Advice needed : Smoking sausage

[SwampRabbit]

Surprised I got nothing from the Recipe forum....

Okay... the time has finally come. The time where I try my hand at smoked sausage. I've read stuff off this forum for advise, and have given advise on processing your own deer, etc, so I am coming here for some tips from the pros. I've read some how-to sites and there are subtle differences in all of them. I'm wanting to know what you do, and maybe a pic or two of the results.

Here are the constraints:

Masterbuilt 30" digital smoker.
Using Zach's sausage seasoning and cure.
Natural Hog Casings.
Hickory wood chips.

Things I am unsure about are:

Use of binding agents (and what to use, dry milk, soy, etc.)
Other addatives
High Temp Cheese
The drying process (do you dry in the smoker... or in the fridge, kitchen, etc.
The smoking process (wet chips or dry chips... how long.)
Temp you cook it up to (145? 150? 155?)
What meat thermometer do you prefer?
Your cooling process.

And of course pictures!!!

Thanks,

[Smart]

Are you wanting:

Cold smoked sausage?.... Sausage smoked for flavor, subsequently frozen and cooked at a later date on a grill
Sausage smoked to eating temps?...sausage heated to 165 degress ready to eat and anything not eaten frozen like leftovers
Dried sausage?...think like jerky..

[rladner]

Are you wanting:

Cold smoked sausage?.... Sausage smoked for flavor, subsequently frozen and cooked at a later date on a grill
Sausage smoked to eating temps?...sausage heated to 165 degress ready to eat and anything not eaten frozen like leftovers
Dried sausage?...think like jerky..

I'm following this thread and very interested as well. For me (sorry to highjack) would be the above.

[Smart]

Personally we, and most folks I know, cold smoke....I prefer not to freeze 200-300 lbs of leftovers and the first cook (on the grill later) is always the best cook.

[Bilbo]

Skinny smokes a lot of meat

[bboswell]

tag

[AntlerCollector]

Cold smoke mine. Vacuum seal and cook at a later date.

[JMAG]

cold smoke...? what temp???

[Jaybo31]

tag again

[SwampRabbit]

Are you wanting:

Cold smoked sausage?.... Sausage smoked for flavor, subsequently frozen and cooked at a later date on a grill
Sausage smoked to eating temps?...sausage heated to 165 degress ready to eat and anything not eaten frozen like leftovers
Dried sausage?...think like jerky..

The answer is yes; all of the above.

I don't think you can cold smoke in the masterbuilt electric because they have too much direct heat. But if there is still a method to do so, I might be interested. If I were to make a very large batch to freeze over the year, I'd definately want to cold smoke. Same questions however still apply when it comes to binders, drying, drying temps, etc. Maybe they don't apply, maybe they do.

Smoking to eating temps and freezing has an advantage in that you can eat it cold; as odd as it sounds, I like to snack on cold, precooked, smoked sausage. "grilling" it is just to get it up to temperature, not to cook it, if I want to eat it warm. Again, we are talking maybe a 5-10lb batch so I don't mind freezing "leftovers" in some situations.

Jerky and summer sausage. My wife isn't a big fan of the later, but I definately want to try dry smoking jerky rather than just dehydrating it; but that will happen in the spring.

[SwampRabbit]

Cold smoke mine. Vacuum seal and cook at a later date.

How long to do apply the smoke, what temp, and do you still use a cure? Also, do you cold smoke with wet chips or dry chips?

[AntlerCollector]

How long to do apply the smoke, what temp, and do you still use a cure? Also, do you cold smoke with wet chips or dry chips?

First I have to say I have a real smokehouse. I've never used an electric one. I do use cure, but only about 2/3rds the recommended amount. Too much cure makes it salty. The seasoning and smoke is a natural cure. I keep the temp between 125-140. The sausage will get a good smoke ring in it. I'm not trying to cook the sausage in the smokehouse. Just getting a great smoke flavor. I pecan smoke mine. Once removed I hang the sausage in my meat house and let cool to room temps then vacuum seal it in dinner sized portions.

[Smart]

Prefer not to use cure if day is under 60 deg....no cure needed if cooking up to temp hot smoking either.....but....we will use cure if the weekend we can get everybody together is over 60 degrees. The perfect smoking day is a blue bird cold front day in Jan/Feb/March with low humidity, temps in the 30-50s and no cure.

No binders whatsoever.....just meat and spices stuffed in a casing. My smokehouse is kept under 60 degrees and preferably cooler if I can get it there. I'll smoke for 5-6 hours in the evening....fill the fire box full of wood when I go to bed and let it run out in the middle of the night. It will cool as it hangs till morning with a cold night.

cold smoke...? what temp???

Here is my thread from last year for those interested in the cold smoking thread. I'll see if I can find some more...

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=441450&highlight=cold+smoke

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=333970&highlight=cold+smoke

[doeboy11]

I tried to smoke sausage once but I couldn't keep it lit.

[Smart]

The answer is yes; all of the above.

I don't think you can cold smoke in the masterbuilt electric because they have too much direct heat. But if there is still a method to do so, I might be interested. If I were to make a very large batch to freeze over the year, I'd definately want to cold smoke. Same questions however still apply when it comes to binders, drying, drying temps, etc. Maybe they don't apply, maybe they do.

Smoking to eating temps and freezing has an advantage in that you can eat it cold; as odd as it sounds, I like to snack on cold, precooked, smoked sausage. "grilling" it is just to get it up to temperature, not to cook it, if I want to eat it warm. Again, we are talking maybe a 5-10lb batch so I don't mind freezing "leftovers" in some situations.

Jerky and summer sausage. My wife isn't a big fan of the later, but I definately want to try dry smoking jerky rather than just dehydrating it; but that will happen in the spring.

Whatever you want to do with yours if fine by me. If we are going to eat it cold we make summer sausage.

I don't do dried sausage so you'd have to ask TBHers Shinerbock or Stolle. They do it every year.

Hot smoking would be just like doing a brisket or pork butt. Get the sausage up to 165 degrees at say 200-225 smoker temp and pull it off when done. I'm sure it can be accomplished at a lower temp as well. It will just take longer. Make sure you have plenty of woodchips. Not sure how long they last in an electric smoker but in my wood and charcoal smoker, they are virtually useless......gone in 5-10 minutes.

My prefer "check" thermometer is the Thermoworks Thermopop. It is a great instant read thermo for a reasonable price and Thermoworks makes a quality product. It is a great thermo for BBQing when you want to spot check your big chunks of meat.

http://www.amazon.com/ThermoWorks-ThermoPop-Super-Fast-Thermometer-Rotating/dp/B00HZVJM4M