Preparing your sausages perfectly can sometimes be challenging when they're frozen. You want them to look golden brown on the outside. You want them to be a little crunchy and fully cooked inside. OK, so cooking sausages from frozen, how to do it?
That’s a reasonable expectation, but more often than not, if you can’t get it right, we have some help. There are a few different ways to cook a frozen sausage to ensure your next meal (or snack, no judgment) is delicious.
We will go through all that and ensure that the next frozen sausage you cook has a flavour and texture the way you like it. The only thing you should remember for all these methods is to give the frozen sausage time to defrost.
How To Cook Sausages From Frozen
Option 1: Cooking In The Oven
If you want to cook the frozen sausage you bought in an oven, you will find that there aren’t a lot of complications to this method. All you need is the one thing you want to cook and get the timing right. Of course, you need a properly functioning oven, too.
When you cook in an oven, you also have the benefit of not having to monitor it while the appliance does its job. And isn’t that the whole point? If you store them properly in the freezer, frozen sausages stay good for almost 6 months. And it’s about two months for fresh sausages.
If you like to stick them in the oven for a quick and delicious meal, you want to know how to get it right. And here’s how that is done. Let’s begin.
- Step 1: Start by preheating the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Step 2: The temperature in the oven varies depending on the model you have. So, 375 degrees is for fan ovens. If you have a gas oven, you want to start at 340 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Step 3: Take out a baking pan and line it with just one tin foil sheet. This is to make sure that it stays clean.
- Step 4: Add just one tablespoon of olive oil to the baking pan on top of the foil.
- Step 5: Take the defrosted sausages and make sure you roll them around so that they get the oil.
- Step 6: Leave them to bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Step 7: You want to turn the sausages around while they are being cooked, which means you will have to take two or three breaks from baking during the process.
You can also do this just once, in which case you should interrupt the cooking time at the halfway mark.
This ensures they end up with the golden brown colour we aim for.
- Step 8: Make sure you remove the sausages one after the other as they turn to the desired colour. This is because they don’t all change colours in one go. Not always, anyway.
- Step 9: Bring out the meat thermometer and see that the temperature is at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit at the thickest portion of the sausage.
- Step 10: Cut the sausage and ensure the juices are clear and the meat is not pink. If it’s still pink, you might want to cook it for 5 more minutes in the oven.
Option 2: Grilling Them
If you want to grill the sausages, here’s the procedure.
- Step 1: Preheat the grill to a medium level for 10-15 minutes.
- Step 2: Once preheated, switch off two burners so there is only indirect heat.
- Step 3: Locate the area where the sausages will get indirect heat and place the wire rack on it to cook them evenly. Put the defrosted sausages on the wire rack.
- Step 4: If the grill has two built-in racks, use the top rack.
- Step 5: Close the grill lid and cook the defrosted sausages for about 15 minutes. Halfway through this cooking time, flip them.
- Step 6: Make sure the sausages are brown on both sides at a uniform temperature.
- Step 7: Once again, ensure that the temperature of the thickest portion of the sausage is 160 degrees F.
- Step 8: The sausages must be placed on a direct heat source for about 3 minutes. Once again, flip them so that they are evenly cooked. Of course, this step is optional, and you must use your judgement here.
Option 3: Frying Them In A Pan
Then, there is the option of just using the good old frying pan. And if you’re kicking it old school, here’s how you do it well.
- Step 1: Take a large frying pan or a saucepan and fill it with cold water. Add the defrosted sausages to the pan and ensure they are submerged in the water. Cover the pan.
- Step 2: Switch on the stove and keep it at medium-high. Let the water simmer, which should take about 6-8 minutes.
- Step 3: Once the water starts to simmer, your defrosted sausages will start to cook. This will also make sure that the sausages stay tender.
- Step 4: Get a meat thermometer for this process and ensure the temperature is at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Step 5: At this point, don’t worry if the sausages still look grey in colour because they still won’t have any pink on the inside, and that’s what matters.
- Step 6: Now, take another pan and add a coating of oil to it. You can also use the same pan, but ensure no water residue.
- Step 7: Switch on the stove again, but keep the flame high. Wait for the oil to simmer a bit.
- Step 8: Take the sausages and put them in the oil to get them to sear. This won't take too long since the cooking process has already started.
- Step 9: Wait until the sausages turn the golden colour you choose, then take them out.
The good news about this method is that you can keep the sausages as they were or cut them into pieces any way you please to get them to cook faster.
FAQs
Q: Is It Necessary To Pierce the Sausage’s Skin?
A: You shouldn’t do that because then you risk the sausages losing the juices and their flavour, too.
Q: How Long Will It Take To Cook Them In An Air Fryer Or Oven?
A: If you’re cooking them in an air fryer, you need the air fryer to be at about 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which will take about 15 to 20 minutes. It’s the same as cooking in an oven. And then, you wait for the sausages to turn into the desired colour.
Q: Is Freezing The Sausage After Cooking It An Option?
A: Actually, yes. You can cook the sausages and freeze them for long-term storage. But you must see they are completely cooled down before you freeze them. This will keep them good for consumption for about two months.
Cooking Sausages From Frozen: In Conclusion
Apart from the three methods mentioned in this piece, you can also cook frozen sausages in an air fryer. No matter your method, you should ensure that the sausages have been defrosted properly first.
Then, you should follow the steps mentioned above. Once you think the sausages are cooked, check the temperature of the thickest part of the sausage. Ensure it is about 160 degrees F, and you will be ready.
You should also make sure that the juices are clear in colour and the meat is not pink anywhere. If it is, take the sausage back to your appliance and cook it for another five minutes.
