Beef sausage internal temperature

jerryp

I recently purchased a meat grinder and sausage stuffer and, with the help of The Food Lab cookbook, have been cranking out some killer sausage. I am trying beef sausage and am unsure of the internal temperature to shoot for.  Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

DMW

165*. Depending on cooking temp you could pull early and let carryover finish.

SGH

More often than not, I refrain from responding to curing questions for the simple fact that there is no way that I can know the persons skill level that is posing the question when it comes to curing. However I will offer this and this alone for sheer academic reasons. It should be read as info only, not as advice. It is simply one mans thoughts and opinions. Nothing more. 
If properly cured, ripened and fermented, it does not even have to be cooked. It can be eaten "as is" or raw if you will. Again, I don't advise anyone to attempt this if they are not trained or are a very astute student of the practice. If done incorrectly, things can go bad real fast. However I'm living proof that it can be done and consumed in very large volumes. As others have already said, make your approach to at least 155 and all will be well. 

Note on the text above. I should point out that the above method takes many months. Not days or weeks. 

DMW

I should have mentioned, 165* is finished temp for fresh sausage. If cured as @SGH mentioned above, cooking is optional.

nolaegghead

I concur with the above.  Some sausage cured properly is safe to eat not cooked at all.  Usually these are fermented with lactic acid bacteria and aged.  

blasting

@jerryp   I'm planning on getting into grinding and sausage making myself.  Love to see some pics of your set up next time you are messing with it.

btw cute boston in your profile - I've got one myself.

jerryp

I failed to mention that the sausages are I cured. I've heard 150 is ideal. Just wanted to confirm since I read loads of conflicting info on the web. My setup is a kitchen aid mixer with a grinder attachment. Cheap and effective.

Darby_Crenshaw

It's not about safety, it's about texture and heating thru, right?

150-155 is good depending what you have. More important is taking it easy with the cooking. I go raised direct at around 400-450 with stuff like brats, to about 145-150. That way they don't split (helps to not overstuff also).

kielbasa, chorizo, etc., linguica, which are beefier heartier sausages, i direct grill (grid level i mean) hotter and sometimes split them. These probably hit 165 or more. But they are being cooked to some amount of burnt-edge grill-marked crispiness rather than IT.  

Most sausages are fatty enough to bear overcooking, except that too much so and they get grainy

cook them direct but gently so they don't burn. If you need an IT to hang yer hat on, 150-160 is a good balance

Canugghead

When taking IT I like to insert the Thermapen from the end to minimise juice loss.
edit: may be it's losing as much juice but not as obvious as when poked in the middle?

LetsEat

Love this forum, it's like a "meat-porn" hotline