Raw sausage

[TMTM]

Putting pinches of raw sausage on say a cracker style pizza with cheese on top of it, in a home oven at 465 degree. Will the sausage get fully cooked?

[Jackie Tran]

really depends on how much you mean by a pinch.  Also at 465 how long is your pizza cooking for? 

You can always try it and if the sausage is cooked through, remove it and pan fry it to finish.  To be on the safe side I always cook or par cook my sausage when using as a topping.  I haven't seen any pizza joint use raw sausage on a pizza before so tha should tell you something. 

[TMTM]

really depends on how much you mean by a pinch.  Also at 465 how long is your pizza cooking for? 

You can always try it and if the sausage is cooked through, remove it and pan fry it to finish.  To be on the safe side I always cook or par cook my sausage when using as a topping.  I haven't seen any pizza joint use raw sausage on a pizza before so tha should tell you something. 

I've seen places do. Like Barnaby's. I cook the pizza about 12-14 minutes, and by a pinch I mean about a nickel or quarter size.

[Pete-zza]

From my reading over at the PMQ Think Tank forum, I can say that there are some pizza operators who use raw sausage on their pizzas. See, for example, http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4908&p=28684&hilit=#p28763. Those who don't use raw sausage often cite potential cross-contamination issues and the fact that raw sausage can release a lot of unsightly (and perhaps not particularly healthful) fat on the pizza. They typically are willing to give up some of the fat flavor from using raw sausage and instead use a pre-cooked product from a vendor or they pre-cook the sausage themselves. From what I can tell, most operators who make deep-dish pizzas seem to use the sausage raw. However, some use a pre-cooked product.

TMTM's issue is whether the raw sausage will completely cook while it is under the cheese at the oven temperature he mentioned. Obviously, the sausage will have to completely cook before the crust is done.

Unless someone has an answer to TMTM's question based on personal knowledge or experience (maybe Barnaby's is on point) the only way to tell is to run an experiment with the raw sausage under the cheese. As can be seen in the photos in the post referenced above, the raw sausage is place on top of the cheese and other toppings.

Peter

[TMTM]

Thanks for all the replies.. I just wanted to know if someone had some experience with this.. I wanted to reproduce some of the flavor of Barnaby's pizza... and I think that flavor has something to do with the sausage cooking on the pizza and releasing the flavors through out the pizza. Barnaby's uses a rotating stone deck oven.. not sure of the temp or cooking time they use. I guess I could could cook it on my stone at home and take it out when it looks 95% done and inspect the sausage and if the sausage needs more cooking but afraid of over cooking the crust.. I could put the pizza on a double layer pans to make the toppings cook faster then the bottom. That's my old thinking.. just want to see what others do who like to add on the sausage raw. Thanks!

[Deacon Volker]

Trial and error is the best way to know, and the most enjoyable! 

We've done a raw sausage in the past on our hand-tossed pies but opted to par-fry the sausage when we made our deep-dish to keep some of the sausage grease from becoming an issue on the deeps (it's under the sauce and therefore doesn't cook off as easily as on the thins).  It became easier for us to just par-fry one batch of sausage to be use on both pies. When we did use raw for the thin pies it was  important for us to depress the chunk with a good "thumb-print in the middle, thus avoiding a large "ball" of sausage.  We did experience some under-cooking on occasion if the ball of meat was too generous.  Ours bake off at 465 for 6:30 in a XLT oven.  At home the results were remarkably different so yours may be as well depending on your oven.

[Tampa]

Back in high school I worked at Shakeys pizzia.  They seasoned their ground sausage but did not pre-cook.  When I started making sausage pizza recently, I tried a similar approach and found the saussage cooked OK (4-5 min @ 700F), but the pie was greasy.  A friend suggested a trick he used when working at a pizza restaurant, use a baggy of flour to coat the raw sausage before putting on the pizza.  I tried it and that did improve the appearance and I liked the taste.  Still, for health reasons, I took to par-boiling the link, removing the skin, rinsing in hot water, and then applying in thin slices like pepperoni.  I like that the best.

[cranky]

I have been putting raw sausage on pizza for years.  Never had a problem.  I make my own and it is very lean.  I have to add olive oil to it.  Just made about 35 pounds yesterday.  Sausage is cooked when it is 180 deg. F for 10 minutes if I recall.  When your oven is 450 and you see cheese and sauce bubbling it is safe to say the temperature is well above 180 and pinches of sausage have to be cooked through. 

[TMTM]

I made a pizza at 465 and the sausage still had a little pink in it at 10-12 minutes.. I baked my pizza for 16-18 minutes and it was perfect and the long cooked time was also good for the type of crust I was trying to make.

Last night I cooked pinches of sausage in a pot of pizza sauce... like cooking meatballs.. it added nice flavor to my sauce and the sausage got done.

