When Cooking Sausage In A Pan, Avoid One Dreaded Temperature Mistake

Whether you're making bangers and mash or a sausage and kale pasta bake, sausage is a great ingredient to have on hand when you want to add a hearty, flavorful protein to your dinner. But to make sure you get perfectly browned, juicy results rather than a dry, sticky mess, it's important to know all the sausage tips and tricks, including avoiding one common mistake: placing sausages in a cold pan.

While it may not seem like a severe misstep (and it's inarguably hard to be patient when your stomach is grumbling), placing your sausages in the pan before it heats up can unleash a host of issues in your cooking. First, by putting sausages in a cold pan and then letting it heat up, the sausages will begin to cook gradually. By the time the pan is even near hot enough, the insides will be overcooked and dry, while the outsides are oily and soft. This will cause you to miss out on the flavor and crispy texture the browning process provides. Additionally, forgetting to heat the pan first can lead to the sausage casings sticking to the surface, causing them to rip and leak out valuable juices and fat.

Instead of dealing with a sausage catastrophe, heat up your pan on medium heat and add about a tablespoon of oil until it has a shimmering sheen on top. Since the sausages already have natural oils from the fat, avoid overdoing it with your oil so you don't end up with a greasy bite.

Now that you know a cold pan is a major no-no, you're on your way to becoming a pro sausage chef. But there are lots of other things to keep in mind when cooking up your links in a pan. After your pan is heated, place your sausages in and don't flip them for at least a few minutes in order to get a good sear on the outside first. Make sure you aren't overcrowding your pan, as too many sausages can interfere with the browning process and lead to them sticking together and cooking unevenly.

While cooking at too low of a temperature can be an issue, so can cooking too hot. Throwing your sausages into a scalding hot pan will cook (and burn) the outsides quickly without allowing the insides to cook all the way through. Depending on what type of sausage you're using, be sure to check that the interior has reached 160 to 165 degrees Fahrenheit before letting the links rest for a few minutes and (finally) digging in.