Cold Smoked Andouille

rgautheir20420 · Jul 28, 2014

Well yesterday I took a shot at my very own cold smoked Andouille. Being from New Orleans, just the smell of this stuff brings me back home, and I really wanted to try and make it because I can't seem to find the authentic stuff where I live. We used the recipe from Nola Cuisine to make it which is a great base, but I will be making changes to it next time to suit my tastes. It needs to be hotter and a little less salty I think. I only got a few pics of the process. We used 4 lbs of pork butt and 1 lb of pork fat. Of the pork, I cut 1/4 of the batch into small chunks. I plan on changing this too. All in all, it looks, smells, and tastes awesome. Sorry for only a few pics.

darwin101 · Jul 28, 2014

Nice looking sausage, I like the texture you have in those. I agree the NOLA recipe is a good place to start, but it is mild compared to the sausage made in Acadiana. As soon as it cools off I need to get back to working on that recipe.

rgautheir20420 · Jul 28, 2014

Darwin101 said:
Nice looking sausage, I like the texture you have in those. I agree the NOLA recipe is a good place to start, but it is mild compared to the sausage made in Acadiana. As soon as it cools off I need to get back to working on that recipe.

When I lived down there, my parents used to pick up a couple logs of Andouille from the Acadiana area when my dad was traveling. The stuff was amazing. This stuff really reminded me up it. It was definitely milder then it, but was really great. I think we'll be making this stuff again really soon because I'm gonna make gumbo and then it'll be all gone again.

blacklab · Jul 29, 2014

Your Andouille looks great. One of my favorites to eat. Maybe this fall I'll try to make some. wink

chef willie · Jul 29, 2014

Looks great..one of my favorite sausages ever......nice you took the time to chunk up some of the pork rather than short cut grind it all......gumbo, oh yeah.....post your future tweaks if possible, I'm also a fan of the hot & spicy links......Willie

rgautheir20420 · Jul 29, 2014

Thanks guys. It was a good one to make for sure. Andouille traditionally has chunked meat throughout to create a texture difference when you bite into it. You can also chunk the fat to create a similar texture experience, but we had good success grinding the pork fat through the larger plate and the pork through the medium plate. I wanted to make sure I made something that as close to authentic as possible and tasted great which is what we did.

Chef - I'll be sure to post about the gumbo and I'll likely update this thread with the next go round when it happens. The picture I took was just after they'd hung after being in the ice bath. But not after being in the fridge, they are even more beautiful when sliced. I'll snap a pic of them before they end up in the gumbo pot :D

rgautheir20420 · Jul 29, 2014

Just vacuum packed the Andouille and thought I'd take a picture of it now that it's chilled. You can really see the different textures of all the ingredients.

20140729_200330.jpg

rgautheir20420
Jul 29, 2014

driedstick · Jul 30, 2014

Dang it that looks great, too hot here to cold smoke, where you at and how long and what flavor did you smoke it at.

a full smoker is a happy smoker

DS

rgautheir20420 · Jul 30, 2014

driedstick said:
Dang it that looks great, too hot here to cold smoke, where you at and how long and what flavor did you smoke it at.

a full smoker is a happy smoker

DS

Thanks DS. I'm in Chicago, but it's not all that cold either here right now. Cold smoking at night is always a good idea. We cold smoked for 2 hours with cherry and hickory and it really came through nicely.

driedstick · Jul 30, 2014

Sounds great thanks we had a low in temps the other day and I was able to get some cheese smoked before it got hot but know I think we are in for a hot summer for us here.

DS

rgautheir20420 · Jul 30, 2014

driedstick said:
Sounds great thanks we had a low in temps the other day and I was able to get some cheese smoked before it got hot but know I think we are in for a hot summer for us here.

DS

It's unseasonably cool over here in Chicago. We've only had maybe a handful of days that have been over 90 and it's usually in the 60's to low 70's at night. It's just crazy.

shoneyboy · Jul 30, 2014

rgautheir20420 said:
It's unseasonably cool over here in Chicago. We've only had maybe a handful of days that have been over 90 and it's usually in the 60's to low 70's at night. It's just crazy.

You are killing me.....60’s??? I haven't seen 60’s in forever….. The feel like temperature was 105-110 a couple weeks ago…..I think I can smoke without a flame it so hot outside these days…..

What can you expect from South Louisiana though ???? ShoneyBoy

rgautheir20420 said:
Just vacuum packed the Andouille and thought I'd take a picture of it now that it's chilled. You can really see the different textures of all the ingredients.

20140729_200330.jpg

rgautheir20420

Jul 29, 2014

rgautheir20420, The Andouille looks

........... Great job !!!!

darwin101 · Jul 30, 2014

driedstick said:
Sounds great thanks we had a low in temps the other day and I was able to get some cheese smoked before it got hot but know I think we are in for a hot summer for us here.

DS

I think we hit 116° last week, no cold or even cool smoking for me until November... unless I set the smoker inside a refrigerator, and yes I have thought about doing that.

rgautheir20420 · Jul 30, 2014

Shoneyboy, I grew up 27 years in New Orleans, so I know what you mean by heat. Half of the reason I left to come up where was because I prefer the cold now....the other you could call my better half now ;). And thanks!! We are very happy how they turned out.

Darwin, I was thinking the same thing for ya'll

driedstick · Jul 30, 2014

Darwin101 said:
I think we hit 116° last week, no cold or even cool smoking for me until November... unless I set the smoker inside a refrigerator, and yes I have thought about doing that.

Ya I know my boss is down your way right now, and yes it was 106 here yesterday.My smoker is a old fridge conversion and it is in a small shed I built for it and I have been thinking of putting a window shaker in the side for just that reason also.

Have fun in that heat Darwin

DS

disco · Jul 30, 2014

That is a fine looking sausage, sir. Andouille is one of my favourite foods and I like your technique.

Thanks for the pictures.

Disco

timberjet · Jul 30, 2014

driedstick said:
Ya I know my boss is down your way right now, and yes it was 106 here yesterday.My smoker is a old fridge conversion and it is in a small shed I built for it and I have been thinking of putting a window shaker in the side for just that reason also.

Have fun in that heat Darwin

DS

I hear ya there. It just hit 100 here at noon in southeastern Washington. I am gonna think it will be 110 plus today. 98 degrees at 11pm last night. I like your idea. I am starting A shed build today just for that purpose, well and for hanging game in. Maybe multi purpose as a smoke house too.

timberjet · Jul 30, 2014

By the way that stuff looks excellent. I made that recipe last fall and loved it. I did spice it up a bit.

rgautheir20420 · Jul 30, 2014

Thank you timber. Yeah I will be adding more Cayanne and Red pepper flakes next time. I also will lower the salt amount and likely try and smoke for 3-4 hours. We did had a little rendering of the fat during the whole process also. All be it very little, but it's not perfect and that's what I'd like. It won't be long before we do another batch, so I'll re-post when we do.

darwin101 · Jul 30, 2014

My mom told me when she was a kid they would smoke the sausages, tasso and hams for 2 or 3 days (during the winter) in large room sized smoke houses. That was some 70 or 80 years ago in Evangeline/St Landry parishes. The meats have a strong sweet smoke flavor and a deep mahogany color, that is what I am trying to reproduce. I found a similar technique is used in eastern Europe for cold smoking. Yea, I am ready for winter and to move out of the low hot desert!

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