The full name of this product is “Johnsonville New Orleans Andouille Recipe Smoked Sausage.
In its original form, Andouille is a pure pork sausage that originated in France. It is comprised of organ meat in a natural casing, with seasonings and wine, and then smoked. It is gray.
The first time I ordered it in Paris, I was quite surprised, the innards are quite rough cut and very identifiable. A bit shocking for a boy from a small town in Minnesota.
The French Acadians brought the sausage recipes to South Louisiana, where it kind of got jumbled up with the Creole cuisine influence already in the area. The recipe changed to a much finer grind, pure pork shoulder (no “bits”) with garlic, onion and wine for seasonings, stuffed into a natural casing and double smoked.
The Johnsonville product in no way resembles Louisiana Andouille, and the Cajuns (Acadians) never settled in New Orleans anyway.
So there we are.
Johnsonville is the largest sausage company in the US, measured in dollar volume, and their products are sold around the world. They are based in Sheboygan Falls, WI and their giant plant (pictured below) is nearby and has the capacity to slaughter over 3,500 pigs daily.
Their “New Orleans” sausage if pork and beef, water, a mess of seasonings, all the usual preservatives and the dreaded corn syrup. You can taste the sweetness in the sausage. There is a tiny bit of “heat,” although true Cajun and Creole dishes are not known for that quality.
The meat slurry is stuffed into a collagen casing. Collagen is made from various animal parts, skin, tendons and such, and was designed to emulate the natural casings (hog and sheep intestines) used in many sausage.
I don’t know Johnsonville’s smoking process. With that amount of production, I’m sure it’s massively efficient, which means, not a natural wood fire like smaller producers still use, but rather a liquid smoke “shower” within the smoking unit (oven).
It’s a good product for the mass market, of course, and that is what its designed for.
I do mine in a cast iron skillet. Putting a little “char” on them further imitates a natural casing (to me). You can see one problem is collagen casings split open, so some flavor escapes. Since they are smoked, you don’t have to “cook” them, just heat them anyway you prefer.
I hardly ever buy Johnsonville, rarely on sale and always 25-30% more than at least one competitor in any given week. Especially their fresh sausages.
Wisconsin Plant
Johnsonville New Orleans Smoked Sausage Review
Johnsonville New Orleans Smoked Sausage Review