages.  It usually takes about 10 minutes to grill a sausage.

When grilling the sausages, you should turn them so that they are well seared on all sides and cook evenly on the inside.

To bake

Baking is a good way to cook a large number of sausages in one batch . Larger sausages take a little longer to cook through in the oven.

But sausages cooked in the oven turn out to be healthier, and the cooking process is relatively easy.

You want to turn the sausages halfway through the cooking process so that they are crispy on both sides. 

How to tell if a sausage is well cooked

To know if a sausage is well cooked or not, you will need a thermometer.

A food thermometer is a smart and practical investment that allows you to monitor the internal temperatures of foods, including hot dogs. This tool also helps eliminate foodborne illness risks.

To check the cooking point of the sausages with the help of a thermometer, you will have to insert the tip of the thermometer into the sausage, making sure to reach the center. 

The internal temperature of the pork and beef sausages should be 160°F. The internal temperature of chicken and turkey sausage should be slightly higher: 165°F.

This is when the sausages are well cooked and safe to eat.

Don’t let the internal temperature of the sausages get any higher, as at higher temperatures the fat will melt and drip. This results in dry sausages vs. juicy sausages cooked to perfection.

If you’re worried about your sausages being raw in the center, you should try the slow cooker method.

For this method, you have to boil the sausages on medium heat for about 7 minutes . This step ensures that the sausages remain juicy and soft.

The second step, which further cooks the sausages and gives them an attractive appearance, is to brown them in a greased skillet . So, the simmering and searing technique helps you cook the sausages to perfection.

You can also take the sausages out of the casing, crumble them in a hot pan and fry them. This is a great cooking technique for sausages if you don’t have a thermometer handy and need to make sure the meat is cooked through.

What color should sausages be when cooked?

A perfectly cooked pork or beef sausage should be a deep pinkish-red color. Chicken or turkey sausages usually have a lighter reddish-pink color when cooked. 

But what most home cooks are concerned with is what color the cooked sausage should be on the inside. Should it be pink?

The sausages are made with minced meat, which makes them pink on the inside. Also, the meat is treated with salt. The latter causes the sausages to retain their pink color even after cooking.

Therefore, if you have cooked the sausages according to the instructions that come with them or have checked their internal temperature with a thermometer, you can continue eating them.

How to tell if a sausage is cooked without a thermometer

If you don’t have a thermometer, you’ll need to slice the sausage to see if it’s cooked through or raw. If you cut into the sausage and see that the juices are still too runny, then cook it for a few more minutes.

Some sources recommend piercing the skin of the sausages to see if the juices are runny or not.

Don’t do it, since you will lose all the moisture that the casing keeps inside the sausage without being able to correctly detect its cooking level.

Over time, you’ll develop a cook’s intuition as you continue to make your favorite sausage dishes. You will learn to know if the sausage is cooked or not, even without a thermometer.

How to tell if a sausage is cooked on the grill

If you don’t have a thermometer, we recommend that you boil the sausages for 10-15 minutes before grilling . This technique will give you juicy, well-cooked sausages.

If you only grill the sausages, they may quickly sear on the outside but remain cold and raw on the inside.

If you’d rather skip the boiling step and grill your sausages right away, take them out of the fridge 30 minutes in advance and allow them to come to room temperature before grilling. 

Slice one of the sausages to make sure the entire batch is cooked through.

How to tell if a sausage is cooked in the oven

When cooking sausages in the oven, it is important to set the correct oven temperature and leave the sausages in the oven long enough for them to cook completely.

Precooked sausages don’t need more than 30 minutes to cook in the oven, while raw ones need up to 1 hour. 

Use a thermometer to determine if the sausages are cooked through, or cut one open to see what the inside looks like.

What happens if you eat undercooked sausages?

Rare sausages have a strange taste. But more important than the unpleasant taste are the health risks associated with the consumption of undercooked sausages.

Undercooked sausages can lead to food poisoning caused by bacteria and parasites in the meat. Trichinosis, for example, is a foodborne illness caused by raw or undercooked meat.

The most common cause is raw or undercooked pork. Symptoms can include pain in the abdomen, headaches, and fever.