40# Deer Kielbasa - Finally

[pugsbrew]

Just getting ready to come out of the smoker.  Recipe right out of Rytek's book, except 60% deer and 40% pork, rough guess.  Question at the end.

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• pugsbrew
• Feb 17, 2017

Got it ready to package.

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• pugsbrew
• Feb 17, 2017

Money shot.  We made plain, cheddar, and hot-n-spicy.

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• pugsbrew
• Feb 17, 2017

Of course, pickled some with plenty of heat!  Let sit for 10-14 days, in frig of course.

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• pugsbrew
• Feb 17, 2017

So, we really like the flavor, and they are not dried out.  The only negative I have is I think the casings are a little tough.  My buddy disagrees, but....

So, during the smoke, I could not get the temp of the smoker to rise where I wanted it.  I don't know if the heating element was petering out or the new PID just wasn't working correctly.  Now, I did a test run before smoke day, and everything went as planned.

The inside temp spent a lot of time around 135-140 deg.  Eventually, HOURS,  it did rise to 155ish.  We put the smoke to it for about 5-6 hours, after the first hour, and finished in a preheated water bath.  

So, probably not enough info, but what would make the casings tough?

ps  I didn't have time to run another test run on smoke shack.

 

[boykjo]

The sausage looks great...............

Points!!!!

Where did you get the casings?

P.S. how about filli'n out yer location in yer profile  \

Boykjo

 

[crankybuzzard]

I'm with Joe, the sausage looks awesome!

As for the temp, a heavy load of cold meat can tax a smoker at times.

Points for the nice looking work!

 

[pugsbrew]

 
The sausage looks great...............

Points!!!!

Where did you get the casings?

P.S. how about filli'n out yer location in yer profile  \

Boykjo

THX

Casings from Butcher & Packer.  I only soaked them for two days.

 

[pugsbrew]

I'm with Joe, the sausage looks awesome!

As for the temp, a heavy load of cold meat can tax a smoker at times.

Points for the nice looking work!

THX

This kinda leads in to a question.  Does it really matter what temp the smoker gets up to, if we have a water bath back-up?  It was a colder day then my test run.  

 

[HalfSmoked]

If the master sausage guy (cranky)thinks you did great then it must be awesome. 

Warren

 

[bmudd14474]

Looks great. :sausage::sausage:

 

[ab canuck]

  Looks good to me, I have had a batch like that as well, I am not sure if I had mishandled the csg, or froze it at one time, They were a couple yrs old, So I chalked it up to that, The other batches we did were fine. 

 

[SmokinAl]

Your sausage looks fantastic!

Nice job!

Al

 

[myownidaho]

Looks great! Point! I agree with the comment that the meat itself was keeping your temperature down.

 

[whistech]

Pugsbrew, the sausage looks delicious.

 

[disco]

Looks wonderful!

Disco

 

[crazymoon]

PB, Nice job on the kielbasa !

 

[driedstick]

Them there sure look good to me,,, Nice job,,, 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS
 

 

[mickey jay]

That looks like real nice venison kielbasa!

2 days of soak on the casings is plenty; did you use some vinegar?  I usually use a tbsp of white vinegar for a 10lb batch (in probably a cup of water).  So maybe a 1/4c for a 40lb batch.  I haven't had tough casings since I started with the vinegar bit and I only do an overnight soak (8-12 hours).

I'm with CB that 40lbs is a lot of cold mass fightin against what is likely a small heat source.  I've had that happen in my Masterbuilt 40 inch when I tried to do six racks of st louis ribs plus trim.  Even cranked I was barely holding 200 for almost 3 hours.

 

[pugsbrew]

Thanks for al the replies.  Yea, I believe it is the mass that's not allowing the chamber to get up to temp.  So, I'll get it where I can, then water bath the sausage to temp after smoking.