Cured Sausage: 206 Advanced Cured Sausage Processing
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Christopher Beach It can HELP prevent the wrinkling but it is not the only factor. Amount of protein extracted during mixing, fat content and the cook schedule but it can be an important factor so an ice bath is better than a cool/cold water bath.
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Couple Summer Sausage Questions
- When summer sausage is in the smoker on the heading for 140 degrees, how do you know when it gets there? I have tried to insert a remote temp probe in the tie at the end of the tube and that seems to work OK, but I have too many logs and not enough probes. I don’t want to poke holes during the smoking process, so is there a science I’m not aware of?
-Is there a thermometer that I can hang on the side of a container that will allow me to regulate the temp? Top of my oven is too hot and exceeds 175
-I have been having really tasty results, I run the temp up to 160 on the smoker by gradually increasing the temp, and I quench in ice water till cool, dry it, store in refrigerator over night and vacuum pack and still have wrinkling. However, I do have problems controlling the temp at the low end. Could it be that the temp is too high on the low end?
Thanks for your support, It’s obvious I don’t have the most sophisticated equipment, but want to get the most I can out of what I have.
- When summer sausage is in the smoker on the heading for 140 degrees, how do you know when it gets there? I have tried to insert a remote temp probe in the tie at the end of the tube and that seems to work OK, but I have too many logs and not enough probes. I don’t want to poke holes during the smoking process, so is there a science I’m not aware of?
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The problem you are describing is pretty common for smokers that do not have temperature controls or when the smoker is designed for high temperature smoking/cooking of things like briskets, ribs, or pork butts.
Cured, cooked sausages require lower processing temperatures and if you don’t have the right smoker, sometimes it is hard to get the exact temperatures called for in a recipe. What kind of smoker are you using?
-
Couple Summer Sausage Questions
- When summer sausage is in the smoker on the heading for 140 degrees, how do you know when it gets there? I have tried to insert a remote temp probe in the tie at the end of the tube and that seems to work OK, but I have too many logs and not enough probes. I don’t want to poke holes during the smoking process, so is there a science I’m not aware of?
-Is there a thermometer that I can hang on the side of a container that will allow me to regulate the temp? Top of my oven is too hot and exceeds 175
-I have been having really tasty results, I run the temp up to 160 on the smoker by gradually increasing the temp, and I quench in ice water till cool, dry it, store in refrigerator over night and vacuum pack and still have wrinkling. However, I do have problems controlling the temp at the low end. Could it be that the temp is too high on the low end?
Thanks for your support, It’s obvious I don’t have the most sophisticated equipment, but want to get the most I can out of what I have.
Screamin You might want to finish them in water after getting them to about 130. Water temp would be consistent around all and if one got to the temp you wanted with a probe they should all be there.
- When summer sausage is in the smoker on the heading for 140 degrees, how do you know when it gets there? I have tried to insert a remote temp probe in the tie at the end of the tube and that seems to work OK, but I have too many logs and not enough probes. I don’t want to poke holes during the smoking process, so is there a science I’m not aware of?
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Screamin Yeah, the suggestion by bocephus will fix your problem. All summer sausage I make now gets pulled at 130° and finished in water that is 179° or there about. it should be done in an hour, but if you used |Encapsulated-Citric-Acid, you will want to make sure it stays in there for a full hour regardless of the IT of the sausage to allow the encapsulation to melt. If you hit 160° quickly, you might consider reducing the temp of water to around 160 to prevent overcooking.
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Screamin Yeah, the suggestion by bocephus will fix your problem. All summer sausage I make now gets pulled at 130° and finished in water that is 179° or there about. it should be done in an hour, but if you used |Encapsulated-Citric-Acid, you will want to make sure it stays in there for a full hour regardless of the IT of the sausage to allow the encapsulation to melt. If you hit 160° quickly, you might consider reducing the temp of water to around 160 to prevent overcooking.
Jonathon You always explain things in a lot better detail than I do, thanks for all the info you share.
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Screamin Yeah, the suggestion by bocephus will fix your problem. All summer sausage I make now gets pulled at 130° and finished in water that is 179° or there about. it should be done in an hour, but if you used |Encapsulated-Citric-Acid, you will want to make sure it stays in there for a full hour regardless of the IT of the sausage to allow the encapsulation to melt. If you hit 160° quickly, you might consider reducing the temp of water to around 160 to prevent overcooking.
Jonathon Thanks for your time. I am in the process of rigging up a method to monitor the temp of the water. I think I can use a probe from my Maverick meat temp. This will fix the problem, and also greatly cut down on my temp monitoring at the smoker. Thanks again.
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Screamin You might want to finish them in water after getting them to about 130. Water temp would be consistent around all and if one got to the temp you wanted with a probe they should all be there.
-
The problem you are describing is pretty common for smokers that do not have temperature controls or when the smoker is designed for high temperature smoking/cooking of things like briskets, ribs, or pork butts.
Cured, cooked sausages require lower processing temperatures and if you don’t have the right smoker, sometimes it is hard to get the exact temperatures called for in a recipe. What kind of smoker are you using?
processhead You are right on target. I have a Weber kettle and am using a Slow 'N Sear from SnS grills. A found a rotisserie setup which includes a ring about 6 inches high. I have mounted the grate on top of that which gives me a little more height and if I use the “snake” method in the Slow N Sear, actually doesn’t do too bad, but with this setup you can only refine so far. Hard to seal the smoke in. Anyway, given that my setup is a little primitive and with input from patient people like you and the others, I get along OK. Thanks again for your input, I really appreciate your time.
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Blaker25 Most are using sous vide.
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bocephus okay I figured out what that is. So if I don’t have that option. Just stick with the smoker and it may take 10 hours?? Also if I do choose to buy one. How do you know the internal meat temp if they are suppose to be vacuum sealed?
Blaker25 I have never done it this way but plan to give it a try with an electric roaster, don’t have a sous vide yet. You probably want to look at Jonathan’s post earlier in this thread and also search on sous vide, there is a lot of information from people that have done it.
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Are you able to grind and mix the sticks and let it sit for 24 hours without stuffing it!?!!
Blaker25 I stuff and then let sit 24 hours. It is hard to stuff after 24 hours, especially snack sticks
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Blaker25 I use a turkey roaster.

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cdavis That is what I am going to try next time I make snack sticks or summer sausage.
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bocephus it works great. I’ve had no problems. It sure saves some long smoker time.
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I’ve had snack sticks in my Bradley smoker now for 10 hours and they are stalled out at 120 degrees. Not budging nothing. Im not even sure why they take this long. Does everyone else’s take that long? Does anyone know how to speed up the process? Am I doing something wrong?
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