Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
If you are using sausages in a recipe, you may have already asked yourself the question: Should you prick it before cooking it, or not?
You will certainly find as many opinions "you should prick" as "you should not".
Let's try to untangle all this.
You will certainly find as many opinions "you should prick" as "you should not".
Let's try to untangle all this.
44 K 4.1/5 (18 reviews)
Keywords for this post:SausageCookingNeedleForkKnifeBrothBriocheLast modified on: September 29th 2018
Should a sausage be pricked before cooking?
A sausage, well a good one, that is to say not an industrial by-product, is a piece of gut in which is threaded a mixture of meat, spices and salt. The casing is closed at both ends, and the sausage thus formed is put to dry or to smoke. Molène sausage for example, Morteau sausage (the best in the world, no less...), or many others.
So obviously if you cook it by poaching it, i.e. in boiling water, pitting it will cause some of the cooking water to enter the sausage and "steal" some of its taste, its smoke. So, okay, it's better not to prick it.
That said, cooking a sausage by poaching is not the best way to cook it, even if it is not pricked, the contact with boiling water is not necessarily interesting for the taste.
You will get a much better result with an oven cooking: Roll the sausage in a sheet of aluminium foil, put it on a plate or a dish and put it in the oven at 180° for about 40/45 minutes (in the case of a Morteau, 30 minutes for a Molène), the sausage will cook of course, but it will also caramelize a bit, and its taste will be sublimated by this long cooking at a reasonable temperature.
And by the way, spiked or not in this case? Well, a little bit as you want, if you prick some of the fat will escape and you will have a sausage a little less fatty, but also a little drier, it's up to you.
If you make a sausage in a bun for example, I strongly advise you to cook it in the oven.
In another case, the sausage is cooked in, or in contact with, its filling: potatoes, beans, lentils,..., then it's quite clear: you MUST prick, this way the taste of the sausage will fall (or go down) on the filling, the potatoes for example, and you will have an exceptional dish in taste!
I come back to the poached sausage, which is not pricked, in principle. I say "in principle" because in fact you can poach it if you want to do a double job, that is to say cook the sausage, but also obtain a very fragrant cooking broth from the water.
In this case, you will notice that the cooking water becomes cloudy and a little fatty as it cooks, because of the exchange that takes place with the sausage. At the end of the cooking process, remove the sausage, and you will have in the pan not only water but a "Molène broth" or "Morteau broth" that you can happily use to cook rice for example, vegetables, pasta, or a little bit of everything you want, and this cooking with broth will be much more tasty than a "l'anglaise" cooking (boiling salted water).
To sum up: Should a sausage be pricked before cooking? Well, it depends on the cooking method, and can we draw a general rule from this? Let's try it...
So obviously if you cook it by poaching it, i.e. in boiling water, pitting it will cause some of the cooking water to enter the sausage and "steal" some of its taste, its smoke. So, okay, it's better not to prick it.
That said, cooking a sausage by poaching is not the best way to cook it, even if it is not pricked, the contact with boiling water is not necessarily interesting for the taste.
You will get a much better result with an oven cooking: Roll the sausage in a sheet of aluminium foil, put it on a plate or a dish and put it in the oven at 180° for about 40/45 minutes (in the case of a Morteau, 30 minutes for a Molène), the sausage will cook of course, but it will also caramelize a bit, and its taste will be sublimated by this long cooking at a reasonable temperature.
And by the way, spiked or not in this case? Well, a little bit as you want, if you prick some of the fat will escape and you will have a sausage a little less fatty, but also a little drier, it's up to you.
If you make a sausage in a bun for example, I strongly advise you to cook it in the oven.
In another case, the sausage is cooked in, or in contact with, its filling: potatoes, beans, lentils,..., then it's quite clear: you MUST prick, this way the taste of the sausage will fall (or go down) on the filling, the potatoes for example, and you will have an exceptional dish in taste!
I come back to the poached sausage, which is not pricked, in principle. I say "in principle" because in fact you can poach it if you want to do a double job, that is to say cook the sausage, but also obtain a very fragrant cooking broth from the water.
In this case, you will notice that the cooking water becomes cloudy and a little fatty as it cooks, because of the exchange that takes place with the sausage. At the end of the cooking process, remove the sausage, and you will have in the pan not only water but a "Molène broth" or "Morteau broth" that you can happily use to cook rice for example, vegetables, pasta, or a little bit of everything you want, and this cooking with broth will be much more tasty than a "l'anglaise" cooking (boiling salted water).
To sum up: Should a sausage be pricked before cooking? Well, it depends on the cooking method, and can we draw a general rule from this? Let's try it...
- Poached => do not poach, unless you want to obtain a broth at the same time
- Oven cooking => do not poach if you want to reduce the fat, but be careful => sausage is drier, otherwise do not poach
- Cooked in contact with the filling => we prick!
Lasts posts
Travel cakes
You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.January 27th 2025671
The aromatic power of sugar
In the kitchen, sugar doesn't just sweeten, it also has an exceptional ability to capture flavors. Combined with aromatic ingredients, such as citrus zest, it acts as a veritable sponge for aromas. By taking the time to let the sugar soak up the flavors, you can transform your desserts, making...December 25th 20241,3105
The little trap of thick cream
When you need to add cream to a recipe, you might be wondering: thick (heavy) cream or liquid cream? In most cases, there's no big difference: you can use either. But there is one exception, and that's when the cream needs to be cooked, for a sauce for example, and here the difference between...December 13th 20242,4375
Sauce and salad: When and how to mix them?
When dressing a salad, there's a kind of golden rule: add the dressing very shortly before serving, especially if your salad contains crunchy elements such as croutons or fresh vegetables, which will retain their crunchiness or crispiness. But, as is often the case in the kitchen, there are...November 29th 20242,4555
No need to boil gelatin
Gelatin is a magical ingredient for making light, creamy, structured desserts, yet it's often misused in the kitchen. A common mistake in some recipes is the idea that it needs to be boiled for it to work properly, but this is a mistake indeed: gelatin melts at a much lower temperature, around...November 21th 20242,2865
Other pages you may also like
Making the most of seeds: Dry roasting
In cooking, and particularly in baking, there are a lot of seeds we can use, such as linseed, sesame, poppy, etc. Usually, recipes simply say to add them just as they are to the mixture or dough. To make a seeded loaf, for example, prepare a plain bread dough as usual, then, towards the end of...January 30th 201557 K4.0
What is the difference between bakery and patisserie?
This is a question that you may well have asked yourself and which I will attempt to answer. In France the two trades of "boulangerie" (bakery) and "pâtisserie" (patisserie and confectionery) have always been quite distinct, but where exactly do the boundaries lie? .February 7th 2017125 K 14.1
Chive flowers
Did you know that? Chive flowers are not only a beautiful purple color, but they are also edible and delicious.May 29th 201944 K4.4
The skin of the almonds
If you like almonds, in their dried fruit version, you must use them quite often in cooking or baking, whether powdered or whole. It is not obvious, but in fact there is 2 kinds of almonds in the market, wholesale with or without the skin. .February 8th 202019 K4.7
The right bread knife
We almost all have a bread knife in our kitchen, that is to say the knife we use almost exclusively to cut bread. Is this knife efficient, is it really the one you need? Here is some information to guide you in your choice. .September 15th 20228,416
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.