Entertainment
When packing for a tailgate, make a list of the items you want to take along. Check off items as you pack. Pack item such as plates, napkins, and utensils, the night before.
Prepare as much as you can ahead. Be party-ready. Prep all your recipes and food ahead of time. Get it all done ahead so you can enjoy your time as host, and with your guests.
When making a pasta salad using Klement’s sausage, use glass decorative bowls or wooden bowls to serve the salad in a more impressive way.
When making Klement’s Summer Sausage Kabobs, the best cheeses to use are ones that will hold up to being cut into cubes. This means choosing cheeses that are mostly aged.
If entertaining at home, or tailgating before your favorite team’s game, always remember to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.
Grilling
Smoked and precooked items need to be reheated, not actually cooked. Do this slowly over medium-low, indirect heat.
If you are going to cook Klement’s the old fashioned way, by putting them straight on the grill, eliminate the burning and the flare-ups by keeping the fire low. This increases the cooking time, but lets the sausage cook gently and hold in its flavor.
Once the sausage is placed on the grill it should be turned periodically so that it cooks and browns all around. If time is of the essence or perhaps you are cooking other foods on the grill or your having a cookout and can’t spend much time watching the sausage evenly cook you can always prepare the sausage ahead of time.
Placing the sausages on skewers make the turning really simple. Instead of the sausages having to be turned with a fork and risking them rolling off. If you use wooden skewers remember to soak them for at least 20 minutes in water prior to using them on the grill.
Boil Klement’s sausages in half water, half beer before you place them on the grill. Parboiling fresh sausages in something flavorful like beer makes the sausage meat and sausage casing tastier. More importantly, cooking fresh sausage ahead of time like that "toughens up" the casing so there's less chance of the casing sticking or falling apart once on the grill. And pre-cooking shortens up the time the sausage has to sit on the grill, reducing the risk of burning.
It's very handy to have an instant read thermometer, so you can get the sausages off the grill once an interior temperature of 165 degrees is reached. If you don’t have a meat thermometer, they should be steaming when cut open.
If you don’t have a meat thermometer to check the sausages temperature with, you can tell if they’re done if they are steaming when you cut them open.
To get an extra crispy crust, brush the sausage several times with beer while they're on the grill. Also, to keep the casing from splitting open, brush with oil before placing it on the grill.
You can always use a heat resistant and safe pan for the grill to cook the sausage in, to keep from having to keep the sausages from rolling off or cooking unevenly. With the sausage in a pan they tend to cook more evenly. If you choose to use a pan on the grill and need a side item to go with the sausage you can cut up potatoes into wedges or quartered and drizzle olive oil and your favorite seasoning like onion salt, rosemary or Italian seasoning on the potatoes and let them cook with the sausage.
While grilling, do not puncture the skin of the sausage with a fork or knife. This causes moisture to leak out of the sausage, which in turn causes the sausage to lose flavor and become dry. Tongs make a better turning tool as a fork will allow the flavorful juices to escape.
Klement's in the Kitchen
Use extra-virgin olive oil to cook Klement’s sausages in a skillet; it is a healthy oil choice because of the amount of heart-healthy, unsaturated fat it contains compared to other oils, such as vegetable.
While pan-frying is the quickest cooking method, it's critical to cook the meat slowly enough that the inside is completely cooked. Preheat a heavy skillet over med low heat, and then place the sausage in the warm pan. When the sausage is brown, use tongs to turn it to the other side.
To bake sausage links, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Put the links on a lightly oiled baking pan or jelly-roll pan, then bake the sausage until it reaches at least 165 degrees F. Cook the sausage for eight to 10 minutes, or about halfway through the cooking time, then turn the sausage and finish cooking.
If cooking Klement’s in the oven, line baking pan with aluminum foil to make cleanup easier.
Do not cook raw pork links in the microwave unless you have a browning tray and the package directions recommend microwave cooking.
Pan-fry pork sausages to brown the outsides and then bake them in a 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 10 to 15 minutes to cook them through without drying them out or making them tough.
Remember sausages must always be cooked right through to the center.