8 Steps to Cook Sausage-on-a-Stick at Home

State fair sausage-on-a-stick is incredibly easy to mess up. Take a sausage, put it on a stick, set it near heat and let it cook until the outer layer begins to darken slightly. The issue here is the lack of complexity. While the sausage develops a nicely browned case, the middle could still need some extra cooking.

Grill it a bit more and suddenly the case bursts open and the juice escapes from the casing and what would have otherwise been a nice juicy state fair treat now dries out. The key to preventing this is to differentiate between browning on the outside and doneness within the sausage.

Steps to Make Sausage-on-a-Stick

Below are 8 tips to ensure that you have both done correctly.

Step 1: Buy Sausages That Are Approximately the Same Diameter

If you are cooking many sausages at once, pick pieces that are roughly similar diameters. A significantly thinner sausage will be cooked before a thicker one, even if they were placed on the grill at the exact same moment. Getting all of your sausages close to being the same diameter won’t eliminate all variables, however getting them similar does remove one major variable. This is especially useful when doing sausage-on-a-stick for a group because you’re probably going to be managing a number of pieces at once. Rather than trying to determine which sausage was added to the grill first, you can focus on developing consistent browning while monitoring each piece for doneness.

Step 2: Be Careful When Adding Your Stick

While a state fair sausage isn’t complete without a stick; the manner in which you add it is just as important. Do not force the skewer through the sausage at an angle, instead push it through length-wise. You want enough of the stick in the sausage to secure it firmly but not damage the casing excessively. Badly placed sticks can make it difficult to turn the sausage and can also perforate the casing in several places causing juices to leak out during cooking. Using wooden skewers over an open flame? Soaking them prior to use can help prevent scorching to the exposed portion of the skewer.

Step 3: Begin at Lower Temperatures

Perhaps the easiest way to ruin sausage-on-a-stick is by placing it directly above very extreme temperatures and letting it sit there. High temperatures react with the casing much quicker than the inside of the sausage. You may develop great grill marks and wonderful caramelized colors on the casing quickly, yet the inside remains behind. Instead start at lower temperatures and allow the sausage to cook internally. Later you can raise the heat to produce greater browning on the exterior. In doing this you’ll gain more control over cooking your sausages versus trying to do both doneness and maximum browning at once.

Step 4: Periodically Turn Your Sausages during Cooking

Don’t leave one side of your sausage sitting in front of the hottest part of your grill for too long and you’ll end up with one highly charred side and possibly three sides that are uncharred. Continuously turn your sausage during cooking to allow new sections to be exposed to heat. You’re not looking to burn one area first (although that’s what tends to happen) – you’re attempting to create an evenly-browned casing. The stick helps greatly with this task since it serves as a handle for continuously turning your sausages. Also keep an eye out for flare ups! Dripping fat onto flames can rapidly generate much more heat than you anticipate and turn that perfect browning into a burnt casing very quickly.

Step 5: Don’t Assume That Browning Means That It’s Done

There is perhaps no difference between successful sausage-on-a-stick and guessing like this assumption. What happens on the outside is only telling you what’s happening on the outside.

A sausage can appear to be a rich brown color on the outside but still require additional cooking on the inside. Similarly, constantly returning your sausage to high heat because you are unsure about what’s occurring inside can lead to cracking of the casing and loss of juices.

As a measuring tool, time is not much better either. How quickly each piece of sausage cooks depends upon its thickness, initial temperature and heat level of your grill. Thus, instead of trying to understand both appearance and elapsed time simultaneously, take a direct measure of the internal temperature of your sausage.

Step 6: Measure Temperature of the Sausage-on-a-Stick

You don’t want temperature checks to become another thing you have to worry about while you’re standing next to a hot grill with numerous sausages cooking at once. The TempPro TempSwift PLUS TP19H Instant-Read Meat Thermometer provides results in approximately one second with ±0.9℉ accuracy providing quick checks for each piece of sausage individually, enabling you to get back to adjusting your grill.

Its 4-inch food-grade stainless steel probe provides excellent reach when using it in conjunction with your hot grill surface. To find out what is happening inside your sausage insert the probe into its thickest portion rather than judging based solely on how browned the casing appears.

Additionally, the TempPro TempSwift PLUS TP19H is NSF certified for safe food handling, giving you confidence in its utility beyond sausage for various forms of cooking including grilling, frying, baking and candy making.

Step 7: Check More than One Sausage, Not Just One

Although your sausages are almost identical in size don’t assume that checking one will indicate whether or not all others are done. Areas of varying heat exist across every grill as well as variations in size among sausages affecting their rate of cooking.

Wherein lies the benefit of having such rapid temperature reads provided by the TempPro TempSwift PLUS TP19H Instant-Read Meat Thermometer. This enables you to quickly move between multiple sausages eliminating any possibility of determining one is done and then moving on to others thinking they’ve achieved equal levels of doneness.

It also features a large backlit screen that automatically turns 180 degrees ensuring that readouts remain viewable irrespective of which hand you are using or from which direction you approach the grill. Additionally, there is a locking feature allowing you to record and then remove this instant-read kitchen thermometer from heat before viewing displayed data.

Further enhancing ease of use, the TempPro TempSwift PLUS TP19H utilizes motion sensing technology providing a simple method of continuous monitoring. It powers on when opening its probe, shuts off when closing its probe, enters sleep mode when inactive and awakens when lifted from its resting position.

Step 8: End with Increased Heat for State Fair-Style Browning

After knowing that your sausages are nearing completion of their desired internal temperature, you can focus on producing that state fair style browned look. Place these sausages briefly over increased heat while continuing to rotate them frequently to develop additional browning without prolonging the total cooking duration.

This represents one of the benefits associated with dividing internal cooking from external finishing. No longer will you continue to cook a sausage at high heat simply due to uncertainty regarding what is taking place inside.

You can utilize the TempPro TempSwift PLUS TP19H to monitor internal development and your own eyes for visual inspection for final appearance. Finally, after your barbecue is concluded, its IP65 waterproof rating permits cleaning with running water. A magnet backing allows attachment to a refrigerator, grill or other available metal surfaces while a built-in hang loop provide additional options for storing the unit.

FAQs About Sausage-on-a-Stick

Why does my sausage split while grilling?

Excessive heat and prolonged cooking can cause pressure to build inside the sausage until the casing splits. Using controlled heat and monitoring internal temperature can help prevent unnecessary overcooking.

Why is my sausage browned outside but not finished inside?

The exterior is directly exposed to the grill’s heat and can brown much faster than the center cooks. Browning therefore isn’t a reliable measurement of internal doneness.

Should I constantly cook sausage over high heat?

Not necessarily. Controlled heat can help cook the interior more evenly, while a shorter high-heat finish can develop additional browning.

Why use the TempPro TempSwift PLUS TP19H for sausage?

The TempPro TempSwift PLUS TP19H provides readings in approximately one second with ±0.9°F accuracy, making it practical for quickly checking multiple sausages during a cookout.