My First Smoked Sausage

bfelgar · Aug 14, 2011

This was my first attempt at smoked sausage. I did two different recipes, the lighter one is a spicy habanero and Serrano pepper sausage. The darker one is a bloody marry with sun dried tomato. I slow smoked them at 155 for four hours, then pulled the amns and upped the temp to 170 for another four hours to reach finishing temp. Then immediately into an ice bath to cool to 120. Re racked and bloomed for an hour.

They both turned out with a great flavor. The only thing I would like to work on is the wrinkling on the casing. I know the ice bath prevents it but it still doesn't have that "store tight" look. I would love to get the hill shire farms kielbasa look with smooth, tight casing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

meateater · Aug 14, 2011

Looks great !

solaryellow · Aug 14, 2011

Both of those sound great. What ingredients went into the bloody mary sausage?

bfelgar · Aug 14, 2011

Demitri's bloody marry mix, salt pepper, garlic powder, sun dried tomato and I believe some hot sauce. I'm not exactly sure because my buddy seasoned that one while I did the spicy.

BGKYSmoker · Aug 14, 2011

Looks good.

You did add cure?

And if you want the tight casing looks you need to add a binder like soy protein concentrate. buckwheat flour, powder milk, whey powder, corn syrup solids, rice flour, soybean powder, clear karo liquid, knox gelatin or more fat. NOTE all these types of binders are not always needed in sausage.

Sorry to ramble

bfelgar · Aug 14, 2011

Thanks for the tip. I've noticed that a lot of recipes that I've seen call for powdered milk. is that my best bet to use? I'm looking for an ingredient that doesn't change flavor as much as appearance. I've heard it also makes it more juicy.

bfelgar · Aug 14, 2011

Oh yea...pink salt

jak757 · Aug 14, 2011

Those look great to me -- and it sounds like they tasted great too. Very nice job!

DanMcG · Aug 15, 2011

bfelgar said:
Thanks for the tip. I've noticed that a lot of recipes that I've seen call for powdered milk. is that my best bet to use? I'm looking for an ingredient that doesn't change flavor as much as appearance. I've heard it also makes it more juicy.

Powdered milk would be a good choice for starters. All the ones Nepa mentioned will aid in moister retention and keep them plump and will not effect the flavor unless you use to much of it.

africanmeat · Aug 15, 2011

It looks great ,well done

SmokinAl · Aug 15, 2011

Great job on your first try!

tjohnson · Aug 15, 2011

The right rear corner of the MES is a hot spot.

was any of the sausage in the hot spot?

Taste is all that matters to me!

Todd

bfelgar · Aug 15, 2011

The right rear corner of the MES is a hot spot.

was any of the sausage in the hot spot?

I kept the sausage hanging away from the right rear corner, as it is a known hot spot in the mes. If you throw a 12x12 ceramic tile on top the smoke box it really helps with that issue though. all my sausage finished very consistently.

DanMcG and Nepa, thanks for the advice. I've been doing some more research and I think you'll see some Kielbasa next. Hopefully with plump tight skins.

Bearcarver · Aug 15, 2011

Looks real good from here too!!!!

Thanks for the views!

Bear

fpnmf · Aug 15, 2011

Looks tasty.

I use soy protein to keep them fat and juicy.

Actually it is soy flour... Got it at the Asian Mart.

Craig

couger78 · Aug 15, 2011

Great looking sausages!

And I dont mind the wrinkles!

As I tell my sons, wrinkles add character whether on sausages or people.......

boykjo · Aug 15, 2011

How much water did you put into the meat...... If you put a lot of water in to bind the meat and you smoke for a long time you will get evaporation of water which will cause shrinkage I dont use powdered dextrose to hold moisture I dont put it in there........ rytek adds it into almost every recipe and everyone thinks you need it to make plump sausage...If you made sausage and needed to keep the water weight to make money selling it by the pound to make some extra bucks then go ahead and use it.......... To make plump sausage add as little water to the ground pork to make it soft enough to push through the stuffer and I believe sausage should not be smoked for more than 4 hrs.... If you get your time, temps and seperation of the meat for proper convection around the sausage it will come out plumper than the good year blimp........ I may have ticked some people off and I think I'll have another brewski......................

Joe

BGKYSmoker · Aug 15, 2011

boykjo said:
How much water did you put into the meat...... If you put a lot of water in to bind the meat and you smoke for a long time you will get evaporation of water which will cause shrinkage I dont use powdered dextrose to hold moisture I dont put it in there........ rytek adds it into almost every recipe and everyone thinks you need it to make plump sausage...If you made sausage and needed to keep the water weight to make money selling it by the pound to make some extra bucks then go ahead and use it.......... To make plump sausage add as little water to the ground pork to make it soft enough to push through the stuffer and I believe sausage should not be smoked for more than 4 hrs.... If you get your time, temps and seperation of the meat for proper convection around the sausage it will come out plumper than the good year blimp........ I may have ticked some people off and I think I'll have another brewski......................

Joe

Crappers

I got a tick on me

Ahh hell wif it, he gotta eat to...I'll have another cold one.... and a klondike bar

DanMcG · Aug 16, 2011

boykjo said:
I may have ticked some people off and I think I'll have another brewski......................

Joe

No problem here!

I personally use a binder in most everything I make, but to each his own. Other then safety concerns there is no right or wrong way to make a sausage. Hell if we all did it the same way what would we have to talk about.

Pass me a cold one.

boykjo · Aug 16, 2011

Better yet... Im heading to the beach and go act like craig...........

My First Smoked Sausage

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