My apologies to the original poster of this recipe , but I never made note of who I stole it from.
I was just thinking of trying this again soon. I never had the original Penrose product but these are pretty good.
Penrose Hot Sausage Recipe.
Vs 3.0
This recipe is about as close as I've come so far.
Penrose (later bought by ConAgra Foods) mixed the spices into the sausage before cooking and pickling. So, in order to achieve the desired level of spicy goodness the brine needs to be VERY spicy!
This recipe makes a one quart jar of pickled sausage. Scale up or down as desired.
__- 1/2 cup water
__- 2 cups white vinegar
__- 1/2 tbs Ground Cayenne Pepper
__- 1 tbs red pepper flakes
__- 1 tsp minced Garlic.
__- 1 tbs dried minced onion
__- 1 tsp Paprika
__- 1/2 tsp white pepper
__- 1 tbs salt
__- Lg pinch all spice
__- 28 oz pkg Hillshire Farms 'lil Smokies, or other precooked link sausage, cut in two. (MUST be precooked!) Kielbasa sliced about 1/2 inch thick works also. Hot dogs just don't work.
__- Or, use to pickle Boiled Eggs!
Directions
1* On medium-high heat, combine the water, salt, vinegar, and spices.
2* Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes in a well ventilated area.
NOTE: when you're simmering the brine, make sure you have a ventilator fan running or a window and door open, the vinegar and Cayenne pepper boiling is kinda' hard on a the eyes! Almost like mace...
3* Place precooked sausage into a 1 qt sterile jar. Fill jar but don't pack tightly.
4* Pour the hot vinegar mixture in with the sausage, If there isn't enough, add some vinegar. Secure the lid.
5* Let cool, then place in the 'frige. keep Refrigerated after opening.
6* Ready to eat in 5 to 7 days.
When opened for the first time, there will be a layer of fat on top and the underside of the lid, remove if you want too.
