Sausages
Brushfire Hot Links
Texas Hot Link Style Smoked Sausage
Most hot links are seasoned like a mild smoked sausage with some cayenne thrown at them, and they taste like it. This one is built the other way round — heat first, then ancho underneath so there is something holding it up after the burn fades. Leave half the batch coarse when you grind. That loose, craggy bite is what separates a hot link from a hot dog, and it is the first thing anyone notices.
- Internal temp
- 152°F
- Smoker temp
- 130°F, then 165°F, finish 175°F
- Casing size
- 32-35 mm
- Casing
- Natural Hog
- Bloom
- 30-60 minutes
What goes in it
- Kosher Salt
- Cure #1
- Cayenne Pepper
- Coarse Black Pepper
- Paprika
- Ancho Chile Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Mustard Powder
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Ground Coriander
- Dextrose
- Ice Cold Water
Amounts are calculated for your batch weight in the app — including the cure, which is held at a fixed, food-safe rate.
The meat
Lean Wild Game · Lean Beef · Pork Butt · Pork Shoulder
How it's made
- Cube the meat and fat and chill hard. Everything stays below 34°F. Partially freeze until the edges are firm before grinding.
- Grind everything through the coarse 3/8" plate. Re-chill, then run about half the batch through the 1/4" plate. Leaving half of it coarse is what gives a hot link its loose, craggy bite instead of a smooth hot dog texture.
- Mix all of the dry seasonings together thoroughly before they touch the meat, cure included. Cure has to be evenly distributed and never dumped in one spot.
- Add the dry mix and the ice cold water to the ground meat. Mix hard for 3 to 4 minutes until the meat turns sticky and pulls back at your hand. That tack is protein extraction. Skip it and the links crumble and render their fat out in the smoker.
- Fry a small test patty and taste it before you stuff a single casing. This is seasoned heavy on purpose. If it tastes flat it is under-salted, not under-spiced, so add salt before you add more chile.
- Stuff into 32-35 mm natural hog casings, packed firm with no air pockets. Twist into 6 inch links and prick any bubbles.
- Hang uncovered in the refrigerator overnight, or at room temperature in front of a fan for an hour, until the casings are dry and tacky to the touch. Smoke will not stick to a wet casing.
- Smoke at 130°F for 1 hour with no smoke, to finish drying the casings.
- Raise to 165°F and run heavy oak or mesquite for 2 to 3 hours. This is where the color and most of the flavor comes from.
- Finish at 175°F until the internal temperature reaches 152°F in the thickest link.
- Cool them down promptly. (Optional — an ice bath is not required. It is personal preference; many just let them cool at room temp, or outside in cold weather. Just cool them down promptly.)
- Rest overnight in the refrigerator before eating. The heat blooms and the garlic settles into everything. Heat is adjustable: drop the cayenne for a milder link or push it higher if you want it genuinely punishing, and leave everything else alone. No binder is used here on purpose — traditional Texas links often carry milk powder or bull flour, and a proper protein extraction in step 4 does the same job without it.
Wood
Oak · Mesquite · Hickory · Pecan
Safety
- Cure #1 at 0.25% is required and locked. This sausage is held for hours at low temperature in the danger zone and must be cured. Do not reduce or omit it.
- Keep the meat below 34°F through grinding, mixing and stuffing. Warm fat smears and ruins the texture.
- Cook to 152°F internal, verified with a probe in the thickest link. Do not judge by time or color alone.