I have been making sausage for a couple of years now and I am very happy with the results. I want to make a smoked breakfast sausage with apples and wanted some advice from the sausage pros that hang out here. After searching on line I can't really find much as far as recipes that have what I want. I have a good breakfast sausage recipe that I have refined that I really like. I want to add some apple and then smoke it. The original recipe is for fresh sausage so there is no cure. I will add cure #1 at the right ratio and reduce the salt appropriately. From what I can find from researching on line it sounds like the best way to add apple is to fry it lightly with a little onion in bacon grease. Let it cool and then mix it with the pork. I am going to stuff into sheep casings. Then I want to smoke it. I want to vacuum seal and freeze after I am done. Here are my options on smoking.
1. Cold smoke for 2 - 3 hours then poach to 154 degrees,
2. Warm smoke for 2 - 3 hours at 115 - 120 degrees then poach to 154 degrees
3. Warm smoke for 2 - 3 hours at 115 - 120 then bump slowly up to 170 degrees and finish in the smoker to 154 degrees
4. Cold smoke for 2 - 3 hours keeping temperature in the below 45 and package as fresh sausage.
I think either option 1 or 2 would produce the best results. I would really like to hear from so the sausage makers out there that have a lot more experience than I do. Please help.
Wazoo
1. Cold smoke for 2 - 3 hours then poach to 154 degrees,
2. Warm smoke for 2 - 3 hours at 115 - 120 degrees then poach to 154 degrees
3. Warm smoke for 2 - 3 hours at 115 - 120 then bump slowly up to 170 degrees and finish in the smoker to 154 degrees
4. Cold smoke for 2 - 3 hours keeping temperature in the below 45 and package as fresh sausage.
I think either option 1 or 2 would produce the best results. I would really like to hear from so the sausage makers out there that have a lot more experience than I do. Please help.
Wazoo