Sausage Question

[Chicago Bob]

" Italian Pizzeria " is the name of my local NY style pizza joint. It is ran by Italians from NYC. On their assembly table is a container of coin shaped sausage pieces that appear to have been sliced from precooked links. I would just like to know if this is the usual way of putting sausage on a NY slice type of pie. Thank you very much!

Bob

[scott123]

Sausage tends to be treated in a variety of ways.  You do see places with coin shaped sausage (like pepperoni), but shaved pieces are popular as well, along with crumbles. Not only does the sausage treatment differ from place to place, but you'll have different treatment between the workers.  I ordered a sausage pie from a local place a month ago and got substantial clumps of crumbled sausage (good), but a few weeks later I got shaved links (bad).

It really depends on the thickness of the coins and how they arrange them, but, generally speaking, shaving gives you the least meat, which is good for penny pinching bottom line watching owners, but really crappy for the customer.  Large crumbles/mounds are the best, both from a perspective of fairness to the customer and taste. Aesthetically, the large clumps look better as well.

[Chicago Bob]

scott123,

Thank you, my place uses very thin "coins' and some of it is also 'shaved'.They seem to always be in a hurry and quickly apply it in handfuls...there will be some bare spots on the pizza and there will be some areas that have like 3 or 4 shaved coins clumped together. I like it alot.
Could you please tell me if the "crumbles" you mentioned are similar to the "pork topping" I've seen chain restaurants use and would you say that this type of sausage is more of a PAR cooked product rather than something that has been fully cooked (resulting in a substantial fat/flavor loss) ?   Thanks!

Bob

[scott123]

Bob, I spent some time trying to think up a better term than 'crumbles' but couldn't. Ideally, they're clumps- like small meatballs, but occasionally you do see finer pork topping-ish bits.

I think most places fully cook their sausage- even when it's fully cooked, it still has plenty of fat/flavor when baked on a pizza.

[norma427]

Scott,

I don’t know if you are thinking about what my distributor calls the sausage I buy, but my distributor calls them pork toppings.  They are made by Hormel and are a little spicy.  They don’t give off much oil when using them as toppings.  They are precooked.  They do look like crumbles or small little pellets.   

Norma

Bob,

I fried some of the Premio sausage from Wal-Mart that you recommended to me.  Steve used it on a soda, yeast, baking powder dough for Greek style pizza yesterday and the Premio sausage really was good.  I have some more of the Premio sausage and might try it out more this coming week.

Thanks for the recommendation of the Premio sausage! 

Norma

[JimmyJazz]

mmmmm.. sausage nuggets   

[TXCraig1]

Having worked for Hormel foods in their foodservice group for several years, I've seen a lot of precooked pizza toppings from just about everyone who makes them, and I really don't think any of them are very good. There is a place for them for sure, but its not on good pizza.

CL

[Chicago Bob]

CL,

I hear ya on the precooked sausage crumbles,pellets,clumps,etc. they are some real "mystery meat" that I often see penny pinching pizza joints use....Pizza Hut probably being the biggest offender. I was just curious, really,if any NY style pizzerias use a raw,traditional Italian sausage versus the precooked sliced from links that I see here in the better places in North Carolina.  Thanks much!

Bob

[Tscarborough]

I pre-cook for the WFO (1-2 minute bake), but not for the home oven (8-9 minute bake).

[Don K]

Scott,

I don’t know if you are thinking about what my distributor calls the sausage I buy, but my distributor calls them pork toppings.  They are made by Hormel and are a little spicy.  They don’t give off much oil when using them as toppings.  They are precooked.  They do look like crumbles or small little pellets.   

Norma

Where I used to work we called it "Kibbles 'n' Bits." I always thought that it was pretty gross. It reminded me of dog food. Luckily, we also had bulk uncooked Italian sausage that we called "Pick 'n' Flick" (because of how you put it on the pizza).


+1 on the Premio sausage. Their Bratwurst and breakfast sausage is good too. They also sell it at Sam's Club.