American Andouille – a southern classic

In this post I show you how you can make an andouille yourself.

I show you in this post the American version. But there is also a French andouille, which is made from offal. The American version is completely different from this one.

My version is very purist and the focus in my andouille is on the garlic, cayenne pepper and smoke flavor.

In the southern states of the USA there are several different versions. A second variant, which I have developed over the years, I have also written down in this post. Both are super tasty

Here you can find the complete American Andouille recipe as a video or to read through.

Have fun and good luck making it!

Making your own american Andouille– What do you need?

Ingredients for your amarican Andouille

Ingredients per 1 kg 

• 75 % lean pork shoulder or neck 

• 25 % pork loin fat

Spices per 1 kg 

• 17.5 g salt

• 2.5 g  Cure #1

• 15 g fresh garlic

• 3 g black pepper

• 0.75 g cayenne pepper

My second variation

Spices per kg meat

• 17.5 g salt

• 2.5 g  Cure #1

• 15 g fresh garlic

• 20 g fresh onion

• 3 g chili flakes

• 3 g paprika

• 3 g black pepper

• 1,5 g thyme

• 0.75 g cayenne pepper

• 0.75 g mace

Equipment for making amarican Andouille

Meat grinder

You will need the meat grinder, also called a mincer, to “grind” the meat, meaning the meat is finely ground.

Sausage filler / attachment for the meat grinder / hand filling funnel

You need this to get your meat mass into the casing. For starters, you can use a filler attachment for your meat grinder or a hand filler funnel. I use this one. 

Natural casings 

For filling your mass you need natural casings. I use pork casings caliber 36/38.

Smoker

You need the smoker to be able to hot smoke your andouille.

Making Mettenden – Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Cut your meat and back fat into strips. The size varies depending on how big your meat grinder is. The bigger the grinder, the bigger your pieces of meat can be.

2. Put the meat in the freezer for 1-2 hours. This will help later on with the grinding process and the temperature.

3. Chop the garlic into small pieces. With the help of a little salt you can process it into a fine paste. To do this, press the garlic with the knife after you have chopped it. Then chop again, press and from the beginning. 

4. now grind the meat and the fat. Depending on how coarse you want your final sausage meat, you can use different perforated discs.  I use the coarsest perforated disc.

5. Add the spices and garlic paste to the meat mixture and mix it into a nice sausage meat. For this, knead a few minutes really nice.

6. fill the sausage meat. I use here pork intestine caliber 36/38. Make sure that little air is in the mass.

7. Hang your filled andouille on a stick. Make sure that the stick must fit in your smoker. I use a wooden stick. You can of course twist off the andouille first. As you like.

8. you can now hang it in the smoker and smoke at 50 °C (122 °F) for about 2 hours.

9. After 2 hours, increase the temperature to 70 – 75 °C (158 °F – 167 °F) and smoke for another 2 hours.

10. your American andouille is ready 😄. Enjoy it. Optional: For the ultimate smoked flavor, you can cold smoke it overnight. 

What is the shelf life of american Andouille?

Thanks to smoking, your andouille will keep longer. 

To prevent the sausages from drying out or losing their flavor, it’s best to pack them in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

In general, I would also recommend consuming them within 7 days.

This should not be a problem because of the delicious taste ;).