Deer sausage question

[HoosierKettle]

My friend gave me these uncooked. These are suppose to hang but I didn't have room with a water pan so I used a single basket offset with some chunks of hickory. My understanding is to smoke around 175 to an internal of 160. Does this look like it will work?



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[JEBIV]

You have beer and your dog, should turn out excellent

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[HoosierKettle]

You have beer and your dog, should turn out excellent

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Oh my gosh it was excellent. Jalapeño summer sausage.  Just finished a few minutes ago.




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[bbqking01]

Oh deer, that looks great!


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[blu082003]

Ive always been intrigued with summer sausage. Those look amazing


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[AZ2FL]

@HoosierKettle

I don't know how I missed your SS post.
Glad to hear your jalapeno SS was a success!! Now you need a grinder and a stuffer lol

You can either hang vertical like you did or lay them on cook grate. I've smoked them both ways.

Over the years I've smoked SS and snack sticks in a MES30, Big Chief, 22" Kettle, 18" & 22" WSM and a homemade vertical smoker. Vertical smoker will hold 40 logs (about 50-60lbs).

Before placing stuffed SS in smoker, I hang to dry the fibrous casing. A box fan works well for drying and takes about 90-120 minutes.

I try and start pit temp at 100-110 and slowly work my was up to 170-180 over several hours.  When SS reaches IT of 152-156, they are placed in an ice water bath. After IT reaches 90-100, SS is dried with a towel and hung to air dry for 2-4 hours to bloom.

Pictures are from recent summer sausage and snack stick cooks.

Thanks for sharing your SS cook.
Cold beer and  SS
Cheers

[HoosierKettle]

@HoosierKettle

I don't know how I missed your SS post.
Glad to hear your jalapeno SS was a success!! Now you need a grinder and a stuffer lol

You can either hang vertical like you did or lay them on cook grate. I've smoked them both ways.

Over the years I've smoked SS and snack sticks in a MES30, Big Chief, 22" Kettle, 18" & 22" WSM and a homemade vertical smoker. Vertical smoker will hold 40 logs (about 50-60lbs).

Before placing SS in smoker I hang to dry the fibrous casing. A box fan works well for drying and takes about 90-120 minutes.

I try and start pit temp at 100-110 and slowly work my was up to 170-180 over several hours.  When SS reaches IT of 152-156, they are placed in an ice water bath. After IT reaches 90-100, SS is dried with a towel and hung to air dry for 2-4 hours to bloom.

Pictures are from recent summer sausage and snack stick cooks.

Thanks for sharing your SS cook.
Cold beer and  SS
Cheers

They were a success as far as they tasted good but I definitely messed a few things up. I didn't do an ice bath so they shrank and wrinkled. I also didn't air dry which I should have. I warned my friend that my mistakes might change how well they keep. He said he was probably going to freeze them.

Your system looks really dialed in. I will definitely do it like you do in the future. My google searches didn't yield nearly as much information. At least what o found.


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[HoosierKettle]

I watched a video that showed them getting done in 4 hours at 175 cook temp. I followed that and sausages were only 140. I bumped the temp to 225 for 2 more hours to get done. I'm assuming they should have smoked at 175 for several more hours until internal was reached?


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[AZ2FL]

I watched a video that showed them getting done in 4 hours at 175 cook temp. I followed that and sausages were only 140. I bumped the temp to 225 for 2 more hours to get done. I'm assuming they should have smoked at 175 for several more hours until internal was reached?


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Temp bump to 225 did not really affect your SS, it looks moist and not crumbly. Yes it is best to smoke at 170-180 and if your getting close the final 152-156 IT you can bump temp up to 200-210.

Normally when I smoke 10-12 (15lbs) tubes the cook time for me is 6-8 hours. Diameter of the fibrous casing will also determine cook time, whether 1-1/2", 2", 2-1/2" or 4". The smaller the diameter the faster they will cook.

The main thing is to hit the meat IT and not render the fat.

Most of my fibrous casings have wrinkles after a cook too. I vacuum seal and freeze my SS

Your first summer sausage cook looks good, I'd eat it and chase it with a cold beer.

Did your friend use #1 Prague pink cure or SS mix with #1?

[HoosierKettle]

I'm not sure I'm the cure.

When finished, the outsides of the casings had grease and smoke residue. Is this normal?


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[HoosierKettle]

I wondered about vac sealing. If you don't vac seal do they freezer burn?


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[AZ2FL]

I'm not sure I'm the cure.

When finished, the outsides of the casings had grease and smoke residue. Is this normal?


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Outsides of the casing will have very little grease. Your SS did not appear to have an excessive amount of grease.

There are few thing that will cause a greasy casing.
Rendering the fat when smoking (IT above 152-156, I shoot for 154).
Excessive amount of fat to venison/beef ratio.
Fat not ground cold (grind fat when it's almost frozen, if your grinder has enough HP grind it frozen).
Fat smearing on the grinder blade, auger and plate.
Grinder auger getting hot where the spline connects into the motor collar (if you smell meat cooking your auger is hot).
Using regular cheese instead of high temp cheese.
Always keep the meat as close to 35 degrees or so when grinding.
After mixing in spices, ice water, cure and cheese to ground meat. Place tote in the freezer for 10 minutes before stuffing.


Cheers

[AZ2FL]

I wondered about vac sealing. If you don't vac seal do they freezer burn?


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Yes SS will definitely get freezer burned. If you don't have a vac, you could wrap SS in several layers plastic wrap.

Cheers

[AZ2FL]

I'm not sure I'm the cure.

When finished, the outsides of the casings had grease and smoke residue. Is this normal?


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Smoke soot or black smoke residue is not normal.

Drying the casing before loading the smoker prevents this from happening.

I get the smoker going without wood chucks, while the SS is drying. I want thin blue smoke before SS is placed in smoker and a dry casing.

Once SS is in the smoker let it cook for about an hour before adding wood chucks. The extra hour without smoke will help dry the casings even more. You don't want condensation forming on the casings.

Attached pic is a batch of SS that's ready for an ice bath.  No grease or Smokey residue.

Cheers

[AZ2FL]

Pic after ice bath and blooming. They'll hanging out in the refrigerator for a few days before I freeze them.