Today I’m going to show you how to make Texas hot links yourself. They are simple and super fast to make. For the preparation you need a smoker.
Texas hot links are simply irresistible and a highlight due to their spicy, smoky aroma. It’s also known as ” Hot Guts”.
Originally, this sausage was grilled, giving the outer skin a charred, almost burnt appearance. Nowadays it is prepared in different ways, whether by grilling, baking or smoking.
But now enough talking…
Here you can find the complete Texas hot links recipe as a video or to read through.
Have fun and good luck making it!
Table of Contents
Texas hot links – What do you need to make it?
Ingredients per 1 kg
- 60 % pork belly (600g)
- 40 % beef (400g)
Your meat portion should have a maximum of 30% fat content.
Spices per kg
- 15.5 g salt
- 2.5 Cure #1
- 5 g black pepper
- 5 g garlic powder
- 5 g onion powder
- 5 g paprika powder
- 4 g mustard seed
- 2,5 g cayenne pepper
The equipment to make Texas hot links
Sausage stuffer / Grinder attachment / Funnel
You need this to get your sausage mass into the casing. If you do not have one, you can also use a filling attachment for your meat grinder or a hand filling funnel.
You need a meat grinder to “grind” the meat. The meat is chopped into small chunks and can then be mixed.
Smoker
You need the smoker to smoke your Texas hot links.
Natural casings
The Texas hot links is stuffed into natural casings. I recommend you to use pork casing caliber 28/30.
Make Texas hot links yourself – Step-By-Step Instructions
1. Cut the meat into pieces suitable for mincing. You can vary the 2. size depending on how big your meat grinder is.
2. Put the meat and fat pieces in the freezer for 1-2 hours. This will help you later with the mincing and ensure that the mass does not get too warm.
3. Now you can grind the meat. Depending on how coarse or fine you want your Texas Hot Links, you can use different perforated discs. To be honest, this is completely a matter of taste. Personally, I use the medium perforated disc. But as I said … It must taste good to you!
4. Add the spices to the meat mixture.
5. Mix the ingredients. You can do this by hand or with a hand mixer. Make sure you mix the sausage meat for 4-5 minutes, so that it gets a good binding.
6. Now fill the sausage meat into the intestine. I use a pork casing caliber 28/30. Hold the casing tightly on the filling spout and let it slowly fill up. This part takes some practice. Don’t worry if it doesn’t work 100% right away. Important: Do not fill the casing too tightly or it will burst later during frying.
7. Now you turn off the heat. You can decide for yourself how big your sausage should be. To do this, press the sausage to the desired length with two fingers on each hand and rotate it forward a few times. Then leave out one sausage length and repeat the process.
8. Put the Texas Hot Links in the smoker for 20 minutes at 50 °C (122 °F) to dry, without smoke.
9. You can then increase the temperature to 60 °C (140 °F). The Texas Hot Links should now be smoked for 2 hours.
10. Your Texas Hot Links are ready😄. Enjoy it.
How long is the shelf life of the Texas hot links?
The Texas Hot Links have a shelf life of several months. However, they will gradually lose more moisture and eventually dry out completely. Therefore, it makes sense to store them vacuumed in the refrigerator.