Hello all,
I've smoked sausages twice now, with very different results, and only one real difference in method, which leads me to question if this is a regular occurrence, or just a fluke that happened to me.
Several weeks ago, I smoked some store bought, Italian sausages. I'd searched around and found the ideal internal temp to be about 165, to ensure the ground meat was cooked. I was using a 30" electric smoker, with soaked applewood chips. The only thing I neglected, in my excitement to be smoking sausage, was I didn't add anything to the water pan in the bottom. Sausages came out absolutely fantastic, and we were all fighting over the leftovers, until my wife decided to put them into an quiche, which satisfied the whole family.
Follow up to last week, when I had friends coming up, and smoked store bought Italian sausages again, along with some similar store bought bratwurst. This time, I was using soaked pecan wood, and remembered to add liquid to my water pan, using a beer, as I thought this would add a nice flavor to the brats.
Last weeks sausages came out tasting really good, but the casings on the sausages were a whole different story. They were thick, tough, and a little rubbery. I'm trying to figure out if that's because of the liquid in the pan, keeping the moisture level up, and thereby keeping the casings moist, instead of letting them dry out.
I'm inferring that this is the reason, as both the Italian sausages and the bratwurst had the same thick rubbery skin, whereas the Italian sausages cooked without liquid in the pan did not have thick, rubbery casings.
I don't know if this is because of whatever the store bought casings are made of, or if I just got a bad batch of both. Should sausages be cooked without water in the pan to ensure a thin casing that will snap when bitten or cut?
Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!
Casey
I've smoked sausages twice now, with very different results, and only one real difference in method, which leads me to question if this is a regular occurrence, or just a fluke that happened to me.
Several weeks ago, I smoked some store bought, Italian sausages. I'd searched around and found the ideal internal temp to be about 165, to ensure the ground meat was cooked. I was using a 30" electric smoker, with soaked applewood chips. The only thing I neglected, in my excitement to be smoking sausage, was I didn't add anything to the water pan in the bottom. Sausages came out absolutely fantastic, and we were all fighting over the leftovers, until my wife decided to put them into an quiche, which satisfied the whole family.
Follow up to last week, when I had friends coming up, and smoked store bought Italian sausages again, along with some similar store bought bratwurst. This time, I was using soaked pecan wood, and remembered to add liquid to my water pan, using a beer, as I thought this would add a nice flavor to the brats.
Last weeks sausages came out tasting really good, but the casings on the sausages were a whole different story. They were thick, tough, and a little rubbery. I'm trying to figure out if that's because of the liquid in the pan, keeping the moisture level up, and thereby keeping the casings moist, instead of letting them dry out.
I'm inferring that this is the reason, as both the Italian sausages and the bratwurst had the same thick rubbery skin, whereas the Italian sausages cooked without liquid in the pan did not have thick, rubbery casings.
I don't know if this is because of whatever the store bought casings are made of, or if I just got a bad batch of both. Should sausages be cooked without water in the pan to ensure a thin casing that will snap when bitten or cut?
Thanks in advance for any tips and advice!
Casey
