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After having been brought to North America by European immigrants, “Vienna sausage” came to mean only smaller and much shorter smoked and canned wieners, rather than link sausage, beginning about 1903. In Norway wiener sausages are typically served in a lefse lompe. North American vienna sausages are made similarly to pork wieners, finely ground to a paste consistency and mixed with salt and various spices, such as cloves, coriander, nutmeg, garlic powder, onion powder and finely ground, dry red pepper. After smoking it, heat treating it, and placing it inside a cold storage room or a fridge, these sausages can last up to two years. Leave it inside for five more minutes then turn off the stove and let it slowly cool off inside the cooker. One of the next things we asked ourselves was, how long does sausage last in a cooker? Beetroot juice is used to give it the usual color of Vienna sausage that we all know.
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So in the title I mentioned a 2 years shelf life for my sausages, but it can actually be much more. These will still be good years after that. I have eaten lots of things that were expired.
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Hard or dry sausage (such as pepperoni and Genoa salami), whole and unopened, can be stored indefinitely in the refrigerator or for up to 6 weeks in the pantry. Uncooked fresh sausage can be stored in the refrigerator 1 to 2 days after cooking, keep for 3 to 4 days refrigerated (40 ° F / 4.4 ☌ or less).
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