Summer Sausage sticking to casing and pulling cut pieces apart and bland

[wisconsinsmoker]

I'm new to making summer sausage. The first batch I did turned out great and I thought I had it down. Everything from the dryness level to my heavier smoke flavor I was really happy with. The next batch when I cut the sausage the fibrous casing stuck to the pieces of sausage I cut and when I pulled the casing away from the cut piece it would pull my piece of sausage apart. Also I ran the smoke pretty heavy on both batches (I'm experienced with smoking pork and chicken in my WSM ). The first batch took the smoke real nice my second bad batch did not take the smoke worth a darn. BLAND. 

The differences of note that I am aware of (with a probable fact I did something wrong that I wasn't aware of) were on the first batch I only put 5  one pound sticks in the smoker. On the second batch I ran 10 one pound sticks. The smoker I'm using for this summer sausage is Smokin It model #1 electric. Pretty small smoker comes with two 12 by 13 inch racks. 

The other thing that was different was I used clear fibrous casings on the first batch and mahogoney fibrous on the 2nd. Not sure that makes a difference. Yes I soaked them in water both times.

Just want to get some thoughts from the experienced summer sausage crowd before I make up my next batch. Could either of my 2 differences be a facter on my bland smoke taste and my cases sticking?

 

[boykjo]

casings or high heat can contribute to meat sticking to the casing. some tend to rush through the stall and raise the heat. You will get a stall with a smoker full of sausage.

 

[wisconsinsmoker]

Thanks for your info I'll keep this in mind on my next batch.

 

[boykjo]

Another thing comes to mind is possibly over drying the sausage before placing in the smoker. Smoke penetration can be greatly reduced when the casing becomes dry. This can happen if you place them in the fridge stuffed then smoke them the next day. It is always good to smoke sausage on the day it was stuffed.  The moisture in freshly stuffed meat will moisten the casing. Use a fan circulate some air  on the sausage for a few minutes is good to form a pellicle.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pellicle_(cooking)  This will allow the smoke to stick to the casing and penetrate as it cookes

 

[wisconsinsmoker]

That might be it. I did stuff them and then put them in the smoker 2 days later.

 

[wisconsinsmoker]

Now I know not to do that again. Thanks for your help on this.

 

[DanMcG]

Any chance you used a protein lined casing on the second batch? Other then that I think Boykjo has got ya covered.