Should Chorizo Be Peeled Before Cooking

I grew up in Yorkshire, that doesn't make me an immediate expert but my Mother used lard or beef dripping to coat the container for either Yorkshire Puddings or Toad in the Hole. You should preheat the lard in the oven, it should be 'very' hot.

I suspect the issue with using the oil from the sausages is that you will get some water as well as the oil. This will not coat the batter and will evaporate quickly. Or the oil is not hot enough when put in the container. I suggest putting the residue from the sausage in a gravy not for the Toad in the Hole.

P.S. I don't know what (from the linked recipe) the sausage chunks means, but keep your sausages whole imo.

So yesterday I tried out the experiment. I made the naked fatty per the normal recipe, and using the gimme lean breakfast sausage. The two primary concerns I had were (a) to ensure the sausage didn't come apart during the smoking process and (b) to ensure a good amount of smokiness was imparted.

• With respect to (a), the heat I worried might denature the exterior sausage bits, so I rubbed my hands, cutting board, grill grate, and the sausage with some canola oil. The hope was to try to have a protectant layer on the outside that would be hydrophobic, and reduce stickiness.
• With respect to (b), I assumed the smoke from the charcoal would sufficiently suffuse the pork sausage, but was concerned about the vegan one. To create more smoke I roasted peppers and tomatillos for the latter half of the cooking process.

Results: Both ended up smoky and nicely textured. Neither was on the verge of crumbly bits, but rather tender on the inside and nicely glazed on the outside. The "meats" were very smoky, very well flavored (the rub was great, but my vegan bbq sauce from scratch not so good). When I incorporated it into chili I quartered the chubs lengthwise and put a quick sear on each edge. They were good short term, not so good long-term and became pretty soft and the flavor dimished. Next time I may try rolling it flat and smoking it that way so it can just be crumbled.

Takeaway: Smoking vegan sausage pulls out some really good stuff. Obviously it's not pork sausage, but it is a tasty meat substitute and smoking it is worth the effort. It doesn't take well yet to stock; further searing/cooking might be required.