(Note: I accidentally started talking about the Boudin in this thread, so there was a bit of discussion on that. Here's where that Boudin conversation starts).
This marks sausage #3 of #7 from sausagefest 2024. Thanks to
SmokinEdge
for the original recipe here. To choose this recipe, I reviewed available recipes for hot links and filtered out those where they add beer (I tried this, and I didn't like it. My personal opinion is this is not a good addition), then I looked at the remaining recipes and gave each recipe points for ingredients in common and subtracted points for having odd ingredients. After the joy and simplicity of the Central TX BBQ sausage, I felt that there's some merit to trying to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to texas recipes (and Mariansky also opines on the merits of sausages without "fancy ingredients"). In any case, that system had the
SmokinEdge
recipe as the winner (amongst this, this, this, and this).
The other objective was to make a REALLY hot/spicy sausage. You ever see that show "Hot Ones?" where they eat chicken wings at increasing levels of hotness, and folks struggle to make it through? I had wanted to make the sausage version of that. A sausage that you struggle to make it through (but also a version of that same sausage that's much easier).
I then made the recipe in three different batches, to test various things:
SmokinEdge
recipe verbatim and you'll be happy.
Reaper Hot Links: Per lb of meat, ideally a combo of pork shoulder and beef (e.g., 85% pork shoulder, 15% beef brisket)
Here's how it goes:
Used pork shoulder and beef brisket. As I love a good coarse grind on my sausages, I separated out the leaner bits to grind coarser. For beef, I'm extra careful to cut the fat out. Pork, not so much. Then supplemented with a tad of pork back fat to increase the fat percentage.
Coarse was on the 12mm plate. After the Columbian Chorizo sausage where I basically diced the meat, I felt much more comfortable going extra coarse on this one. Fine was on 4.5mm plate.
The ingredients. The powder in the top left is just for the last 1.5lbs of mixed meat. Taking the Reaper Hot Links and making them nuclear.
Here's the mix in the stuffer.
I then created a milk slurry of the powder to hand mix the remaining powder as evenly as possible into the 1.5lbs of mixed reaper meat I set aside. This was SO HOT! It accidentally got on my arm and it burned my skin. So definitely wear gloves and be careful!
After stuffing. I put the reaper in the Fine-T collagen and the nuclear in the last of my natural casings. I figured I'd test my high-humidity smoking hypothesis to try to help tenderize the Fine-T, but I forgot, lol. Oh well.
Post stuffing reaper patty. It was delicious! Spicy, but not too spicy.
After smoking.
After sous vide and rest 30 mins.
Cut shot after grilling. Reaper on left and nuclear on right. Notice how it's darker red -- that's just from the added 7-pot primo powder.
Results
I wanted three types of hot links from the party: (1) spicy, but totally solid (I already got this from prior batches unshown), (2) almost too spicy (I hoped this would be reaper batch), (3) so spicy it's difficult to eat the whole sausage (I hoped this would be nuclear batch).
The reaper links were delicious. I was able to eat them and they were about the hottest sausages I've ever had. The heat overpowered some of the flavor notes of the sausage, but this was what I was aiming for.
The nuclear links were another story. I ate one slice and I was okay, and then ate another slice and started sweating. I looked to the fridge and saw that we were out of milk, so I started drinking half-and-half to recover from the heat. Perfect, just what I was aiming for.
To those that may ask, "Why create a sausage so spicy it's inedible?" To them I'd say: "because it's fun." Also because my group of friends are silly. One of my friends still occasionally says: "The best $20 I ever spent was to dare X to drink a bottle of hot sauce in high school." Nowadays we aren't as crazy, but still as adults we did our own version of the hot ones challenge (and felt the pain of 'da bomb').
So it should be a fun addition to SausageFest 2024 :)
This marks sausage #3 of #7 from sausagefest 2024. Thanks to
SmokinEdge
for the original recipe here. To choose this recipe, I reviewed available recipes for hot links and filtered out those where they add beer (I tried this, and I didn't like it. My personal opinion is this is not a good addition), then I looked at the remaining recipes and gave each recipe points for ingredients in common and subtracted points for having odd ingredients. After the joy and simplicity of the Central TX BBQ sausage, I felt that there's some merit to trying to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to texas recipes (and Mariansky also opines on the merits of sausages without "fancy ingredients"). In any case, that system had the
SmokinEdge
recipe as the winner (amongst this, this, this, and this).The other objective was to make a REALLY hot/spicy sausage. You ever see that show "Hot Ones?" where they eat chicken wings at increasing levels of hotness, and folks struggle to make it through? I had wanted to make the sausage version of that. A sausage that you struggle to make it through (but also a version of that same sausage that's much easier).
