Getting a "Hot Link" craving

After reading the BBQ messages, I am getting a powerful hankering for some good "hot links". The problem is where to get them - does anyone have any suggestions where to get great hot links? I'm cooking a packer brisket tomorrow and would love to throw some links on at the end.

Any and all suggestion would be appreciated.

YankeeBBQ Boy

These are pretty good. Nice place to buy pork too.

Peoria Packing
1300 W Lake St
Chicago, IL 60607

A few days ago I made my annual trek to Stoney Island to grab grilling material for the big week. I make it down there a few times a year and I always grab hot links in bulk. They produce a great beef hot link and there pork ones are good as well. I always get mine spicy, but these are the real deal, they produce heat, so I always grab some milds for people that dont feel the pain.

If you wanna try a real treat grill w/ chip box or smoke a beef hot link, when ready to eat cut the link in half and then butterfly each piece so they form into patty size. Proceed to grill both sides till crispy and then drop it into your favorite bbq sauce (I use the moo and oink honey) and return the patty to the grill and place a piece of American Cheese on top and put it in a bun. My freind came up with these at 4 in the moring upon our return from a bar, its called a McJeff and its the best late night food youll eat.

http://www.moo-oink.com/

Pete's Produce on 87th and (just off) Stony Island has excellent hot links. The boxes are marked 'Grant Meat Packing Co.' I recall that is where Barbara Ann's gets theirs (though those are made to their own specs).

Pete's Produce
1543 East 87th Street
Chicago, IL 60619
(773) 374-9732

Fun article on hot links here.

YankeeBBQ Boy wrote:The problem is where to get them - does anyone have any suggestions where to get great hot links?

YankeeBBQ Boy,

As Bruce mentions Peoria Packing has a good Hot Link, and is one which I often use. Moo and Oink's house brand is good as well and Grant Park as Sazerac mentions, at least in the variations I've tried, are tasty.

Pretty much any cheap, coarse, spicy, fatty large diameter hot link is going to taste good after 2-3 hours on the smoker. Pick your poison.

Enjoy,
Gary

Mack at Uncle John's BBQ sells his fantastic links in 15 lb boxes for $32.85....

Cub (on Elston) has Moo and Oink Beef Hot links and Mild links - semi-frozen.

Ate at Uncle John's today & Mack said that he usually needs a days' advance notice to bring in the uncooked links, so call ahead if you want 'em FYI.....

Uncle John BBQ
337 E. 69th St.
773-892-1233

Hi,

You may want to consult this Parker House Sausage thread for another type of hot links.

Regards,

Is there a mail-order place people prefer for good hot links to throw on the smoker? (I'm outside of the Chicago-land area.)
cheers,
parker

I was in the Jewel on Broadway at Berwyn today and there were a number of Parker Brothers Hot Links on special. I think they were 4 links for 3.99....but don't quote me.

I was surprised to see them there, actually.

Also...campari tomatoes (like 2.5 times the usual size package) for $3.97.

Shannon

In another thread (the Uncle John's one I think), somebody mentioned preferring hot links cooked on the grill, rather than smoked. Yesterday, I tried just that. I cooked half a dozen Parker House links rather slowly over indirect heat using lump charcoal and chunks of hickory. I was careful to keep the sausages from bursting. When they first came off the grill, they were wonderful. They were plump and juicy. The skin was parchment like, and had a bit of resistance that gave way with a lttle crunch. Really nice. The problem was that within about a minute of taking them off the grill, the links that were not eaten right away, shrunk up and got wrinkled and leathery. Did I do something wrong, or is that just the nature of the beast? Does anybody know any tricks for cooking links on the grill? From a flavor and texture standpoint, I like them better than brats, but they don't seem to 'hold' very well.

HI,

The tip on grilling hot links came from the owner of Peoria Packing House referring to his housebrand fresh hot links. The same gentleman when referring to the Parker House links considered them a smoked sausage like Polish sausage. While I cannot explain what happened in your cook, the tip you recalled used fresh uncooked hot links.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote: The same gentleman when referring to the Parker House links considered them a smoked sausage like Polish sausage.

Now that you mention it, the Parker House links are very similar to Polish sausage in texture and casing (not flavor). I will have to seek out some uncooked links and try those on the grill.

I was down at Peoria Packing getting some spares this morning when I saw they are running a special, buy one get one free of their boxed frozen hot links. Not sure if this is a regular sale or not, but seemed like a good deal to let people know.

Joel

I got Moo and Oink Beef Hot links (with soy) and we didn't like them much. They didn't have flavor other than hot. Doused with ketchup they tasted like a bad burger. Now I still have a bunch left I was figuring they'd taste like Kishka with heat, no such luck.

We removed the casing, because it seemed rubbery and odd. Did we need to? Would they have been better with the casing on?

Thanks for all of your tips (not rib tips) and suggestions. I went to Peoria Packing last week to get some hot link which were pretty good. They had a nice tight pack, medium grind, and were spicy without being overpowering. I also found a fresh ham to smoke which is the first time I have seen cut available. It looked like a Picnic with the skin on and was a steal for 88 cents a pound!! Smoked it for about 10 hours on my Egg and was very pleased with the results - sliced meat with a taste similar to a cross between loin and Boston Butt. Had to skin it which was no big deal but will get one again. As I said, this is the first that I have seen of this cut in my experiences although I used to go to a BBQ restaurant in Hot Springs that used fresh ham exclusively.

HI,

I only recently learned of people double smoking a ham: buying a smoked ham, then smoke cooking it. Have you tried that?

Regards,

Hi Cathy:

I've heard of people doing that but i haven't tried it. I would think that you would have to get a speciality ham since most of the hams that I have seen that have been smoked have gotten a health dose of liquid smoke instead of being smoked in a smoke house. I know a lot of guys that will heat up a prepared ham in their smoker at around 275-325, giving it a nice glaze as well as a more intensive smoked flavor.

Rich

ChiNOLA wrote:Ate at Uncle John's today & Mack said that he usually needs a days' advance notice to bring in the uncooked links, so call ahead if you want 'em FYI.....

Uncle John BBQ
337 E. 69th St.
773-892-1233

Went back to see Mack today & he happened to have a box of uncooked links on hand, which I of course purchased immediately.

A word to the wise - they come frozen. I'm letting them thaw in the fridge until the weeekend....