What happens when you prick a sausage?
Whether it’s merguez or chipolata, sausages are filled with water and fat. As you can imagine, if you pierce them, all those juices will escape and drip straight onto your coals. The result? Dry, burnt sausages—because the juices and fat can no longer keep the meat tender. A shame, especially if you’ve already spread mustard on your bread…
Beyond the disappointment in taste, when fat drips onto the coals, it can be dangerous for several reasons. First, you risk getting splashed—and at such high temperatures, that can cause burns. To avoid this, make sure to follow the right safety practices for your barbecue. Secondly, this fat can ignite the fire and cause flare-ups. Not only will these flames burn your meat, but they’ll also deposit soot on it. These polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the charcoal are particularly harmful to your health as they are carcinogenic.
Why do we feel the need to prick sausages?
After experiencing sausages bursting—whether merguez or chipolatas—some people have gotten into the habit of pricking them beforehand. A sausage that bursts is certainly an unwelcome surprise, but rest assured, it mostly happens with industrial sausages, which are often too fatty. With quality products, you won’t have to worry about this kind of mishap.
How to choose the right sausages?
Head to your butcher for quality products with just the right balance, where the meat and fat proportions are perfectly controlled. With homemade or artisanal sausages, you won’t have to worry about them bursting. The casing will also be more resistant, preventing these issues. In fact, pricking them would only risk drying them out.
Worth noting: if not pricking sausages helps them retain their juices and tenderness, the same principle applies when cooking a whole chicken or a ribeye on the barbecue. Not piercing or cutting into your meat keeps the juices inside, preserving all its tenderness.
How to perfectly grill sausages on the BBQ
For perfect sausage grilling, turn them regularly—using tongs, not a fork, just like in our stainless steel utensil set. Avoid cooking over high heat and keep the sausages at least 10 cm away from the coals. With your Kokko, opt for low-temperature cooking with the lid closed for sausages that are juicy and cooked to perfection!
Read our interview with Jacky, who shared his tips for cooking with the Kokko and his delicious recipes.