I then made the recipe in three different batches, to test various things:
- Batch #1: Initial recipe test, but without fennel since it was one of those less common ingredients. Half was "Hot Ones" spicy" where I added 1g/lb habanero powder, 3g/lb hot pepper flakes, and replaced the 3g paprika with hot paprika. These were delicious and hot, but not "Hot Ones" hot. Solid links and I love how spicy they are.
- Batch #2: Added fennel. I LOVED the whole fennel. I found myself savoring bites where the fennel appeared. For the spicy half, added 1g/lb of 1million+ scoville 7-pot primo powder (a caroline pepper powder clone that's just as hot but cheaper). This stuff, if you take the smallest amount of the powder, it just scorches your mouth. The interesting thing was that the links were good, and hotter than batch #2, but they still weren't "hot ones" hot. I could eat multiple in a single sitting without wanting to reach for the milk or whatever. I was slightly frustrated I still didn't get it hot enough. There was something in the sausage that was mitigating the spicyness somehow.
- Batch #3: Subtracted sugar, and same as #2, but just went with normal paprika instead of hot paprika. Interestingly it was hotter than #2! Apparently sugar can help counteract the effect of capsaicin! So I think that's what was going on. Still not "hot ones" hot, however, but getting there. However, I find the flavor addition of the habanero to be clashing when compared against the non-spiced versions.
SmokinEdge
recipe verbatim and you'll be happy.Reaper Hot Links: Per lb of meat, ideally a combo of pork shoulder and beef (e.g., 85% pork shoulder, 15% beef brisket)
- 1.13g cure #1
- 0.3g sodium erythorbate
- 0.6g whole fennel
- 11g Nonfat Dairy Milk
- 1g chipotle
- 1g cayenne
- 1g granulated garlic
- 1g granulated onion
- 1g coarse pepper
- 35g water
- 3g hot paprika (or normal paprika if you want it less hot)
- 1g carolina reaper/7-pot primo powder
- 5.65g kosher salt
- Same as above, except
- 10g carolina reaper/7-pot primo powder per lb.
Here's how it goes:
Used pork shoulder and beef brisket. As I love a good coarse grind on my sausages, I separated out the leaner bits to grind coarser. For beef, I'm extra careful to cut the fat out. Pork, not so much. Then supplemented with a tad of pork back fat to increase the fat percentage.
Coarse was on the 12mm plate. After the Columbian Chorizo sausage where I basically diced the meat, I felt much more comfortable going extra coarse on this one. Fine was on 4.5mm plate.
The ingredients. The powder in the top left is just for the last 1.5lbs of mixed meat. Taking the Reaper Hot Links and making them nuclear.
Here's the mix in the stuffer.
I then created a milk slurry of the powder to hand mix the remaining powder as evenly as possible into the 1.5lbs of mixed reaper meat I set aside. This was SO HOT! It accidentally got on my arm and it burned my skin. So definitely wear gloves and be careful!
After stuffing. I put the reaper in the Fine-T collagen and the nuclear in the last of my natural casings. I figured I'd test my high-humidity smoking hypothesis to try to help tenderize the Fine-T, but I forgot, lol. Oh well.
Post stuffing reaper patty. It was delicious! Spicy, but not too spicy.
After smoking.
After sous vide and rest 30 mins.
Cut shot after grilling. Reaper on left and nuclear on right. Notice how it's darker red -- that's just from the added 7-pot primo powder.
Results
I wanted three types of hot links from the party: (1) spicy, but totally solid (I already got this from prior batches unshown), (2) almost too spicy (I hoped this would be reaper batch), (3) so spicy it's difficult to eat the whole sausage (I hoped this would be nuclear batch).
The reaper links were delicious. I was able to eat them and they were about the hottest sausages I've ever had. The heat overpowered some of the flavor notes of the sausage, but this was what I was aiming for.
The nuclear links were another story. I ate one slice and I was okay, and then ate another slice and started sweating. I looked to the fridge and saw that we were out of milk, so I started drinking half-and-half to recover from the heat. Perfect, just what I was aiming for.
To those that may ask, "Why create a sausage so spicy it's inedible?" To them I'd say: "because it's fun." Also because my group of friends are silly. One of my friends still occasionally says: "The best $20 I ever spent was to dare X to drink a bottle of hot sauce in high school." Nowadays we aren't as crazy, but still as adults we did our own version of the hot ones challenge (and felt the pain of 'da bomb').
So it should be a fun addition to SausageFest 2024 :)
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