Smoked Sausage Disaster

[novice_smoker_Utah]

Hi all. New to the forum. I failed miserably at my first attempt to make smoked sausage. I have all the equipment needed: grinder, mixer, stuffer and a pellet smoker. Followed a u tube recipe posted by Damon in Texas. My sausages disintegrated (meaning the casings fell apart and the meat dropped) and I don’t know why for sure. I suspect I added too much water but the links looked just fine after stuffing. Any thoughts on why this would happen? I used hog casing from the company “The sausage maker”.

 

[tx smoker]

Without being able to see the farce or knowing what kind of casings you used, that's a tough Q to answer. Also need to know what temp you were running your smoker at, if you confirmed that temp with a reliable thermometer, and what kind of sausage you were making. If you can fill in some of the blanks, it'd be far easier to help. In the meantime, here is the link to a thread I did a while back which might interest you. Sorry, no offense, but I have absolutely zero faith in You Tube. Far too much bogus info out there.

Keys To Making Great Sausage: Step By Step W/ Lotsa Pics

The information I am about to share was gleaned in part from a lot of reading and in larger part from the good folks here in the forum. I posted a thread not too long ago similar to this one but it was not complete. It kinda started in the middle. Being that I am seeing a lot of new people...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Anything and everything you could ever want to know about food can be found in this forum and you can pretty much take the info to the bank. Some really good folks hanging out here

Robert

 

[novice_smoker_Utah]

Without being able to see the farce or knowing what kind of casings you used, that's a tough Q to answer. Also need to know what temp you were running your smoker at, if you confirmed that temp with a reliable thermometer, and what kind of sausage you were making. If you can fill in some of the blanks, it'd be far easier to help. In the meantime, here is the link to a thread I did a while back which might interest you. Sorry, no offense, but I have absolutely zero faith in You Tube. Far too much bogus info out there.

Keys To Making Great Sausage: Step By Step W/ Lotsa Pics

The information I am about to share was gleaned in part from a lot of reading and in larger part from the good folks here in the forum. I posted a thread not too long ago similar to this one but it was not complete. It kinda started in the middle. Being that I am seeing a lot of new people...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Anything and everything you could ever want to know about food can be found in this forum and you can pretty much take the info to the bank. Some really good folks hanging out here

Robert

Thanks Robert. The casings were natural hog casings recommended by the sausage maker. Temp was 220. Pellet grill. I failed to take a photo of the sausages on the gril. But here is a picture prior to grilling.

 

[tx smoker]

From what I can see in the pics, it appears as though your process was right on the money. Those are some good looking links. Of course I cannot tell how wet the farce was, but it looks good. Even a little extra moisture though won't cause the issues you experienced.

Temp was 220.

Here is 90% to 100% of your problem. Sausage must be smoked in the 160 to 170 range and not to exceed 180. If temps go above 180 you'll get what's called a "fat out". That's where the fat in the sausage overheats, melts, expands, and blows your casings all to pieces. From there all the moisture in the links runs out into the smoker leaving your sausage dry and crumbly. Don't know what brand of smoker you have but most of them have a low temp / extreme smoke setting. That's where you need to be. Get a good remote digital thermometer so you can monitor your grate temp accurately. Don't be overly concerned about the temp setting on the controller. That is a good baseline but actual grate temp is critical and will likely vary from your actual set point. If your smoker does not have a temp setting that low, you can prop the door open a little to let some of the heat out. Be prepared for a 6 hour smoke +/- though and maybe even more. Takes a while but the sausage needs to heat up slowly. A lot of folks actually start in the 130 range and bump temps up gradually every hour or so till they get to 170 or thereabouts. With mine, I put the sausages on with the smoker cold, set the temp on the controller to 180 (lowest setting), which gives me an actual grate temp of about 165. With a nice load of sausage on the smoker, it takes an hour or more to come up to temp, which is ideal. Try this with a smaller batch and see what happens. I can pretty much promise a totally different result

On a different note, and I do not mean to sound like a prima donna so please don't take it that way. SMF is not your typical Internet forum. This place is loaded with very knowledgeable and helpful people. Sharing ideas and info as well as helping people is the culture of this forum. If you have questions in the future, please provide as much info and detail in your original request as you can and you'll likely get a much faster and more comprehensive response. We also love pics so don't be shy about snapping them as you go through your processes and share them....good result or bad. We all learn from other people's successes as well as their failures.

Robert

 

[SmokinEdge]

Robert has given some sound advice.

First thing I see in the farce is a lack of protein extraction. You need to mix the sausage farce until a small amount on your fingers (golf ball sized) will not fall off with your hand facing down. In other words it gets sticky. This protein extraction is what binds the mix together. Even in a casing that splits from to high heat the sausage will stay together. Also not sure what all ingredients you used but it’s a good idea to stay away from acids like vinegar or citrus juice as these can break down the proteins and make the sausage fall apart.

