1st time smoking sausages

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danbono

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Feb 19, 2012
1,702
115
North New Jersey Paramus
Hi All My 1st time smoking sausage. Just finished smoking 2 one pound batches using Pre pack mix smoked seasonings.My pellet grill lowest setting is 180, smoked for 2.5 hrs pulled at 155* then into an ice bath.The results were not good. Sausages were hard with NO taste or moisture, I did add 1 teaspoon of phosphate to the mix.I can't understand the tasteless part? Most pre mixers you can usually at least taste the salt. Any thoughts or idea's why they came out like this.
 

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The cut pic looks pretty moist to me. Don't take it the wrong way, but did ya use the right amount of seasoning? and what product did ya use?
 
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Hi I'd rather not say who's product it was.But one was made beef and the other was pork with same results.
I was thinking maybe fat ratio was not right?
Thanks Dan
 
I did add 1 teaspoon of phosphate to the mix

One teaspoon of phosphate is too much for that small an amount of meat....at least with the STPP I use. That's added at a multiplier of .0035 x the weight of the meat. Roughly that works out to about 1 t for 5 pounds of meat. Don't know if that negatively impacted the flavor but maybe there just was not enough seasoning in the mix. Not a whole lot of info given so we are kinda shooting in the dark. Keep the info and questions coming. Somebody, or a combination of somebody's, will help to get it figured out.

Robert
 
Hi I'd rather not say who's product it was.

I just had another thought. There are a couple of pre-mixed seasonings that I like from The Sausage Maker. I've noticed that the spices in the mix will separate in the container and I need to shake it up real well before measuring out the seasoning mix.

Robert
 
One teaspoon of phosphate is too much for that small an amount of meat....at least with the STPP I use. That's added at a multiplier of .0035 x the weight of the meat. Roughly that works out to about 1 t for 5 pounds of meat. Don't know if that negatively impacted the flavor but maybe there just was not enough seasoning in the mix. Not a whole lot of info given so we are kinda shooting in the dark. Keep the info and questions coming. Somebody, or a combination of somebody's, will help to get it figured out.

Robert
I was told by the place where I purchased the phosphate that 4.5 gram per lb. Which came out too 1 teaspoon.
 
Yep, Robert tx smoker tx smoker has a good point about the seasoning. Just made up a bunch of pop's breakfast sausage and it was plain to see the ingredients would separate . Also, did you get good mix on meat and seasonings?

Ryan
 
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I just had another thought. There are a couple of pre-mixed seasonings that I like from The Sausage Maker. I've noticed that the spices in the mix will separate in the container and I need to shake it up real well before measuring out the seasoning mix.

Robert
From the company i purchased the phosphate from.
There’s wiggle room, though. The more you use, the more it goes from juicy to bouncy to rubbery, so you may need to experiment with your particular meat mix, but I’d start with about 1%, then adjust up or down. By weight, that’s 4.5 grams per pound. That can be hard to weigh precisely. I would think you’re working in larger batches, and with five pounds or more of meat, you should be able to use volumetric measures, like teaspoons. I can get you a volumetric measure this afternoon if you let me know your batch size.

Also, you will need to add some water so it can be held by the phosphate...a lot of people miss this step.
 
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Yep, Robert tx smoker tx smoker has a good point about the seasoning. Just made up a bunch of pop's breakfast sausage and it was plain to see the ingredients would separate . Also, did you get good mix on meat and seasonings?

Ryan
I did get a good mix..The mix was nice and tacky. I've made fresh sausages before. This was my 1st try and smoking sausages.
Thanks Dan
 
Just looking at the cut picture made me think to much phosphate . I did that by mistake once with hamburger patties . All the flavor was masked ( or changed ) by the phosphate .
I ran 2 lbs in the calculator I use and came up with 3.6 grams .
TSM seasonings have to be mixed really good if that's what you used .
The sausage looks great . Nailed the color .
 
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Hi Yeah the color looks great but, the taste & texture was NOT good..I'm going to try them on the grill today, then into the garbage.
Thanks Dan
 
Hi Yeah the color looks great but, the taste & texture was NOT good..I'm going to try them on the grill today, then into the garbage.
Thanks Dan
Hope it works out . That time I over did the burger patties ,, yeah it was not good .
Hey you'll get it . Keep going .
 
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Dan my opinion is it's hard to do small batches from a pre mix .
I just made the Texas hot link from Marianski's web site / book . It's a fresh link , but I added the proper amount of cure 1 and NFDM . Cured over night and smoked the next day . That's a good one .
Here's the link if you need it . Middle column . About five from the bottom .
 
I use pre-made sausage mixes from PS Seasonings, they come in bags measure to do 25 pounds. If doing less then 25lb I'll dump the contents in a SS bowl and whisk it, then spoon out what I need. RAY
 
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Hi All I also made fresh Bratwurst.. A little more tastier,but dry & hard ..The texture wasn't like any other other sausage I've ever eaten. The smoked sausages tasted a little better today, but like the bratwurst it was dry & hard..I put them all in frying pan no juices were coming out of them, usually with my fresh sausage when I prick them the juice/fat comes running out..Not this time with bratwurst or the smoked ones. One would think with the added phosphate moisture would be the least of my problems.
Thanks Dan
 

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Bright side is you did 2 small batches! Disappointed yes, but not much waste. I always do small batches of anything new in case we don't like it or it doesn't turn out. Keep trying...you'll figure it out!

Ryan
 
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Phosphates will keep the moisture in what ever you used it in . You won't have it running out .
If I use phosphates in sausage , I use it at a reduced rate . Most times I don't use it in sausage anymore . I made brats with the hot links I talked about . I used AC Leggs pre-mix . I add 2 whole eggs per 5lbs . 1/4 cup of cream and some beer . I use NFDM for a binder . Non of those are called for by the mix . Plenty of moisture . It all comes in time .
 
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