This smoked maple sausage is a definite crowd-pleaser. Its mild flavor profile, with notes of herbs and spices, is very pleasing. The maple flavor is easily identifiable; it hits you with the first bite, but it's not overpowering. The taste of this sausage is a mix of sweet and savory, with sweetness quite subtle, leaving you with a pleasant aftertaste. The texture is smooth but not mortadella smooth. This is a fantastic sausage when you crave sausage with a captivating flavor profile and subtle sweetness.
Maple sausage is one of our staples. I normally make it fresh and freeze it until it is ready to cook. My fresh maple sausage is somewhat basic—salt, pepper, maple syrup, and garlic—but when it comes out of an air fryer, it's a flavor bomb.
About this recipe
A few family members asked me to make smoked maple sausage, so I experimented. The recipe that worked for fresh sausage cooked in an air fryer didn't taste as exciting to me when smoked and chilled. For some reason, it lacked flavor. It's mind-boggling how the same sausage served hot can taste so different from when served chilled.
In my pursuit to make this sausage more interesting, I experimented with some of my favorite herbs and spices. I settled on white pepper, sage, coriander, nutmeg, and allspice. I think this combination works exceptionally well in this sausage and complements the flavor of maple syrup. I got rid of garlic, though; it was throwing off the balance of flavors in this sausage.
Making smoked maple sausage
Making this sausage is relatively standard: cut the meat into 2" pieces, mix it with salt and Cure #1, and cure for 24-48 hours. Next, mix the meat with seasonings, grind, mix, and stuff it into hog casings—the usual.
I did a uniform grind through the 3/16" (4.5mm) plate for this sausage, similar to my Country Sausage. I quite liked that finer, but not too fine, uniform grind. For some reason, I find it very enjoyable.
My wood of choice for this sausage is something with a sweeter profile, like cherry or pecan. Both work great with this sausage.
As always, after the sausage has acquired the desired color in the smokehouse, which takes about 2-4 hours, or longer, the sausage is 'baked' to reach the target internal temperature. Slowly ramp up the heat until the sausage's internal temperature reaches 154F—158F. Based on my experience, using standard 28-32mm hog casings or thicker, this is not a simple task to accomplish and may take several hours. Many commercial recipes, especially Polish recipes, state that this process takes 20 minutes. Good luck with that. Commercial smokers can run very high humidity during the 'baking' stage, improving heat transfer. Backyard smokers can't do that.
Instead, I've been poaching my smoked sausage, which takes only 25-35 minutes. Quick and with predictable results. Once I started using the poaching method, I never looked back. Nowadays, I may only finish in the smoker sausage stuffed in thin sheep or collagen casings, like my favorite beef sticks, kabanos, and chicken sausage.
Drying the sausage
As always, I recommend slightly drying your smoked sausage. This will firm up the texture and intensify the flavors, similar to dry aging your steaks. But this is not mandatory. If you like softer sausage, enjoy it right away.
Ingredients
- 1,000 g pork butt
- 12 g kosher salt
- 2.5 g Cure #1 level
- 36 g maple syrup
- 2 g white pepper
- 1 g rubbed sage
- 0.5 g ground nutmeg
- 1 g ground coriander
- 0.5 g ground allspice
- 60 ml ice water see the notes
Instructions
- Weigh the meat in grams. Divide the total weight by 1000, then multiply each ingredient by that number, except the water (see notes). For example, if the meat weighs 2350 g, you need to multiply the ingredients specified above by 2.35. Using the metric system makes this a lot easier.
- Cut the meat into 2" (5-6 cm) pieces, mix with salt and Cure #1. Place it in a container, cover, and refrigerate for 24-48 hours.
- Remove the meat from the fridge, mix with the seasonings, and grind it through the 3/16" (4.5mm) plate.
- Mix the ground meat well, adding ice water, until the meat becomes sticky.
- Stuff into hog casings (28-32 mm) and tie into rings. Prick any visible air pockets with a needle.
- Dry for about 60 minutes in the smoker at about 110F - 130F without smoke.
- Smoke at around 130F - 140F for 2-4 hours, until the casings develop brown color with a red tint. You may have to re-arrange smoke sticks during smoking to achieve even color.
- Poach at 167F - 176F for 25 - 35 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 154F -158F.
- Shower with cold water for about 5 minutes, then let cool down and dry.
- Hang the sausage in a cool room or a curing chamber for 5-7 days to dry at about 55F and 75% relative humidity. This will prolong the shelf life and intensify the flavor of the sausage. If you don't have a cold room or a curing chamber, loosely wrap the sausage in unglazed butcher paper and place it in the fridge. Flip and shuffle once every day for about 1-2 weeks.
- Store in a refrigerator or vacuum seal and freeze for long-term storage.
Leave a Reply