Give us a better break down of ingredients and the process you followed. We can then add any recommendations needed and give you some tips for a successful second run. We like to help, that’s one of the big reasons most of us are here.

 

[indaswamp]

The guys gave you some great advice so far....

My concern is how much water did you use?

Temp was 220. Pellet grill.

Putting a wet sausage into a hot 220"F smoker will cause problems.

 

[novice_smoker_Utah]

Ingredients I used:

16 lbs of pork butt
9 lbs of beef brisket
5.5 ounces of brown sugar cure
1 pre measured (for 25lb of meat) packet of REO Cajun Sausage Seasoning
Pepper Flakes
Salt Free “So Garlic” seasoning
1 finely chopped pineapple

I cut up the meat into chunks and seasoned with dry seasonings mentioned above. I ground the meat (twice). Then put the mixture back in the fridge for 8 hours to marry up. Before stuffing I added ice cold water to make the mixture easier to stuff as directed. I used about 32-40 ounces of water. Then I stuffed the casings. Casing were washed off and on all day to remove salt. After stuffing I put the links back I got the fridge overnight to allow drying. However, I had stacked them and the bottom links were still a bit wet. The sausage maker I watched used a temp of 200 to 225 and his sausages came out perfect. When I put the sausages on my pellet grill temp dropped to 150. And it struggled to keep the temp at 170. I got a low temp warning. I allowed it to continue at that temp for 90 mins. Then I shut it down and reset and turned it back on to get the temp between 200-220 as directed. When I opened it to look after 2 hours and temps well below 200 it was a mess. Deflated sausages with meat and liquid in the drip pan. So…the recipe didn’t call for protein extraction. What is protein extraction?

 

[tx smoker]

The sausage maker I watched used a temp of 200 to 225 and his sausages came out perfect

Was he doing cured sausage or fresh sausage that was stuffed, cooked, and being eaten right now?

When I put the sausages on my pellet grill temp dropped to 150.

Back to my original reply: do you have a good, accurate remote thermometer to check your grate temps? Factory therms are notoriously inaccurate and can lure you into a false sense of security. What smoker are you using? Also, insofar as the temp dropping when you put the sausages on, that is 100% normal. You just added about 30 pounds of cold thermal mass to the smoker and it is going to drop. It's also gonna take time to heat back up because the outside of the sausage needs to come up to temp also before you'll get accurate readings and temps balance out.

My concern is how much water did you use?

Hey Keith, can you chime in here buddy? The ingredients are posted and I'm gonna stop here. Not familiar with the brown sugar cure but overall, except struggling to maintain consistent temps, it sounds like his smoker was somewhere close to where it needed to be barring the 200 degree jump. The timing he notes does not sound right though unless his thermometer is just way off. Those are some pretty hefty links and I could easily see a 5 to 6 hour cook with smoker temps in the 170 range.

boykjo can you please take a couple minutes and read the dilemma we're facing here? This person needs some help. We have Keith on board who is an absolute master but you too are a genius where sausage making is concerned. Your input could be invaluable.

I made a small batch of pepperoni today for pizzas that is a cured sausage versus a fresh product. It's in the fridge now to form a pellicle and I'll smoke it tomorrow on my Rec Tec RT700. Will take pics as I go and show as many details as I can and post them for you, including the time it takes to get to finished temp. Hang in there. We are gonna get this figured out

Robert

 

[SmokinEdge]

Ingredients I used:

16 lbs of pork butt
9 lbs of beef brisket
5.5 ounces of brown sugar cure
1 pre measured (for 25lb of meat) packet of REO Cajun Sausage Seasoning
Pepper Flakes
Salt Free “So Garlic” seasoning
1 finely chopped pineapple

I cut up the meat into chunks and seasoned with dry seasonings mentioned above. I ground the meat (twice). Then put the mixture back in the fridge for 8 hours to marry up. Before stuffing I added ice cold water to make the mixture easier to stuff as directed. I used about 32-40 ounces of water. Then I stuffed the casings. Casing were washed off and on all day to remove salt. After stuffing I put the links back I got the fridge overnight to allow drying. However, I had stacked them and the bottom links were still a bit wet. The sausage maker I watched used a temp of 200 to 225 and his sausages came out perfect. When I put the sausages on my pellet grill temp dropped to 150. And it struggled to keep the temp at 170. I got a low temp warning. I allowed it to continue at that temp for 90 mins. Then I shut it down and reset and turned it back on to get the temp between 200-220 as directed. When I opened it to look after 2 hours and temps well below 200 it was a mess. Deflated sausages with meat and liquid in the drip pan. So…the recipe didn’t call for protein extraction. What is protein extraction?

