Central Texas 'Hot Guts' & Crackers Board
Chapter 2 — The Meats
It started as a butcher’s trick to stretch meat before the rot set in, and it evolved into the holy trinity of Texas barbecue. This is 'Hot Guts': a fiercely beefy, black-pepper-punched sausage packed into natural hog casings that snaps back aggressively when you bite it. We are chasing the ghosts of 19th-century Lockhart meat markets here, which means precise temperatures, uncompromising seasoning, and an honest respect for whatever equipment you have—whether that’s a rusted offset stick burner, a backyard kettle grill, or a standard kitchen oven. Serve it on butcher paper with cheap saltines, raw white onion, and a thin shot of pickle juice. No pretensions. Just perfect execution.
Before you start
Place your meat grinder attachments and a large mixing bowl in the freezer for at least one hour before beginning.
Temperature control is the cardinal rule of sausage making; if the fat melts before it hits the smoker, the emulsion will break.
Whisk together the pickle brine, vinegar, hot sauce, and a pinch of cayenne to make the serving sauce.
Ingredients
- beef chuck roast3 1/4 lb
- boneless pork butt3/4 lb
- kosher salt2 1/2 tbsp
- coarse black pepper2 tbsp
- whole black peppercorns1 tbsp
- cayenne pepper2 tsp
- smoked paprika1 tbsp
- garlic powder1 tbsp
- mustard powder1 tsp
- pink curing salt1 tsp
- dry milk powder1/2 cup
- domestic beer1/2 cup
- natural hog casings10 feet
- saltine crackers1 large sleeve
- white onion1 med
- dill pickle chips1 cup
- dill pickle brine1/2 cup
- distilled white vinegar1/4 cup
- hot sauce1 tbsp
Method
- 01
Freeze the cubed beef and pork on a rimmed baking sheet for 45 to 60 minutes until crusty and firm but not fully frozen.
- 02
Run the semi-frozen meat through the coarse plate of your meat grinder.
Alternate pieces of beef and pork to ensure an even distribution of the fat.
- 03
Aggressively mix the ground meat, dry spices, and ice-cold beer together for three to five minutes.
The mixture is ready when it becomes highly sticky and a handful adheres to your palm when turned upside down.
- 04
Fry a small patty of the raw mixture in a skillet to check the seasoning.
Adjust the salt and heat to your preference before you commit to stuffing.
- 05
Load the tacky meat mixture into a sausage stuffer and fill the soaked hog casings.
Crank slowly and leave a little slack; do not stretch them to the point of bursting.
- 06
Pinch the coil every six to eight inches and twist gently in alternating directions to form individual links.
Prick any trapped air bubbles with a sanitized needle, then refrigerate the links uncovered on a wire rack overnight to dry the exterior into a tacky pellicle.
- 07
Smoke the sausages using Texas post oak at 150°F, gradually increasing the ambient heat to 225°F.
For an offset or kamado, maintain thin blue smoke. For a kettle grill, build a charcoal snake with unlit briquettes and oak chunks. For an oven workaround, bake at 250°F—having added 1 1/2 teaspoons of liquid smoke to the meat mix—until up to temp, then broil 60 seconds per side.
- 08
Pull the sausages the exact moment an instant-read thermometer registers an internal temperature of 160°F.
Sausage does not experience a traditional stall; cooking past 160°F will violently boil the fat and burst the casings.
- 09
Plunge the finished sausages immediately into an ice-water bath for five to ten minutes.
This aggressively halts the cooking process, trapping the fat and shrinking the casing tightly against the meat to ensure a massive snap.
- 10
Let the sausages sit at room temperature for one to two hours to bloom into a deep mahogany color.
Reheat gently before serving.
- 11
Serve utilitarian-style on butcher paper.
Slice into bite-sized hot rounds and eat on saltine crackers layered with raw onion, pickle chips, and a dash of pickle-juice hot sauce.
Notes
Equipment Equity
Not everyone owns a 1,000-gallon reverse-flow stick burner. Your first home-smoked sausage should elicit the reaction, 'YES, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT FRANKLIN TASTES LIKE,' regardless of equipment. Use the kettle 'snake method' or the oven workaround detailed in the steps without shame.
Wood Selection
Texas brisket and beef sausage require post oak. Don't substitute applewood or hickory if you want the genuine Lockhart profile.
From Cook BBQ at Home.