Why do some sausages curl when they cook – even those that start off straight? And why do some stay straight, such as hotdog sausages? And how can I stop the ones that do curl from doing so, allowing me to brown them evenly?
• Sausage skin is mostly collagen, which shrinks violently in cooking because it is degraded and dried by the heat. Most cooking equipment applies heat asymmetrically, causing uneven shrinkage, which creates curl. Partly to avoid this problem, modern hot dogs do not have a collagen skin.
Brute force, by using skewers or confining the sausage in a barbecue grill clamp, will counter the problem. Subtler strategies such as severing fibres can forestall the effect, both in sausages and in steaks and chops. There are also tricks based on heating sausages evenly and slowly, or by judiciously turning them so that the convex side is always towards the heat. Such tricks ensure that the skin on opposite sides shrinks in unison and opposing pulls counteract each other.
Advertisement
Boerewors stands with rotary sausage grillers take that principle to its logical conclusion. can curl with the best, but the griller comprises a parallel array of closely spaced hot metal cylinders that roll continuously in the same direction. The sausages rest on two cylinders at a time and roll in the opposite direction. The products are sausages to dream of: big, tasty and straight, almost independent of the operator’s skill. Eat your heart out bangers!
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa
And as our next correspondent proves, innovation is not dead – Ed
• We solve the sausage curl problem by inserting a pre-soaked bamboo skewer into the sausage to about two-thirds of its length, leaving about 10 centimetres of skewer for a handle. Then we barbecue them and eat them like a sausage lollipop which you can dip into sauce. They stay completely straight and are a hit at parties. You also have one hand free for your beer or wine.
Ian Jones, Carindale, Queensland, Australia