Cut Calories By Boiling Sausage?

donicagalek

I posted on FaceBook about how shocked I was with how many calories are in one link of Italian sausage (my personal BBQ fave). My high school English teacher posted that she remembers her family always boiling the heck out of the links before cooking to get most of the fat out. Any validity on this drastically cutting the calories? I haven't found any articles in my Googling. :-/

Thanks!

Ashalahn_LMT

Boiling would help. But many types of sausage are loaded with fat and less lean scraps of meat, you simply can't boil it all away. If you really want sausage buy chicken/turkey hybrids. They aren't too bad.

warmachinejt

Just cut it out of your diet and if you must have it, try chicken sausages or turkey too. They're great and some have almost no fat (if you look for them).

Jill_newimprovedversion

Yeah, it helps- but it doesn't get rid of the fat INSIDE the casings. I make meatballs from ground beef/chuck and boil them- they keep their moistness and the fat stays behind but it would be a hard guess to know exactly HOW MUCH to deduct in fat grams.
I've also heard ( and tried) boiling other meats ( such as gr. chuck) but this is my opinion- half the flavor comes from the fat content...so half ( maybe 3/4) the flavor goes too. Blahhhh ( my opinion). Not so with the meatballs cuz they're seasoned and they're going in stuff too. ( spaghetti sauce or BBQ)

TourThePast

Fat floats, so it's easy to find out.
Boil a couple of sausages, see if any fat comes off. If it does, chill the cooking water, peel the fat off the top, let it dry it out and weigh it. There are 9 calories in every gram of fat, so if 5g comes off, you've saved 45 calories.

Personally, I can't see it working to any significant extent but do let us know. A better way might be to cut a quarter off the end off every sausage before eating them. Instant 25% reduction in calories. :bigsmile:

donicagalek

Yeah. I'm probably just going to eat it on "cheat" holidays (Memorial Day was one, Fourth of July and Labor day will be the other two) and any leftovers will be cut in half and eaten plain with lower cal sides. I just wanted to know if going through the bother of boiling would be worth it. :-)

bcattoes

I posted on FaceBook about how shocked I was with how many calories are in one link of Italian sausage (my personal BBQ fave). My high school English teacher posted that she remembers her family always boiling the heck out of the links before cooking to get most of the fat out. Any validity on this drastically cutting the calories? I haven't found any articles in my Googling. :-/

Thanks!

As long as you are not consuming the water in which they were boiled then it would definitely reduce the calories because a lot of the fat would be boiled out. Piercing the skin before boiling would help even more. You can put them on the grill after boiling if you want to get them crispy.

ChantalGG

I have been only buying the chicken and turkey sausages, they taste good, and are 1/4 the fat and 1/3 the calories. I would rather eat 3 and fill satisfied then eat one fatty sausage and still be hungry and feel gross. You should watch a video on sausage making to see just how much fat actually goes in them.

rjvt006

I think its boca that makes a meatless one that are actually pretty good.(my hubby likes them and he doesnt like anything thats "not real food") I like them better then the chicken ones. and they are really low on fat

MzBug

My guy thinks I am weird enough.....I love sausage in any shape or form, but I can't stand the grease. With sausage in a casing I pierce it a few times and roll it up in a paper towel....and squeeze the grease out. Patties get sandwiched in paper towels and squeezed against the counter. I do the same with ground beef patties. He realllly thinks I am odd when I take a paper towel to a piece of pepperoni pizza! I have never liked greasy goopy stuff. If it is too greasy and I can't figure out a way to do something about it, I don't eat it.

shallo

I boil them before we put them on the barbecue. If you look at the water when you are done it will look like you added oil to it. I do it because I don't like how greasy they are and boiling helps that some.

TourThePast

I do it because I don't like how greasy they are and boiling helps that some.

You can buy a "sausage machine" and casings and use your own mixture. I've seen it done and it looks like a lot of fun, more activity toy than cooking LOL.

Anyone given it a go to make their own recipe lean healthy sausages?