Sweet and Spicy Mini Sausages

Why This Sweet and Spicy Mini Sausages Works

In the oven, the little smokies sit in that thick mix of BBQ sauce, honey, brown sugar, hot sauce, and spices. As everything heats up, the sugar in the honey and brown sugar starts to melt and cling to the outside of the sausages. The sauce slowly soaks around each piece, so every side is coated instead of just the top.

During the first covered bake, the foil traps steam. That steam keeps the sausages moist while they warm all the way through. At the same time, the sauce thins out a bit from the heat, then starts to settle and stick to the meat instead of running off.

Once the foil comes off, the surface dries a little and the sugars on the outside begin to darken and thicken. The sauce around the sausages turns glossy and a bit sticky, and the edges of the smokies firm up just enough to have a slight bite. By the end, the sausages stay juicy inside with a sweet, spicy, sticky coating on the outside.

Mistakes To Avoid

Letting the sausages bake uncovered the whole time can dry them out. The sauce on top thickens and starts to burn at the edges while the sausages lose moisture and turn tough and wrinkly instead of staying juicy.

Pouring the sauce over the sausages without stirring it well first leaves clumps of sugar and streaks of spice. Those sugar pockets can burn in the oven, and some sausages end up barely coated while others sit in a thick, sticky patch.

Using a shallow pan that’s too big spreads the sausages out in a thin layer. The sauce runs off and bakes into a thin crust on the bottom of the dish, so the sausages don’t stay covered and come out less saucy and a bit chewy.

Cranking the oven hotter than 350°F to “speed it up” often makes the sauce bubble too hard and scorch around the edges. The sugar in the honey and brown sugar darkens fast, turning the outside sticky and almost bitter while the inside of the sausages just gets rubbery.