Sausages are the perfect breakfast when you are craving something hearty to warm you up on a cold winter morning, but cooking them perfectly can actually be quite tricky. It may seem simple to throw them in a frying pan or bake them in the oven, but sausages are full of moisture and can cause them to burst easily.
Most people make the mistake of cooking sausages on a high heat, which causes steam to build up inside the meat and split open. This can lead to all the juices, and therefore flavour, leaking out of the sausage, so you are left with soggy sausages that are not very appetising. However, the experts at Logan’s Sausage Company have shared that there is a really easy way to ensure sausages stay tasty and plump while cooking, as you just need to boil them for a few minutes beforehand.
One expert said: “Some people parboil sausage before using an additional cooking method since the sausage is more likely to remain juicy that way.”
It might sound bizarre, but parboiling sausages helps them cook gently so both the skin and insides cook evenly at the same time.
Boiling sausages first helps tighten the skin so they will not burst open while cooking and it also greatly reduces the chance of them burning.
You will be left with sausages that are perfectly crispy while also being much more flavourful since all the juices and fat will not leak out of the casing.
Many people add seasoning to the water, such as a chicken stock cube, which greatly improves the taste and makes the sausages come out much richer.
How to poach sausages to make them tastier
To begin, place the sausages in a pan and add cold water. Make sure the water covers the sausages completely.
If you wish, you can also add any other ingredients to the water to infuse the sausages with more flavour, such as bay leaves, garlic cloves, peppercorns or even a splash of beer.
Once you are ready to cook, place the pan on a low heat. You want the water to be simmering with steam bubbles, but not enough to boil them properly.
Poach the sausages for five to 10 minutes until they are firm and almost fully cooked. If you are cooking thicker sausages, such as bratwursts, they will take longer to cook than standard supermarket sausages.
Then, you just have to place them in the oven for 10 minutes or pan fry them for three minutes to sear them. This ensures the sausages completely dry out and you get a crispy brown skin.
Once they have been fully cooked, you will be left with sizzling sausages that are a lot plump, juicy and burst with flavour when you bite into them.