In the picture you can see strings, these strings are the proteins. Mix by hand or with a mixer (I mix by hand) until the strings appear and the mix is sticky. Very important step in sausage making.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I used about 32-40 ounces of water.

32 Oz. Of water is ok that’s right at 8% and is the top end. I don’t use near that much because it’s not necessary. I add just enough ice water to make a nice consistency for stuffing and go more by feel than measures. Lean muscle will absorb more water with pork but beef absorbs the least because it’s highest in moisture.

The problem comes when you have a high percentage of water in a sausage and place in a hot grill the water turns to steam and bursts the casing. The fact that the sausage then fell apart is the proof of not mixing until protein extraction was sufficient. 25# of meat will take 5 minutes minimum mixing time to get good extraction. When a sausage is made well, you can smoke the sausage and peel the casing ( such as cellulose or fibrous) and the meat is still firm and can be sliced with a knife, it does not fall apart.

 

[novice_smoker_Utah]

The original recipes was a cure recipe. He basically said the amount of time the sausages will be between 40 degrees and 140 (I could be off on the high) is several hours and the cure would make sure no bacteria grow. I wanted to use the brown sugar + cure and bought some from REO spices and followed the directions for the amount of meat I had. I appreciate all the diagnostics and suggestions. It will be a few weeks before I try again. Just want to avoid disaster again. Lol. I think I must have had too much water.

 

[tx smoker]

I add just enough ice water to make a nice consistency for stuffing and go more by feel than measures.

Eric makes an excellent point here. Every piece of meat is different and will require a slightly different approach. Like him, I start with a small amount of liquid and add as necessary until I reach the desired consistency. One thing to note however, once you start getting the farce "wet" a small amount of liquid added makes a big difference in texture so add sparingly once it starts coming together. I tried the pre measured amount of liquid one time and the mixture was WAY too wet. That was the last time I tried it this way.

Robert.

 

[indaswamp]

I think I have found your problem...

1 finely chopped pineapple

Was the pineapple fresh? If so, and you added that without heat treating the pineapple prior to mixing in with your sausage meat paste, the bromelain enzyme in the pineapple is the cause. The bromelain enzyme is isolated from pineapple, crystalized, and sold as a meat tenderizer. It must be deactivated by heat prior to mixing into meat for a sausage.
Also, pineapple is VERY acidic and this will totally mess up the bind in your sausage so you have to be very careful with how much you use and when/how it is added.

 

[indaswamp]

The pH of both the fruit and juice of pineapple is around pH3.4. The bind of a smoke sausage really starts being negatively affected when the meat paste pH drops to around 5.5ish. It is highly recommended to use a phosphate when making a pineapple sausage to counteract the acidity; phosphates being fairly basic (pH7.8-10.4).

 

[tx smoker]

I think I have found your problem...

Thanks Keith!! As soon as I saw the pineapple in his reply the red light went off. A long time ago I was gonna cure some bacon with pineapple and found out real quick from somebody here (maybe you?) that it was not a good idea because it'd turn the meat to mush. I just could not remember if it was fresh pineapple or canned that was not to be used so I refrained from comment and tagged you.

Robert

 

[indaswamp]

tx smoker ; Canned pineapple would be fine for a short soak, but I would not leave it in there for 14 days to cure....

 

[indaswamp]

Can also add raw eggs as a binder in a pineapple sausage. Eggs have a pH around 9 or so. 1 egg per # of meat, or 2 eggs per every 3# of meat if the eggs are large.

 

[SmokinEdge]

I think I have found your problem...


Was the pineapple fresh? If so, and you added that without heat treating the pineapple prior to mixing in with your sausage meat paste, the bromelain enzyme in the pineapple is the cause. The bromelain enzyme is isolated from pineapple, crystalized, and sold as a meat tenderizer. It must be deactivated by heat prior to mixing into meat for a sausage.
Also, pineapple is VERY acidic and this will totally mess up the bind in your sausage so you have to be very careful with how much you use and when/how it is added.

Cajuneric recommends using “neutralized pineapple” (cooked) and adding 1 tsp of baking soda for every cup of pineapple juice to raise the Ph.

https://twoguysandacooler.com/grilled-pineapple-smoked-sausage/

 

[indaswamp]

Please post a link to the youtube video you watched.

 

[DougE]

In the picture you can see strings, these strings are the proteins. Mix by hand or with a mixer (I mix by hand) until the strings appear and the mix is sticky. Very important step in sausage making.

View attachment 675332

Like this sticky ..... pulling your gloves off (if you're wearing any) sticky.