Andouille Sausage

5 pounds pork butt
1/2 pound pork fat
5 cloves garlic -- minced
1/4 cup cracked black pepper
2 tablespoons cayenne
1 tablespoon thyme
4 tablespoons salt
sausage casings, beef or pork

Cube pork butt into 1/2 inch cubes. using a meat grinder, with 1/4 inch holes in the grinding plate, grind pork and pork fat. Place ground pork into a large mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well to combine. Stuff into casings and tie int o one foot links using heavy gauge twine. Place sausages into a smoker and smoke at 175 - 200 degrees for about 4 - 5 hours, using hickory or pecan wood. Andouille may then be frozen and used in gumbos, as hors d'oeuvre, or grilled and eaten as a sandwich.

NOTES: True Andouille is stuffed into the beef middle casing, which makes it about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. It is slowly smoked over pecan wood and sugar cane and will become very dark and almost black. It is not uncommon for the Cajuns to smoke Andouille for 7 - 8 hours at temperatures no higher than 175 degrees.

Recipe By: Chef John Folse
From: the recipe collection of Fred Towner