Why is Winter Time preferred for smoking sausage?

tgil · Jun 18, 2011

I have a new to me, Coke box conversion that I can't wait to try a batch of Venison Summer Sausage in. I have to get it wired up but have everything else I need besides the cool temps.

My question is will 100 plus outside temps have an adverse affect on the outcome of the sausage?

Thanks in advance for the replies!

fpnmf · Jun 18, 2011

Yup it will.

Might try getting some books..I like the Marianski books. Amazon.

Use the search tool up top and you can scare up tons of info about sausage making.

mossymo · Jun 18, 2011

I would say the biggest reason winter is the most popular season for sausage is because it is the first season after a majority of North America's hunting seasons.

As long as you keep your sausage fridge temp cool while grinding, mixing and stuffing... then keep your smoker and sausage meat temp within guidelines you will be fine. This is another reason for it be popular for winter, much easier to work sausage in cooler temps. The smoker I use for sausage get put away for the summer.

africanmeat · Jun 18, 2011

I don't know it is a tradition in the Eastern Europe country you feed pig or two the whole summer and in the beginning off the winter you make

sausages out of him.and it is a village get together. and a great party.

and something to do with no fridges.and the sausages are safer to cur.

BGKYSmoker · Jun 18, 2011

Any time of year is good for sausage making.

kielbasa kid · Jul 1, 2011

Anytime is good if you live in the Arctic. Otherwise you are fooling with botulism.

You can get away with very small batches if the weather cools, like late evening or some nights but I myself, start late October and run through March. You cannot let it stand around while you are mucking about.

After it is spiced, it should be covered with a dish towel and let set in a cool spot over night to allow the spices to do their thing. If you stuff it right after spicing, you loose alot of flavour.

Of course, if you load it with sodium and cancer inducing nitrates and nitrites, you can extend the season. I first stuck my hand in sausage making about 70 years ago. Family tradition. We never used chemicals or poisons. Commercial kielbasa often has MSG in it.

If you need a filler, use powdered milk.

BTW: Garlic looses its flavour when the sausage is frozen.

Many ethnic groups have their dominant cancer. Polish have stomach cancer. Why? Because of the afore mentioned additives. Me? I already had a stroke, so I'm not pushing the envelope, except for an angry husband here and there.

DanMcG · Jul 2, 2011

Anytime is a good time to make sausage, as long as you follow the rules and around here we use the USDA guidelines for safe sausage production and meat smoking. If you're going to smoke it you will need a cure.

You'll need to keep the meat cold at all times while you're making it but once it's cured and you put it in the smoker you'll be running temps of 100°-180° so outside ambient temps are not an issue.

I do most of my sausage in the winter but I think it's because I have more free time on my hands and not because of the weather

kielbasa kid · Jul 2, 2011

USDA guidelines are all well and good BUT............if you are not going to risk health by using a "cure", you are going to risk health by not using a "cure".

That's why they make vanilla and chocolate. Sauzeech his own!

Rytek Kutas

, spells it out simply in his Bible:

"Sodium Nitrate - A colorless crystal that is used to make meat cures, explosives and fertilizers. Nitrate is poisonous".

"Sodium Nitrite - A salt or ester of nitric acid. Also a poison".

So sayeth Numero Uno.

I have been smoking kielbasa for 50 years and I have NEVER need a "cure".

I also majored in analytical chemistry

.

As for "guidelines": Around here, the VTL guidelines say 65 on the NYS Thruway

.... but who does 65? Probably nobody that uses a cure, since cures are popular.

Whatever floats your boat. Kielbasa is King.

BGKYSmoker · Jul 2, 2011

Put the USDA in the same boat as the BATF and FDA

They want WE THE PEOPLE to do what THEY want....Corrupt

Make sausage any way you wish at any time of year.

chef jimmyj · Jul 2, 2011

Lots of tradition in Charcuterie...ie. Meat Curing...Purchase the new born spring Piggy's in March...7-8 months later, October/November, the weather is COOL, allowing the meat to stay fresher longer, and the Porker is 150 to 200 Pounds and ready to be butchered and CURED/SMOKED for consumption over the winter and through the rest of the year. This is for countries in the Northern Hemisphere the opposite takes place in the Southern Hemisphere...Purchase in September and butcher in April/May...JJ

DanMcG · Jul 3, 2011

Kielbasa Kid said:
Rytek Kutas

, spells it out simply in his Bible:

"Sodium Nitrate - A colorless crystal that is used to make meat cures, explosives and fertilizers. Nitrate is poisonous".

"Sodium Nitrite - A salt or ester of nitric acid. Also a poison".

So sayeth Numero Uno.

