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All good things come to those who wait… at least that’s how the saying goes. Two years ago, I got a great book for Christmas Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing
. And for two years it has sat on my shelf waiting for me to crack it open. This weekend it was time to learn something new and sausage making was at the top of the list. Everyone loves Chorizo that spicy, unctuous, and bright red sausage made from pork. There are two styles of Chorizo: Spanish (garlic, smoked paprika) and Mexican (chili peppers, vinegar). For this post, the focus was on the Mexican style of Chorizo with a slight twist (I smoked the Chorizo in a Big Green Egg). Now sit back, grab an ice cold Tecate, and enjoy this post for Homemade Smoked Chorizo Sausage
Homemade Smoked Chorizo Sausage
The ingredients for this recipe couldn’t be any easier: sausage casings (soaked in water for an hour before using), red wine vinegar, tequila, Boston butt, and Chorizo Mexican Sausage Seasoning mix (Kosher salt, ancho chile, guajillo chile, chipotle chile, garlic, cumin, oregano, Tellicherry black pepper, cayenne, bay leaf, Ceylon cinnamon and clove).
Chop the pork in to small cubes and mix well with the seasoning. Place in the freezer for 1 hour until the meat is just starting to freeze (this technique helps the pork from getting stuck in the grinder).
Take the slightly frozen seasoned meat and run it through a meat grinder using a small die.
Add the vinegar and tequila to the ground pork and mix using a paddle attachment on your KitchenAid
.
Now load your Jerky Gun with the ground pork mixture and rinse the sausage casings with cool water.
Twist one end of the sausage case and place the other end over the nozzle of the Jerky Gun. Press slowly on the trigger releasing the ground pork mixture in to the sausage casing evenly. Note: this was the trickiest part of the process as the casing would often split forcing me to start over. I plan to focus on this aspect the next time I make sausage. I am not sure if it was the casing, the Jerky Gun, or my technique? If you have experience here please share in the comments below.
Twist the sausage into 6-10″ lengths and tie off the ends.
Big Green Egg Smoked Chorizo
Prep your Big Green Egg for indirect cooking at 200°. Use a light fruit wood for the smoke such as Apple.
Once the Chorizo measures 150° remove from the Big Green Egg and set your environment for direct cooking. Top the sausages off over direct heat before serving.
This turned out great for my first experience at making sausage. I look forward to doing it again so I can master this craft.
Homemade Smoked Chorizo Sausage
Ingredients
- 3 # Boneless Boston Butt
- 3 Tbls Chorizo Mexican Sausage Seasoning
- 5 1/2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar
- 5 1/2 tsp Tequila
- Sausage Casings
Instructions
- Chop the pork in to small cubes
- Add the seasoning to the chopped pork, mix well
- Put the seasoned pork to the freezer for 1 hour
- Grind the seasoned pork mixture in to a bowl sitting on top of ice (to keep pork chilled)
- Add the tequila and vinegar, mix well
- Place mixture in Jerky Gun
- Rinse the sausage casings with cool water
- Tie one end of the casing and place the other end over the Jerky Gun
- Squeeze the pork mixture slowly in to the casing
- Tie off the sausages in 6-10" lengths
- Preheat your Big Green Egg to 200° using indirect heat and Apple wood (for the smoke)
- Smoke the Chorizo until the internal temp measures 150° (about an hour)
- Top off over direct heat for a couple of minutes per side and serve
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Now I want to make chorizo. My grandfather was a butcher for rhe A&P and would make sausage at home for Christmas dinner. This looks like how he use to do it. It was a long time ago (that magical time called “the 70’s”!) so I’m not really sure.
I lived through the 70’s so I know what you mean 🙂
Hello. Curious as to why you went with 1tbsp seasoning per pound while The Spice House instructions call for 2tbsp per pound. Thanks for the article!
It’s been so long I don’t remember exactly. However, the book probably called for X amount of seasoning and that’s what reference I used. Make sense?!
Use real intestines not propourted. Contact Marcacci Meats Vineland NJ. They’re family, tell em Sonny sent you.