Cooker temp for sausage

[killerque]

Question for the pros. My old smoker was easy to use because it was so drafty and leaked so bad you couldn't burn anything but man it used a lot of wood. All my smoking was done visually and it worked well for me but I could only smoke about 30-40 lbs at a time.

With my new one I am able to get higher temps with less wood. My question is while smoking game sausage what is your target box temp to a achieve a IT of 150ish.

My setup is a steel box with a offset woodstove for a firebox. I think I have it drafting good at the moment and holding 200-210 easily. I don't want to give it to much air as I also want to hold lower temps for cold smoking also. I am still learning control via air with this one.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Ideally you do not want your pit temp to go above 170-180 for making sausages like summer sausage and snack sticks. Higher pit temps than that can cause fat out.

 

[killerque]

I had that issue on my old cooker. I just learned to pull it short. I am hoping for a more controlled process now. Thanks for info. On my test burn tonight I held at 180 for two hours with clean smoke without adding wood. Only used a few pieces of oak. My old cooker would have had to have a wheelbarrow full to do that.

 

[killerque]

The hot water bath looks like a good idea. My only problem is the volume I do. Usually if I pull it short I will just finish it when I cook it for whatever dish I am preparing. Hopefully my new cooker will be a bit easier to control and I won't have to deal with this in the future.

 

[killerque]

I have looked at diy hacks for water baths. Usually when I set own to make sausage it is a 100 lb batch.