For fast-acting relief when you’re stuck in a grilling rut, try to remember that cookery is all about presentation. At the cottage, most of us cook sausages in the same old way, grilled and served straight up or on a bun. To put some pizzazz into your next sausage fest, try to think outside the link and cook your wurst in a coil.
To obtain unlinked coils, you’ll need to shop at a place that makes sausages on site. Traditional European butchers will likely sell a variety of coils for this very purpose. At regular meat boutiques or chain stores, you will need to ask a butcher. (Fortunately, this is one of those “ask your butcher” questions that is actually less work for the sausage maker, but since it’s not a frequent request, you’re smart to call ahead.) The type of sausage really doesn’t matter, so choose your favourites, from hot Italian to bratwurst. Keep in mind that the sausages we commonly eat are made with hog casings, which make for a thicker coil and takes longer to cook. Sausages made with sheep casing are thinner, cook more quickly, and are used to make coils of chipolata, luganega, and merguez.
To tame a hank of wurst and give it crowd-pleasing good looks, twist it into a tight coil, then crucify it with metal or bamboo skewers, north to south and east to west. This will let you handle the coil as a single unit when you gently cook it on a grill set at medium-low, turning often. Easy does it: overcooking makes a dry Cumberland. Sausages are fully cooked when they reach an internal temperature of 160°F, so pull them off the grill at 155°F to allow for carryover cooking. Impatient, high-temperature grilling will make your coils split, lose their juices, and dry out. Avoid.
This article was originally published in the May 2019 issue of Cottage Life.
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