How Long to Boil Sausages: On the Hob, Steamed and in the Microwave

1. In boiling water (in a saucepan)

The classic and quickest method. Bring the water to the boil, drop in the sausages and cook over a medium heat for 3-5 minutes after the water comes back to the boil. There is no need to salt the water: the sausages are already salted during production.

• Time: 3-5 minutes, counted from when the water returns to the boil
• Points to note: add them only to boiling water, keep the heat medium without a fierce boil, do not salt the water
• How to tell they are ready: the sausage floats up and swells slightly, becoming firm and springy

2. Steamed

Steamed sausages come out juicier than boiled ones and do not give up their flavour to the stock. Cook them in a steamer or in a colander set over boiling water under a lid for 5-7 minutes.

• Time: 5-7 minutes under a lid
• Points to note: the water does not touch the sausages, the flavour stays rich, a lid is essential to trap the steam
• What it is good for: a handy way to heat lots of them at once without losing any juiciness

3. In the microwave

The quickest option for one or two sausages. Put them in a bowl, cover with water if you like, put on a lid and heat for 1-1.5 minutes at full power.

• Time: 1-1.5 minutes at full power
• Points to note: be sure to pierce the skin with a fork in 2-3 places and cover with a lid to stop it splattering
• What it is good for: quickly heating 1-2 sausages

4. In a multicooker

Sausages are easy to steam on the Steam setting: pour water into the bowl, put in the rack and lay out the sausages. You can also boil them in water on the Soup or Cook setting.

• Time: 7-10 minutes steamed, 3-5 minutes in water after it comes to the boil
• Points to note: the Steam setting on the rack above the water keeps their shape and juiciness
• What it is good for: handy when the multicooker is already in use in the kitchen

5. In a frying pan without boiling

You do not have to boil sausages, you can fry them instead: they are already cooked, so all you need to do is heat them through and brown them. Place them in a hot frying pan with a little oil and fry for 5-7 minutes, turning them.

• Time: 5-7 minutes until golden and crisp
• Points to note: a little oil, medium heat, score them lengthways or in a criss-cross, turn them
• What it is good for: an appetising crust, since the product is already cooked and just needs warming through

6. Frozen sausages

There is no need to defrost them in advance. Drop the sausages straight from the freezer into boiling water and add 2-3 minutes to the usual time, around 6-8 minutes in total.

• Time: the usual time plus 2-3 minutes, about 6-8 minutes in total
• Points to note: cook them without defrosting, straight into boiling water
• How to tell they are ready: start counting from when the water returns to the boil

7. Frankfurters

Frankfurters are thicker and larger than sausages, so they need a little more time. Drop them into boiling water and cook over a medium heat for 5-7 minutes.

• Time: 5-7 minutes in water, 7-10 minutes steamed or in a multicooker
• Points to note: add them to boiling water, medium heat, without a fierce boil
• How to tell they are ready: with thick frankfurters, check that they are heated through inside, 70-75 degrees in the centre

8. Sausages for children

Children's and milk sausages are cooked like ordinary ones: 3-5 minutes in boiling water. There is no need to keep them in longer, they are already cooked and lose their flavour if overcooked.

• Time: 3-5 minutes in boiling water
• Safety: remove the artificial skin completely and let the sausage cool before serving
• Age: paediatricians do not recommend shop-bought sausages until around 3 years of age because of the salt and nitrites

• Add sausages only to water that is already boiling: heating them up sharply from cold makes the skin split more often.
• Keep a medium heat with no rapid boiling, so the sausages heat through evenly and hold their shape.
• Do not salt the water: the sausages already contain salt, and extra salt only draws moisture out of them.
• There is no need to remove a natural skin, it is edible, but an artificial cellophane one is better taken off.
• You do not have to pierce sausages as long as you do not overcook them. In the microwave a pierce is always needed.
• Doneness is easy to tell: once a sausage has floated and swelled slightly, it has heated through.

• Putting sausages into cold water and bringing it to the boil with them: the skin stretches and tears.
• Overcooking them: after 7-8 minutes a sausage turns rubbery and the skin cracks.
• Cooking over a high heat at a rapid boil: the sausages knock against each other and burst.
• Forgetting to pierce a sausage in the microwave: it swells up and bursts right inside the oven.
• Removing a natural skin: without it the sausage falls apart and loses its juices.

There are two kinds of skin. A natural one, made of a protein or collagen material, does not need to be removed: it is edible, holds its shape well and does not get in the way. An artificial cellophane or polythene skin is taken off before or after cooking, as it must not be eaten. It is easy to tell them apart: an artificial skin is smooth and shiny, often with a neat seam and printing, while a natural one is more matt and clings tightly.

