i'm still wondering how the cure got through the casings that were not pricked...i didn't think they were poreous. also looking at the timeline in the second post i wondered if the cure was really needed. if you started @ 9am and then finished to an IT of 165 @ 3:30, i wonder what time it was @ the 140 mark. i know it was a long time ago but do you remember? i guess another thing is how long the meat was in the danger zone while being made into sausage before you got it......that time would have to be added into the time frame while smoking from 40-140. did you add any spices to the cure and could you taste the cure? i am still learning about sausage making and i haven't come across a fresh to cure method........prolly since it was not yer intention in the first place.
Good questions:
The casing was an animal edible casing, so the cure went through completely, just like a part of the animal. Many people cure & smoke Bacon with the rind on it (I don't), and that's thousands of times thicker than this skin was.
I used cure mainly to give me the "Smoked Sausage" flavor & the smoked sausage color, not only to be able to low & slow smoke it. I didn't care when it got to 140˚, because I wanted to be able to eat it cold, and I wanted the "Smoked Sausage" flavor, just like the difference between my cured Smoked Pork Chops & regular Pork Chops.
These things were originally made in a butcher shop. Then they were in my Son's freezer for about a year--no freezer burn. I didn't worry about any time the butcher used, just like I don't consider the time you take to drive your meat home in your car/truck, or the time it sits in the store above 40˚, etc, etc.
The butcher already had enough seasonings in, so all I did was add the cure.
Note: no wording above was meant to be sarcastic----Just the best way I could think of explaining my reasonings.
I think I may have been the first to do this, because I looked for weeks, and could not find it anywhere.
I probably will never do it again, but I posted it in case anyone runs into the same situation as I did. It worked GREAT !
Later Rob,
Bear