Southside Market & Barbeque – Beef Sausage reviewed

First up, a quick disclosure. I am an affiliate of Southside (affiliate link), if you make a purchase via this page I get a small referral fee. They were also kind enough to send me a sample of the product too, so I could taste and review it. And wow, I am glad they did.

First, a quick 10 second back story on Southside Market & Barbeque – who are apparently the oldest smoke house in Texas. Their founding dates back to 1882 believe it or not, and they’ve been cooking and smoking up a storm ever since. You don’t manage more than a century in business if you don’t know what you’re doing…

Their beef sausage – affectional called the “Elgin Hot Sausage” or “Hot Guts”, by locals in the know – is what made Southside’s name. It comes in a monstrously massive rope coiled around itself, weighting in at a massive two pounds. The full length of the unfurled sausage rope is also eye catching – almost pushing the 50 inch mark.

Frankly I couldn’t wait to get this thing cooked once it arrived on my doorstep; I should note it’s packed on dry ice and comes frozen – it’ll need an overnight in the refrigerator to safely defrost.

Once I’d excitedly waited for the rope to unfreeze, I had to take a minute to figure out how to cook the thing. It’s hearty size meant it was too big to fit in my air fryer (which I’d love to try it in) and I don’t currently grill or smoke meats outdoors. That meant it was the pan or the oven. The former felt like it would be a bit messy and cumbersome – so the oven it was. I cooked it at 400F for about 30-40 minutes. A solid kitchen thermometer is your best friend here so you can test the sausage as it cooks. Our current pick is the the versatile Chefs Temp Final Touch X10.  Get eight dollars off here. We get a small referral fee for any purchases made too!

I’m glad I chose the oven over the pan. Transferring the sausage from the roasting tray to a chopping board meant the coil quickly disentangled itself. Trying to manipulate it in a pan could be tough. Make sure you have the tools to control this monster before you start cooking – not during!

Once I sliced in I was in heaven. The sausage is seasoned minimally, mainly with black pepper. The beef is a coarser grind and the finish is a snappy, thick pork casing. The taste is exceptionally beefy and rich. Indeed the sausage is packed to the hilt with fatty, lip licking flavor. This is something you’re going to want to share, or portion out. I reckoned I could manage the 2lb behemoth myself over a couple days – I couldn’t – be warned, this is a big and bold product. Just like the state that it calls home. Salt and fat are used heftily here.

The sausage would work in a myriad of ways. After cooking I simply stood there in the kitchen slicing off bites and eating them one by one until my wife gave me that, “you need to stop now look”. From there, I enjoyed some simply on a roll for lunch. Pasta dishes, pizza, heck even an enchilada filing with black beans would be fab. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I could imaging roasting this up with the turkey or chicken too!

Southside Market & Barbeque’s (affiliate link) beef sausage costs $35 and I can’t recommend it enough.

Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC – Utah’s biggest and oldest online food magazine; I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.  I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV shows.

I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have covered the Utah dining scene for the better part of fifteen years.   I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   I started Shop Smart to catalogue my adventures in the grocery store and kitchen.  Follow along on Instagram too!