PK100 Smokehouse
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So bring this back up with a few more questions. I’m planning on doing 10lbs of the Walton’s “beer brats” flavored Smoked Sausage sometime in the coming weeks for an Oktoberfest party I’m having at my house. Was going to do these brats, some fresh made soft pretzels, beer cheese in on of those nacho cheese warmer things, and have a few Oktoberfest style homebrews on tap.
I’ve made one batch so far of the Blue Ribbon sausage on the MES40 and wasn’t super happy with the turnout. They were too dry and I think that’s because I didn’t know about keeping humidity at the time.
This batch I plan on using the 32mm clear collagen casings instead of the tubed hog casings for ease of use. I’m just going to twist them to the size I want using a ruler on the table, then cut them into individual sausages and lay them on the racks of the PK100. I’m going to use the water bowl method with sponges/cloth that Jon showed in his video to get the humidity up. For some reason, the extra bowl I bought from Walton’s for the PK100 looks way smaller than the bowl Jon used in the video. Did they change the bowl size?
So two questions,
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Do I have to change the racks around throughout the cook to have them cook evenly, top to bottom?
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What do you guys think about this thing for helping keep even temps?
https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_29&products_id=850
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So bring this back up with a few more questions. I’m planning on doing 10lbs of the Walton’s “beer brats” flavored Smoked Sausage sometime in the coming weeks for an Oktoberfest party I’m having at my house. Was going to do these brats, some fresh made soft pretzels, beer cheese in on of those nacho cheese warmer things, and have a few Oktoberfest style homebrews on tap.
I’ve made one batch so far of the Blue Ribbon sausage on the MES40 and wasn’t super happy with the turnout. They were too dry and I think that’s because I didn’t know about keeping humidity at the time.
This batch I plan on using the 32mm clear collagen casings instead of the tubed hog casings for ease of use. I’m just going to twist them to the size I want using a ruler on the table, then cut them into individual sausages and lay them on the racks of the PK100. I’m going to use the water bowl method with sponges/cloth that Jon showed in his video to get the humidity up. For some reason, the extra bowl I bought from Walton’s for the PK100 looks way smaller than the bowl Jon used in the video. Did they change the bowl size?
So two questions,
-
Do I have to change the racks around throughout the cook to have them cook evenly, top to bottom?
-
What do you guys think about this thing for helping keep even temps?
https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_29&products_id=850
armyguy Why don’t you just hang the sausages instead of laying them down? Jon does a video of how to link into 3 link globes. I use that all the time. But if you do lay them down, yes I’d rotate the trays.
As for the fan, i’d worry about it fanning the sawdust too much and making more heat/fire, end up burning it down. It doesn’t need it from my experience, save the $90 and buy another gadget.
I cut my own sticks out of hickory tree or my friend used old broom stick, flattened one side so it wouldn’t roll, anything will work. My sticks are now seasoned from being in the smoker, like that you can see the “experience” they have!
I have always used a foil wrapped brick in my weber smokey mtn water bowl to help even out the temp. also start with hot water, make it whatever temp you’ll be running the smoker at so it doesn’t struggle to heat up water and the meat.
You could always give them a spritz too, I do that with pork butts so why wouldn’t it work. -
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armyguy Yes, the bowl that comes with the PK is for smoker chips, I went and found the biggest metal bowl I could find that would fit in the pk100. The PK is so well insulated that it only has a few degree fluctuation from top to bottom. We just tested it this a few weeks ago with two ambient thermometers and I beleive it was less than 5 degrees from top to bottom with vents open and closed.
I would worry about drilling through to install that. If you had an eletric that had thinner sheet metal body I’d say go for it but A) I dont think you will need it and B) installation worries me.
Oh and you shouldn’t NEED to move the racks but it’s a good idea.
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Parksider Ahh I didnt even think about it blowing over the sawdust, good point.
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So bring this back up with a few more questions. I’m planning on doing 10lbs of the Walton’s “beer brats” flavored Smoked Sausage sometime in the coming weeks for an Oktoberfest party I’m having at my house. Was going to do these brats, some fresh made soft pretzels, beer cheese in on of those nacho cheese warmer things, and have a few Oktoberfest style homebrews on tap.
I’ve made one batch so far of the Blue Ribbon sausage on the MES40 and wasn’t super happy with the turnout. They were too dry and I think that’s because I didn’t know about keeping humidity at the time.
This batch I plan on using the 32mm clear collagen casings instead of the tubed hog casings for ease of use. I’m just going to twist them to the size I want using a ruler on the table, then cut them into individual sausages and lay them on the racks of the PK100. I’m going to use the water bowl method with sponges/cloth that Jon showed in his video to get the humidity up. For some reason, the extra bowl I bought from Walton’s for the PK100 looks way smaller than the bowl Jon used in the video. Did they change the bowl size?
So two questions,
-
Do I have to change the racks around throughout the cook to have them cook evenly, top to bottom?
-
What do you guys think about this thing for helping keep even temps?
https://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=14_29&products_id=850
armyguy When you cooked the Blue Ribbon Brats in the smoker did you add a cure and binder or just made them as a Fresh sausage? If you made them Fresh and then smoked them I’d imagine the reason they were dry was probably more because the fat rendered out instead of low humidity but I’m not certain of that. I have the Masterbuilt 30 and that thing is awesome, never more than a 2-4 degree difference from top to bottom. I do need to cut some sticks to hang sausage from as I usually just lay everything on the racks (that has worked great so far) but I want to see if there’s a noticeable difference in cooking time. I doubt it but I know appearance wise there will be as there won’t be the rack marks.
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armyguy When you cooked the Blue Ribbon Brats in the smoker did you add a cure and binder or just made them as a Fresh sausage? If you made them Fresh and then smoked them I’d imagine the reason they were dry was probably more because the fat rendered out instead of low humidity but I’m not certain of that. I have the Masterbuilt 30 and that thing is awesome, never more than a 2-4 degree difference from top to bottom. I do need to cut some sticks to hang sausage from as I usually just lay everything on the racks (that has worked great so far) but I want to see if there’s a noticeable difference in cooking time. I doubt it but I know appearance wise there will be as there won’t be the rack marks.
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On another note, going to throw a fresh rack of St. Louis on it today. Do you guys use a water pan when doing ribs?
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I think if you used small dowels to hang them - Like 1/2 inch. I think you could fit them hanging. Sorry, I do not have a pic, and usually do 12.5 pound batches in my PK100
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MCURRAN Yeah, it depends a little on the size of your casings and how close you can pack them in there but a 25 lb batch should be doable with minimal fuss. I know I have done them with 21mm and I am almost positive I have done them with 19mm as well.
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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MCURRAN Yeah, it depends a little on the size of your casings and how close you can pack them in there but a 25 lb batch should be doable with minimal fuss. I know I have done them with 21mm and I am almost positive I have done them with 19mm as well.
Jonathon Thanks for the reply! I’m thinking this is going to replace my bandera offset that I’ve been using. Managing the temperate vertically in that unit is tough. In my last batch, I had 15 degree differences from the top of the stick to the bottom. They turned out okay, some really good, but some overcooked. I like the smoke flavor from the offset, but I’ll sacrifice that for a more uniform product out of the PK100.
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MCURRAN I can’t guarantee this but I’d be pretty shocked if you weren’t happy with the smoke flavor from the PK100
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