A Chef's Life: Recipe for Sausage Balls (2024)

FAQs

Do you have to refrigerate sausage balls before cooking? ›

After you have formed your balls, store them uncooked for up to 2 days in the coolest part of your refrigerator, (usually in the back, on the bottom shelf.)

If you have burnt bottoms, the oven temperature may be set too high, or the pan may be too close to the heating element. Grab a sharp paring knife and cut off the burnt bottoms. It isn't going to look the best, but you won't be wasting an entire batch!

Can You Freeze Sausage Balls? Yes, you can freeze uncooked or cooked sausage balls.

Are leftover sausage balls supposed to be refrigerated after cooking or do you keep them at room temperature. They should be tightly covered and refrigerated.

The USDA calls food that has been left sitting at room temperature a danger zone. The danger zone is typically food that is between 40°F and 140°F. This range of temperatures actually allows bacteria to rapidly grow and make food unsafe to eat. The time scale for bacteria growth is typically two hours maximum.

You can absolutely freeze sausage cheese balls, and I highly recommend it! Simply make them to the point of shaping them into balls, but arrange them (uncooked) on a baking sheet (see photo below). Freeze for at least an hour~long enough to harden and “flash freeze” so that they won't stick together.

Cook gently and only to a max 145-150ºF over a low to moderate heat or with the simmer then brown method. The main benefit from either of the methods we recommend is that you will lose only about half of the moisture when compared to a fast high cook approach and this means immeasurably better results, every time.

Cheese Dip

Cheese and sausages are a match made in heaven. A creamy, rich cheese dip makes an excellent side for sausage balls.

The fatal mistake is that most have the pan or BBQ way too hot so the outside of the sausage burns before the inside is cooked and the sausage casing splits so all your precious sausage juices escape, meaning your sausage will be dry and far less tasty.

Freezing keeps food safe indefinitely. Keep sausages in the freezer (0 °F or less) for one to two months for best quality.

Can you cook sausages then freeze and reheat? ›

After a dinner party, there are almost always a few sausages leftover that nobody can quite manage to finish! Instead of letting them waste, you may have opted to refrigerate or freeze them so you can retake them later. You can reheat sausages, and they'll taste just as good as they did the first time.

Rewrap sausage tightly to keep air out. If sausage is moist, wipe dry before repackaging. Some people like to let Summer Sausage age unwrapped in the refrigerator. As it ages, moisture is lost, sausage gets harder, and flavor intensifies.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days. Sausage rolls freeze perfectly. You can freeze them baked or unbaked.

Preserving Sausage by Drying

The most important factor in this method is the choice of the area where the sausages will be stored. This space should be warm, but out of sunlight. The sausages are dried by hanging them with a string. If hanging is not possible, they can also be dried wrapped in newspaper.

Sausage balls can sit out while serving for up to two hours. Past that point, they should be refrigerated and reheated.

Fresh sausages are sold raw, meaning you should treat them the same as any other perishable item. Raw sausage will stay fresh in the refrigerator for one or two days and in the freezer for one or two months. At room temperature, they will last a maximum of two hours.

The Two-Hour Rule

Cooked food can only stay in the temperature danger zone for so long before it becomes unsafe to eat. Havern explains: "The maximum amount of time perishable foods can [spend] in the danger zone is two hours. At two hours, the food must be consumed, stored correctly, or thrown away.

All sausage — except dry sausage — is perishable and therefore must be kept refrigerated. The following storage times should be followed for maximum quality.