Inconsistent Internal Temp

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patricksievert

Newbie
Original poster
Feb 10, 2016
5
10
I've got an MES 30, and the last couple of batches of sausage that I've hung to smoke in it have come out with really inconsistent internal temps.  I've got a batch of snack sticks in there now, and my probe hit 154 (shot past 152 really quick) when it was inserted into a hanging stick about 1/3 of the way from the top.  It didn't look real even though, so I decided to probe the same stick near the bottom, and the IT was 136°.

I had the same thing happen with some snack sticks a couple of weeks ago where I ended up having to throw about half of them away because I didn't notice it until I'd already pulled and cooled them.

Has anyone else had this problem?  What gives?  How can I correct it?

I was smoking at 175°, and I've got an oven thermometer in there that matches pretty close to what the smoker reads.
 
Last edited:
Very few smokers have 100% even temps in all portions of the box. A single Oven therm, not the best choice, will measure temp at that location but 12" in any direction can have a 10°F+/- difference or more. This can make the IT's of sausage vary. Some types of sausage, Kielbasa, can be finished in a 165° Water Bath to the desired IT. Sausages  like Summer Sausage, you may just have to move them around or look for the desired IT in the bulk of them and rest them in a cooler to equalize. Besides, with Cured Sausage, a few degrees +/- of the desired will not make a difference as long as the IT is close to 150-155°F...JJ
 
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