Linguica (Smoked Portuguese Sausage)

1. Stage

Rinse fatback thoroughly and soak in warm water for 30 minutes. Remove and chop into small pieces.

2. Stage

Pour olive oil in a small pan and saute garlic for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Do not let it brown. Remove from pan and put into a large bowl. Add fatback, pork butt, wine, paprika, milk, vinegar, salt, sugar, liquid smoke, marjoram, white pepper, black pepper, and red pepper and mix until everything is well combined. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight.

3. Stage

Test the sausage flavor by frying a small bit of it in a pan and tasting it. Adjust spices if needed and place back in the refrigerator, covered, for 2 more hours.

4. Stage

Run water through hog casings and rinse out as well as possible. Soak in warm water for 30 minutes.

5. Stage

Set up sausage stuffing attachment on KitchenAid®. Squeeze out water from a length of casing. Tie one end in a knot, then roll onto sausage making fitting like a condom. Turn KitchenAid® onto medium speed. Feed cold sausage mixture a little at a time into the funnel. Use one hand to keep casing tight and one to feed meat mixture. Twist off links as you get to desired length. Repeat with remaining hog casings and sausage mixture.

6. Stage

Add several handfuls of hot coal into a smoker to get a base temperature going, then let the temperature die down to about 140 degrees F 60 degrees C). You need a cold smoke to smoke the sausages so it doesn't cook and the skin doesn't get browned.

7. Stage

When smoker has the right temperature, add hickory wood chunks. The temperature will spike again, so let it cool back down to 140 degrees F (60 degrees C).

8. Stage

Using toothpicks, hang sausages in the smoker as far away from the direct heat source as possible. Maintain temperature at 140 degrees F (60 degrees C) as best as possible. It's difficult - don't sweat it if you get spikes. Just open the smoker door and let heat escape accordingly.

9. Stage

Smoke until links are deep red and skin is starting to firm, about 1 1/2 hours.

10. Stage

Remove from smoker and let rest for 30 minutes. Cook like any other sausage before, either pan-fry or grill, before serving.