Tasty Tricks: How to Cook Hot Italian Sausage in an Air Fryer
When preparing to cook hot Italian sausages in an air fryer, one may wonder exactly how to start. In fact, the method is very simple. As long as you follow the steps, you can make delicious ones. Now let's talk about the key steps.
Method for cooking hot Italian sausages in an air fryer
Ingredients
3 Hot Italian sausages: as the main cooking ingredient.
Seasonings
5 milliliters of Olive oil: to add flavor and prevent cracking.
1 gram of Black pepper: to enhance fragrance and enrich the taste.
2 sprigs of Rosemary: to give a unique herbal aroma.
Cooking steps
1. First, clean the frying basket of the air fryer.
2. If the hot Italian sausage is in one piece, make a few cuts or poke a few small holes on its surface to facilitate heating and release of fragrance.
3. Put the processed Italian hot sausage into the air fryer basket, and make sure to leave some space between the sausages so that the hot air can circulate.
4. Then use a small brush to dip 5 ml of olive oil and brush the surface of the sausage evenly, then sprinkle 1 gram of black pepper evenly on the 3 sausages, and then crush 2 rosemary sprigs slightly and sprinkle them on the sausages.
5. Set the temperature of the air fryer at 180℃ and the time at 12 to 15 minutes.
6. When half of the cooking time has elapsed, open the air fryer and use clips or chopsticks to turn the hot Italian sausage over. Then close the air fryer and continue cooking.
7. When the time is up, you can open the air fryer to check. When the surface of the hot Italian sausage shows a burnt yellow color and becomes firm, it is cooked. Take it out and let it cool slightly before eating.
Is Italian Sausage Better in the Air Fryer or the Oven?
The air fryer is quite suitable for cooking Italian sausages. It can cook sausages in 12 to 15 minutes at 180 degrees, making the skin crispy and the inside still juicy. The operation is simple and fast. The oven is different. It needs to be preheated and it takes 25 to 30 minutes.
The air fryer is small in size and has concentrated heating, which can quickly form a fragrant and crispy skin on the surface of the sausages. For ordinary household use, it is enough to bake 2 to 4 sausages at a time. Moreover, it is more convenient to clean than an oven. During cooking, the fat of the sausages will drip down and will not accumulate on the surface, making it healthier to eat.
Do I need to thaw frozen Italian sausage in advance to cook it in the air fryer?
Frozen sausages can be cooked directly, but it will have a better effect if thawed in advance.
For direct cooking, the temperature needs to be adjusted to 170 degrees and the time needs to be extended to about 20 minutes. You also need to turn the sausages over twice in the middle. Although this is relatively quick, it is easy to cause the outside to be charred while the inside is still cold, and the taste is not as good as that of cooked sausages after thawing.
The best way is to put the sausages in the refrigerator compartment to thaw 6 to 8 hours in advance. After thawing, bake them at 180 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. This can ensure that the sausages are heated evenly, with a golden and crispy skin and tender and juicy inside.
Do I need to poke holes in the hot Italian sausage before cooking it in the air fryer?
Before cooking hot Italian sausages in an air fryer, several small holes need to be poked on the surface of the sausages. Just gently poke with a toothpick or fork. Poking 3 to 4 holes is enough. Doing this can prevent the sausages from bursting during heating.
When poking holes, the depth should just be enough to pierce the skin. Don't make it too deep, otherwise too much meat juice in the sausages will be lost. Also, when poking holes, make them evenly distributed. Don't concentrate them all in one place.
What other cooking methods are there for hot Italian sausage?
Pan-frying: Pour some oil in the pan. When the oil is hot, put in the sausages and fry slowly over low heat. Turn them from time to time. Fry until the surface is golden brown and fully cooked. The fried sausages have a crispy skin and are juicy inside.
Boiled: Put the sausage in a pot with water, boil the water for 8 to 10 minutes, then take it out and eat it. The boiled taste is soft and tender, and the taste is okay.
Stir-frying: Cut the sausages into small pieces first. Pour oil into the pan. After stir-frying the ingredients like scallions, ginger and garlic until they are fragrant, add the sausage pieces and stir-fry for a while. Then add other vegetables and stir-fry them together until they are cooked. The flavor of the sausages gets into the vegetables and makes them more delicious.
Baking in an oven: Preheat the oven to 180℃ to 200℃. Put the sausages on a baking tray and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Turn them over once or twice during baking. After baking, the skin is crispy and the aroma is very strong.
Microwave heating: Put the sausages in the microwave oven and heat them on high power for 2 to 3 minutes. Be careful not to heat for too long, or they will easily become dry and hard. The heated sausages can be eaten with bread or something like that.
How to tell if hot Italian sausage in the air fryer is done?
Appearance: Look at whether the color of Italian sausages turns golden or dark brown. There are fine wrinkles on the surface and oil seeps out. Generally, if these manifestations appear, it means the sausages are baked. Because when heated to a certain extent, they will be like this.
Poke test: Gently poke the sausage with chopsticks or a fork. If it feels elastic and after cutting it open, the inside is uniformly brown and there is no pink raw meat, then it is baked. After all, when fully cooked, the meat inside will change color.
Feel the heat and aroma: Bring the back of your hand close to the sausage. If you can smell a rather strong fragrance and also feel obvious heat, this means it is baked. Because a baked sausage will naturally emit fragrance and there will also be heat coming out.