[dms]

Sausage is cooked when it is 180 deg. F for 10 minutes if I recall.

165 or 160 F, depending on your locale.  No time to hold at that temperature.  The pork producer's trade group advocates changing the requirement to 154F, which is what I do at home.  (If you're serving food for others, you have to follow the stricter of your local standards and USDA's (which is 160F).).

[RSMBob]

One method I've used to be on teh safe side is to break the sausage into pieces and then microwave it for a minute or so. Cooks them partially and gets a lot of the water/oil/fat out. Sometimes I'll mix in a little fennel seed as well. then just apply it on the pizza and into the oven it goes.

[randyjohnsonhve]

Howdy...To develop the flavor within the sausage, you need to brown it off in oil (marble size pieces to caramelize), and then on low heat let it develop the flavor, being careful not to over cook the sausage, then place on pizza...I make my own Hot Italian Sausage and use it this way...Hot Italian Sausage is great with smoked and roasted yellow onions....Happy Pizza Making, RJ

[Pete-zza]

One method I've used to be on the safe side is to break the sausage into pieces and then microwave it for a minute or so. Cooks them partially and gets a lot of the water/oil/fat out.

RSMBob,

I tried your method recently with raw sausage and liked it very much. I got rid of a lot of the fat but the flavors were still there for my palate.

Peter

[cranky]

I tried microwaving sausage a long time ago, once, and never did it again, because it made the sausage kind of rubbery. 

There is no problem with grease, because I make my own sausage, very lean. 

I have never seen a pizza restaurant put cooked sausage on a pie. 

[Pete-zza]

cranky,

I was careful as to not let the sausage microwave too long, for the reason you mentioned.

If you go over to the PMQ Think Tank at http://thinktank.pmq.com/viewforum.php?f=6 and do an Advanced forum search on "raw sausage" (without the quotes), you will see that there are quite a few pizza operators who pre-cook/par-cook their pizza sausage.

Peter

[cranky]

It does seem more sanitary to not have raw meat hanging around a prep table for hours in a high volume shop, being handled by help that is also working with all other ingredients.  It also takes a lot longer to pinch or squeeze off bite size sausage pieces and place them as opposed to taking handfuls of olives or mushrooms and spreading them around.  Precooked sausage will not stick to your hands and can be tumbled onto a pie.

I grew up in NYC, moved to the west coast and started making pizza and my own sausage out of desperation.   My memory of the places I ate at growing up (long time ago) does not recall anyone using precooked sausage.  I don't go to high volume pizza places anywhere.  I can also see why a person would want to get the excess fat out of commercial sausage and not have it leak all over a pizza.   

But, I have been making my own sausage and putting it on pizza raw for years and feeding it to family and friends.  It tastes better that way, without a doubt.  I grow my own tomatoes and herbs and do things that a pizza place could not afford to do labor wise.   You get to know your ingredients and how handling them differently, even in subtle ways change the outcome. 

The ideal pizza is like the ideal bottle of wine.  No one knows what it is.  We have different ideas and nostalgia helps form them.    I had friends who moved from a small town in Oregon to NY.  They said they liked it, but the pizza wasn't very good.   


     

[rpmfla]

I was interested to find this thread as I grew up eating at O'Scugnizzo's in upstate NY where they seemed to put the (raw) sausage down first in a thin layer, then sliced mozz, then whatever other ingredients you ordered (we usually got mushrooms and sometimes green bell peppers too). I believe this style of pizza evolved from what was called "tomato pies" which were medium thickness bread squares with just tomato sauce. I'm guessing they gradually started adding meats and other ingredients.

Anyway, when I moved away I started trying to reproduce my favorite pizza from my childhood (like many here have), I tried just putting down a very thin layer of uncooked sausage first, then sliced mozz, then mushrooms and peppers. It worked ok and I believe the sausage was cooked enough to not be dangerous to eat. However, as others have stated the grease produced from the heated sausage does create puddles that certainly don't seem particularly healthy to consume much of.

I think if you want to try using uncooked sausage on a pizza, just try to find the leanest you can find and make sure to use very thin or very small pieces so they are sure to cook properly.

[thezaman]

 i use raw sausage on my pizzas. i put them on above the cheese as the last ingredient. pinch it thin and it will cook fine. even under the cheese if it is flatten thin it will be fine

[Jimmy V]

I just take some spices,, crushed red pepper, Fennel seed, basil, salt, black pepper, garlic powder,,, and mix that with a lean 90/10 ground beef, and i use that for my sausage.  as you are mixing your spices in the meat,, throw a piece in a frying man or microwave, cook it real quick  and see where you need to adjust it.

[Jackie Tran]

I use to think no to raw sausage, but now it's a definite YES!