He also says

"Cures are critical in the manufacture of smoked and cooked meat to prevent food poisoning."

And,

"Do not forget this one cardinal rule: IF IT CAN"T BE CURED, DON'T SMOKE IT." The capitals and bold is Mr. Kutas's not mine.

You can smoke anyway you like KK, but I think it's important to remember that because of all the beginners here we need a safety standard to follow and for us that's the USDA guidelines. Please don't suggest that they can smoke meat without a cure.

kielbasa kid · Jul 3, 2011

Gee!

That's alot of "us" and "we".

I guess that tells me?

O.K.. I won't.

BUT.............................I will send flowers.

jirodriguez · Jul 3, 2011

For experienced people that know what they are doing and don't mind taking the risk then no-cure could be an option, up to you as an individual. But we also have a lot of folks just learning and it is best to be safe and not make the family and friends sick. Just about anything can kill you if done in excess, heck I remember a couple years back where that gal died doing a radio station contest - the contest was to drink a bunch of water an not go to the bathroom the longest. Turns out if you drink to much water at one time it will kill you! But so will de-hydration.

Smoking like all things is a learning experience, be safe and have fun.

solaryellow · Jul 3, 2011

Getting back to the original post. I think it has to do primarily with the season. Tradition dates back to the days prior to modern refrigeration and the growing season. The hogs were at the end of the summer season where feed was plentiful. I am not so certain it applies to the times we live in today.

Even so, I do most of my sausage making in the late fall through early spring. I can work outside on the back patio without needing to make a mess of Mrs. Solaryellow's kitchen and no concern of bugs and excessive temps that could cause troubles throughout the process. I also find smoker temps easier to control in the mild Carolina winter than the hot humid summer.

alblancher · Jul 3, 2011

If you intend to keep the sausage under refrigeration you do not need cure. Simple enough. Smoke it at a high enough temperature that the internal temp for cooked pork is reached within 4 hours you are fine. I make ShooterRick's breakfast sausage at least once a month and never use cure but it is ground and spiced, refrigerated, formed into patties and frozen.

When I stuff sausages I cut the meat into chunks, add cure 1 and salt, refrigerate, grind, season, stuff and refrigerate again to meld spices. In a couple of days the sausage goes into a slow smoke for 6 to 8 hours depending on how much smoke I want. This is delicious, safe sausage that my family and I enjoy several times a week for lunches or as the main meal.

Nitrites when used in the proper amounts and with the proper techniques are safe meat preservatives. Please remember that when properly cured with Cure 1 (especially when using accelerants like ascorbic acid) there is very little nitrite left in the final food product.

Nitrates are intended for long term cured meats and will have residual amounts of the chemical for long periods of time. Many of our long term cure, hard sausages (Salamies) use Cure 1 to protect the product for the first few days of cure time and then allow other processes such as pH alteration and water availability initiated by bacterial or fungal inoculations to provide the long term curative properties.

By all means if you are sensitive to preservatives or pesticides you need to avoid them. One thing I do know is that I would not harvest a peach or plum from my little orchard if I did not carefully use AG Service recommended pesticides. I would not plant a garden if I could not use glycophosphate based herbicides because I would die of heat stroke trying to keep it weeded.

alblancher · Jul 3, 2011

SolarYellow

I am sorry, my last post IS OFF TOPIC but I did not edit it because I think the food safety issues mentioned earlier in the post need to be addressed, again. Dan's post was right on the mark but I wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

Al

solaryellow · Jul 3, 2011

alblancher said:
SolarYellow

I am sorry, my last post IS OFF TOPIC but I did not edit it because I think the food safety issues mentioned earlier in the post need to be addressed, again. Dan's post was right on the mark but I wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

Al

You don't owe me any apology Al. I agree with you 100% and felt that Dan's post summed it all up quite nicely.

pit 4 brains · Jul 3, 2011

Back to the original question..

My smokehouse is 116 degrees during the day just by being outside. Cold smoking around here is fairly tough at best in the summer. Heck I could smoke meat if I had a good smelling candle right now. Even my drum is hard to keep below 235 in this heat.

exhaustedspark · Jul 3, 2011

Life is good.

{ Root Beer }

Karl

exhaustedspark · Jul 3, 2011

Pit 4 Brains said:
Back to the original question..

My smokehouse is 116 degrees during the day just by being outside. Cold smoking around here is fairly tough at best in the summer. Heck I could smoke meat if I had a good smelling candle right now. Even my drum is hard to keep below 235 in this heat.

What are you talking about PFB?????????

Night is not for sleeping. Git one of todd units and awaYYYYYYYYYYYYY ya go.

Karl

Why is Winter Time preferred for smoking sausage?

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