Why is my link sausage so ugly?

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txbrandon

Newbie
Original poster
Apr 26, 2017
7
10
I use a traditional wood smoker with a vertical stack. I start low and raise the temp slowly then hold about 175 degrees until I get a 155 internal temp. I take it off and put it in an ice bath. My sausage always comes out almost burnt looking. Taste good but just once I'd like to have good looking sausage! What am I doing wrong!?
 
Are you sure your therms are correct?

What recipe are you using? Does it have a bunch of sugar?

What type of smoker?

We need more info.

Sorry but thise look like a bunch of Boy Scouts roasted them in a fire pit letting them catch on fire because that's what they do.
 
Gauges are good. Just checked them. I'm using a basic Country Pride Salt and Pepper recipe from a local seasoning company. If there is sugar in it then there isn't much. I have an smoker with a vertical stack and an offset fire box. I used pecan wood to smoke it. It was on the smoker about 6 hours.

 
'Traditional Smoker" ?? as in side fire box stick burner ?? kinda looking like your fires not burning clean ... splits are just smoldering at that low of a cooking temp... If that's the case I know Boykjo uses a SFB for all his sausages and sticks... Hopefully he can give ya some input ...
 
The way the sausage looks to me is it's been smoked/cooked at to high a temperature for to long!
Is there a thermometer in the chamber where the meat is hanging?
I see you said you ran it at 175*.
I think something somewhere is off.
Keep trying, somebody with a stick burner will come along with some ideas to help you out!
 
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I agree it looks like it's been cooked too long at a high temp. I just checked the gauges and they're good. I used 2 digital temp gauges and a mechanical temp gauge just to be sure. I pulled em off at 155 international temp. I get that regular wood burning smokers burn dirtier but this is just ridiculous. There has to be something I'm doing wrong or some trick I don't know. I'm not new to smoking meat so I know my smoker well. This is just my first go at smoking sausage.
 
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Put the stems in boiling water and they read about 210. Close enough. And I was checking the internal temp regularly with 2 separate meat thermometers.
 
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The "black" portion of the links, is it sticky when touched?

Where are you located Brandon?  I'm assuming Texas from your user name.

Maybe someone close can give you a hand with it.
 
No the black part doesn't feel sticky. Actually the sausage taste pretty good but it is heavy on the smoke. There is one thing I may have done wrong. I put the sausage straight in the smoker from the fridge. The links were rather wet but I just kept the smoker at about 125 for about an hour to try to dry them before cranking it up. Would wet casing or cold sausage put directly in the smoker cause this? Also I do live about a mile from the ocean so it's usually a humid mother all the time. Would humidity possibly play a factor??
 
I'm wondering if it's creosote?  If so, the fire isn't burning clean enough.  Also the water would definitely make it worse.  Were you getting thin blue smoke, or more of a stagnant white billow?
 
No the black part doesn't feel sticky. Actually the sausage taste pretty good but it is heavy on the smoke. There is one thing I may have done wrong. I put the sausage straight in the smoker from the fridge. The links were rather wet but I just kept the smoker at about 125 for about an hour to try to dry them before cranking it up. Would wet casing or cold sausage put directly in the smoker cause this? Also I do live about a mile from the ocean so it's usually a humid mother all the time. Would humidity possibly play a factor??
Brandon, afternoon....   Never smoke cold (below ambient temperature) or wet meat...   warm to above ambient, without smoke....  then add smoke....    Keep a bed of hot coal in the smoker and add dry splits...   splits should be about 1.5"- 2"  square and pre warmed in the fire box somewhere...  or on top of the firebox....    that's for best results...     dry seasoned wood is very important for clean smoke...
 
I appreciate it Dave! I'll try drying it better next time. I'll try using 2" pieces but my firebox is a pretty long ways from the vertical stack so I really need full logs to keep it hot enough. I might be better off with a small fire directly under the vertical stack? Thanks for your help!
 
When initially looking at your photo it did seem to be a temperature problem however when zooming in and looking at the blackening it does appear to be more of a smoke deposit issue as the tops of the links are just as dark (if not more so) as the bottoms - which would be nearest the fire. Just to check that the top vent is fully open to let the smoke pass over the links and out of the top. If you are burning splits then I expect it is open.

If you don't have propane, try using a cleaner charcoal source instead of splits. You could try using a bed of good quality briquettes to give you the sustained heat and add some small pieces of wood (or pellets) on top for the flavour. I wouldn't worry too much about the links being a little damp when they go in as at 175 F (~80 C) this will evaporate quite quickly. Surface dryness and food temperature is more important when smoking at lower temperatures than this. I would space them out further though to allow the smoke/heat to more evenly come in contact with the meat - this would give a more even colour. You can see the links are pale where they have been touching.
 
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I was having the same issue. Sausage coming out too dark. I smoke them at around 200 degrees in a vertical propane smoker. Problem was I wasn't venting it enough so I was getting a lot of dirty smoke. I opened up the vent and waited until the heavy white smoke dissipated to put in the sausage. That seemed to fix my problem. Good luck.
 
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