Tips for Gas-Grilled Sausage and a Bourbon Whiskey Dinner

Grilling sausage on a gas grill can be challenging. But every man should be able to do it well. Here are some quick tips on gas-grilling sausage. 

After many attempts at our test grill, we came up with a good method to achieving a:

• well-cooked piece of meat,
  
• browning the exterior without burning, and
  
• reducing flare up issues.

 
First brown the exterior on high heat to seal and mark the exterior of the sausage. 

The gas is on high. All burners. Throw down the sausages. Sear 'em.

Look for the marks. Nice! Flip them. It's only a few minutes on each side. You'll start to see the sausages spitting juice. This juice causes flare ups to happen. So, watch it. I control the flames with a clean, fresh water spray bottle. 

Searing and marking takes only a couple minutes on each side.

Reduce the temperature of the burners to medium. Turn off the front burner completely. Slide the meat to the front burner area. The heat will now circulate around. This adjustment placement and burner adjustment help also reduce flare ups. But you can't stop them. The flames will come! 

​Cook until you achieve your desired temperature. 

The sausages have been sitting at room temperature for a bit before you threw them on the grill. Right? It's very difficult to properly cook very cold or frozen meat on a grill. So, start off on the right foot by allowing the meat to achieve room temperature. 

Keep the temperature-probing of the meat to a minimum. I prefer to cook the sausages until they are well done. The initial searing and minimal probing of the temperature gauge will help the sausages retain moisture and juice. 

 Yum. Dig in. 

Who said veggies? How about some mayo-based salad? We made and tested our own potato salads, coleslaw salads, and lettuce salads. They all win! Be sure to get yourself a big jar of sauerkraut. Our recommendation is Bubbies. 

Sausage and kraut. Look out! 

We tested and paired a few wines and whiskey to match the spicy sausages. We found a nice whiskey from Colorado Springs, Colorado, that is produced by a new company called Distillery 291. They are distilling their own whiskey, but keeping the aging to a minimum. 

​Distillery 291 Colorado Bourbon Whiskey is a sour mash corn whiskey that has been aged less than 2 years in American White Oak barrels that have been charred. It's powerful. Good kick on the first and then smoother sips afterward. You'll smell notes of cherry tobacco. If you want, drop a small chunk of ice and let the water calm this powerful youngster. 

Enjoy, fellas. 
​