How Long Do You Boil Sausage?

Ingrid Firmhofer/LOOK/Getty Images

When cooking sausage, boil it for about 20 minutes before transferring it to a grill. Make sure that you keep the water at a low boil, because if the boil is too high, the sausages split open before you get to put them on the barbecue.

While it is typical to boil sausage in water, if you add cider or beer, the sausage takes on the flavor. After 20 minutes in the boil, move the sausage to a hot grill for about 10 minutes. Check the inside of the sausage with a meat thermometer before taking it off. For poultry sausage, the minimum internal temperature should be 165 F or higher. For other sausage types, the minimum is 160 F.