Conecuh Sausage

[Michael_in_TX]

Ever since I tried my hand at making my own sausage about a year ago, most commercial grocery-store sausages just don't do it for me. But every once in awhile I'll stumble upon a gem.

HEB has been stocking Conecuh sausage for several weeks now. These have a distinctive look on the shelf, as they are smaller diameter links than typical sausages and are intertwined in their vacseal package:


Out of curiosity, I picked up the Spicy & Hot version and had a bit of it for lunch today. I cut up one of the large links into several 4" pieces and let them go in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. The casing took on a delightful char.



These were not bad! The casing has a perfect snap, far better than most commercial sausages I've tried. There's a hint of smoke flavor and a mild amount of heat. Quite flavorful. In fact, a six-inch cut of one of these would make a perfect hot dog....which is what I plan on trying next.

[Hulagn1971]

We love Conecuh sausage. It's the only brand we buy. Just used a package the other night for smoked sausage, potato and corn chowder. So good. They make a couple different versions. One is a little smaller in diameter and the hickory smoked is fatter. Love them both.
Also both are a full 16 ounce package. Most of the commercial stuff is 12-14oz.

[Carolyn]

The hog on the package seems to approve.

[Panhead John]

Michael, I didn’t know HEB now has it, good to know. The only place I could find it here is at Fiesta grocery stores. And yeah, it’s pretty good for commercial sausage. jfmorris spoke highly of it so I searched for it here.

[Michael_in_TX]

So far mine is only carrying the Hickory Smoke and the Spicy Hickory Smoke. I see they make a cajun one that looks really good; maybe HEB will start carrying that.

[Panhead John]

Yeah, the Cajun one I liked best. If you’re near a Fiesta, try there.

[texastweeter]

Yeah pretty good stuff. We like Eddie jalapeno sausage.

[Michael_in_TX]

It just hit me what these would be perfect for: sausage and cheese kolaches!

[klflowers]

Yeah Conecuh is pretty good. Had some conecuh sausage biscuits for breakfast this morning. I usually keep some around.

[Michael_in_TX]

They have a sausage cornbread recipe on their site I am going to try.

[klflowers]

Michael_in_TX I am surprised HEB didn’t carry it before. It has been around forever here in TN

[RhodeHog]

I’m glad Conecuh sausage is getting popularity outside of Alabama. We love it here. Wild that Insee Milo’s tea all over the country. It is a local burger chain. And for breakfast, you can get Conecuh with your biscuit.

[SheilaAnn]

Ain’t got this sausage ‘round my neck ‘o the woods. ☹️

[realdocBBQ]

Man I sympathize with the sausage issue... since I started making my own, too, the store-bought brands are just... meh. Sometimes much less than meh.

I dunno that I have a chance of seeing that one around here, though, and no HEB within 4 hours.


Reminds me, I need to think about my next sausage making date... I really need to make some more. I need moar Texas hot guts and kielbasa for realz.


I also want to look into another chicken sausage - the chikkin bacon parm I did was damned good.



But sausage making days are LONG and MESSY. One of these days, when I have a real kitchen with big, deep sinks and an island... <sigh>

[Jerod Broussard]

We have some good Renfro pork from Brookshire Brothers that is east Texas smoked. I like it just as much as mine.

[Michael_in_TX]

Yeah, you really need a full three-day weekend to make a batch. That's what's gotten in my way.

[Michael_in_TX]

...since I started making my own, too, the store-bought brands are just... meh. Sometimes much less than meh.

I wanted some sausage to go on a burger about a week ago. Since I needed so little, I sought out the cheapest sausage HEB carried, which was one of their store brands:


Cost me $2.82. You can't get any cheaper than that. Is it sausage? Yes. Is it meat? Yes. Does it have anything even resembling flavor? No.

It was the most bland sausage I've ever had; it's effectively a big emulsified hot dog. My cats wouldn't even touch it lol. The only possible use for this is as a training sausage for toddlers.

(This particular one is not to be confused with HEB's Texas Heritage sausage, which is at least $8, and is pretty good.)

[Panhead John]

Time to hit up B & W Meat Market again!

[Michael_in_TX]

Panhead John Absolutely! I only have about 1/2 link of their black pepper & garlic left in the freezer!

[Michael_in_TX]

I had the Conecuh sausage again for breakfast (paired with a slice of jalapeño-cheddar toast) and my initial impressions stand. This is some good sausage; not the best I've had, but it is up there. The snap of the casings is easily in my top-five casings of commercial grocery-store available sausage.

[realdocBBQ]

I had a package of these left from my last trip to H.E.B. -


I just did them a week or two ago. They were ok, pretty decent. Better than anything I've gotten at WM here, but I wasn't blown away, really. Better than average, I'll call them.

Had some of these from before:


They were alright. The casings seemed a bit tougher to me, flavor was decent, but not on par with my homemade.

I'll have to grab some of the Heritage ones next time I am in the area.

[realdocBBQ]

Dammit, now I'm cravin' sausage for dinner... I'm gonna hafta go dig in the freezer and see if I got any of mine left in there. lol

[Jerod Broussard]

I just picked up some of this at Brookshire Brothers. Never saw it before and it was STARING right at me today.