You do not have to pierce sausages before boiling. If you drop them into boiling water and do not overcook them, the skin will stay intact. A pierce is only needed in the microwave, where the sausage heats from the inside and the steam quickly stretches the skin.

Sausages and frankfurters are sold already cooked, and when you boil them you are only heating them through. The sign of doneness is simple: the sausage floats to the surface, swells a little in size and turns springy. This usually happens just about 3-5 minutes after you put them into the boiling water.

Lift the cooked sausages out with a slotted spoon, let the water drain off and serve them straight away while hot. They go well with mustard, ketchup, braised cabbage, mashed potato or a fresh hot dog bun. If the sausages have been sitting and have gone cold, do not boil them again, just heat them through with steam or in the microwave for 30-60 seconds.

The timing depends on the thickness of the casing and what the filling is made of. The principle is always the same: drop the sausages into water that is already boiling, wait for it to come back to the boil, and start counting the time from exactly that moment. The sausages floating up and the casing swelling are an extra clue, but the number one guide is the minutes after the water returns to the boil.

Milk and cream sausages: 3-5 minutes, the thin casing splits easily, so keep the heat medium.

Chicken and turkey sausages: 3-4 minutes, the filling is tender and loose, so use a gentle heat or the pour-over boiling water method.

Vienna and frankfurter sausages: 3-5 minutes, the classic hot dog choice, often in a natural casing.

Chipolatas and thin sausages: 2-3 minutes, they cook very quickly.

Thick sausages (sardelki): 5-7 minutes, they are noticeably thicker than ordinary sausages.

Bavarian sausages and grilling sausages: 5-7 minutes, dense and thick, so it is safer to steam, fry or bake them.

Hunter's sausages and cooked-smoked sausages: 2-3 minutes just to warm through, as long boiling dries them out.

For thick sausages and coarse sausages, go by more than just the time and also by how hot they are inside, more on which below.

This is the gentlest option, especially for delicate milk and chicken sausages. They never actually boil, so they do not split, fall apart or lose their juices, and they stay succulent.

Bring the water to the boil, take the pan off the heat, lower the sausages into the hot water, put the lid on and let them stand for 7-10 minutes. Give thick sausages 10-12 minutes. The hot water gently warms them through to readiness without tearing the casing the way a rolling boil does. The method also makes sense because sausages are already a cooked product that only needs warming through evenly, not lengthy cooking.

If you want a golden, crisp skin rather than just warming through, bake or fry the sausages.

In the oven: 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees, and it is handy to turn them over halfway through cooking.

On a grill or barbecue: 7-10 minutes, turning them regularly, and watch that the casing does not char.

In an air fryer: 8-10 minutes at 180-200 degrees.

For an appetising crust and even heating, score the sausage crosswise or lengthwise on the diagonal. Bear in mind that all these methods add flavour and looks, but essentially they only warm through an already cooked product, so there is no sense in overdoing it.

Sausages are a calorie-dense food because of their high fat content. On average they come to 230-330 kcal per 100 grams depending on the category: chicken and turkey are the lightest, milk sausages are moderate in fat, and cream sausages are the most calorific. They contain around 10-12 grams of protein, 20-28 grams of fat and only a little carbohydrate, usually 1-2 grams.

A single sausage weighing 40-50 grams gives roughly 100-150 kcal. Boiling changes the calorie count very little, as some of the fat renders out into the water, so boiled sausages are slightly lighter than fried ones. If you want a leaner option, choose chicken sausages or category A products with a high meat content.

Keep boiled sausages in the fridge for 24-48 hours in a sealed container so they do not dry out at the edges or take on other smells. Use an opened pack of raw sausages within 1-2 days. You can freeze boiled sausages, but after thawing they turn soft and watery, so it is more practical to cook them in portions as you need them.

Reheating takes a couple of minutes. Drop the sausages into hot but not boiling water for 2-3 minutes, or warm them through with steam. In the microwave, 30-60 seconds at around 800 watts under a cover is enough to keep them from drying out. In a frying pan, reheating for 2-3 minutes also gives them a light crust.

A sausage counts as heated through when it reaches 70-75 degrees inside and the cut surface is hot rather than lukewarm or cold in the centre. For ordinary thin sausages this is reached within 3-5 minutes, and no separate checking is needed.

For thick sausages, Bavarian sausages and frozen products, however, floating and swelling do not guarantee that the middle is hot. Here it is safer to check with a kitchen thermometer: push the probe into the centre, and a reading of 70 degrees or above means it is done. If you have no thermometer, cut one open: steam and an evenly hot cut surface with no cold core confirm that it is ready to serve.

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