Fresh vs. Smoked Sausage: What’s the Difference? (2024)

FAQs

Fresh vs. Smoked Sausage: What’s the Difference? ›

Simply put, fresh sausage is raw and uncooked, making it great as an ingredient, but you'll need to cook it yourself. Smoked sausage is fully cooked, so you can eat it as is. In other words, you don't need to cook smoked sausage for it to be safe for consumption, though you can if you prefer your sausage warmed up.

Fresh sausage is uncooked, so it has a shorter shelf life but is perfectly capable of holding up well in the freezer for later use. You can find fresh sausage made with just about every type of meat you can imagine.

Extra-lean chicken or kangaroo sausages tend to be the healthiest sausage option. Leaner sausages are also often lower in calories and salt.

Sausage (spelled with an “a”) is cured and seasoned meat that can be stuffed into casings, formed into patties, or bought loose (like ground beef) to use in other recipes. A smokie is a link sausage (stuffed into a casing) that has been smoked over wood to give it additional flavor.

What is the most important difference between a fresh sausage and a cured sausage? A fresh sausage contains no nitrites or nitrates, while a cured sausage does.

Simply put, fresh sausage is raw and uncooked, making it great as an ingredient, but you'll need to cook it yourself. Smoked sausage is fully cooked, so you can eat it as is. In other words, you don't need to cook smoked sausage for it to be safe for consumption, though you can if you prefer your sausage warmed up.

Fresh sausages—such as breakfast links, sausage patties, Italian sausage, bratwurst, and Mexican chorizo—are made from chopped, ground, or even pureed uncooked meat. They must be kept refrigerated or frozen until used.

Worst: Hormel

With a lot of additives, Hormel sausages rank as some of the worst ingredients on our list. Not only do some options, like the Hormel Italian Sausage, have MSG, but they also contain tertiary butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).

Sausages are a nutrient dense protein option for the family as part of a weekly meal plan with other high iron sources. Where possible aim for high quality ones that ideally have around 75-85% meat or higher. Watch for fillers and additives, especially if there are certain dietary requirements for the family.

'Processed' meat is meat that's not sold fresh, but instead has been cured, salted, smoked, or otherwise preserved in some way (so things like bacon, sausages, hot dogs, ham, salami, and pepperoni). But this doesn't include fresh burgers or mince.

Is smoked sausage healthier than bacon? ›

Overall, bacon is lower in calories and saturated fat and by trimming visible fat you can lower this again, so from a nutritional stand bacon wins. However, as discussed all processed meats should be eaten in moderation due to their links to cancer.

Turns out it's a gamechanger! There are so many pros to air fryer sausages: They cook very evenly, with none of the patchy browning that you get on a BBQ.

Healthy Sausage Brands

Brands like Thin 'n Trim make low-fat sausage (70 calories per link, 2.5 grams of total fat, 0.5 grams of saturated fat, and between 210 to 250 mg of sodium or 8% to 10% of the daily value) from healthy ingredients like skinless chicken meat, red bell peppers, and fennel.

Why? While it may be easier to cut the sausage into coins without the angled cut, doing so this way gives you more surface area for a better sear and helps boost presentation. It also gives more opportunity for a delicious caramelized exterior and a juicy interior.

Cure can be used in making Sausage, Jerky, Bacon or Ham. Cure will: Reduces the risk of Botulism in meat. Slightly aids the preservation of meat.

Color changes: Changes in color are often a giveaway, especially if you see a grey or greenish tinge to your sausages. If your cooked sausage turns brown, you should throw it out. Changes in texture: A slimy texture, especially with a loss of color and firmness, probably means your sausage is no longer edible.

'Processed' meat is meat that's not sold fresh, but instead has been cured, salted, smoked, or otherwise preserved in some way (so things like bacon, sausages, hot dogs, ham, salami, and pepperoni). But this doesn't include fresh burgers or mince.

Initially, fresh meat has a higher nutrient count than frozen. However, fresh meat loses its vitamins and minerals as time passes. So, if you freeze your cuts and thaw them properly, or buy products that have been professionally prepared, you can retain those valuable nutrients as well as the delicious flavour.