Farmer Sausage This Weekend

[jmardock]

I am having some family visiting from out of town this weekend and we're planning on making a bunch of mennonite farmer sausage together using this recipe as a guideline. I have never made sausage before and am trying to get an idea of how long everything takes. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

1. How long do I need to let the meat cure before I fill the casings?
2. How long should I allow for the sausage to dry in the refrigerator before I cold smoke them?
3. How long should I cold smoke them?
4. Any suggestions on what type of wood to use for the smoking?

 

[angry santa]

Leave the meat cure in the fridge for a day (this will also let your plethora of spices meld together), the sausage should be in the smoker for at least an hour WITHOUT SMOKE to allow the casings to dry, and I would suggest 4-5 hours with hickory to an I.T. of 165.....

 

[wild west]

Where i live mennonite farmer sausage is popular and readily available. Simple salt and pepper smoked pork sausage sometimes garlic is added.I looked at the recipe link you provided... the salt looks right but the pepper looks a little low. I would use 3.5 tbsp pepper (50% of the salt value). Also the recipe calls for NITRATE . Nitrate is cure #2 and is not intended to be used for makeing simple smoked sausage. It is used for making cured meats and sausage intended to be eaten raw once a reduced moisture level is achieved . For mennonite farmer sausage you need to use cure #1(nitrite) at a rate of 1tsp for 5lbs of meat so for your recipe of 24lb , 4.8 tsp of cure #1. You can grind mix and stuff your sausage all in one day and let it cure over night or cure over night and stuff the next day which ever is more convenient. Let them dry hanging in a room until they feel tacky not totally dry. Smoke will adhear better. A fan blowing on them will speed the drying time. For smoking you mentioned cold smoking. If going that route try to keep the smoker below 100* f and smoke about 4 hrs. With cold smoking the sausage is still raw when done and needs to be fully cooked before consumption. The other option is to warm smoke starting out at 120* and bump temp up 10* every hour but not excede 170* smoker temp. Smoke to an IT of 155*. At that point the sausage is fully cooked and can be eaten cold or heated on a grill before you eat it. With such a simply flavoured sausage i like like to cold smoke below 100* the next day for an additional 4hrs. Choice of wood could be anythimg but my choice would be hickory. Good luck and have fun

 

[jmardock]

Thank you wild west. Those directions are really helpful. I'll give it a shot.

Where i live mennonite farmer sausage is popular and readily available. Simple salt and pepper smoked pork sausage sometimes garlic is added.I looked at the recipe link you provided... the salt looks right but the pepper looks a little low. I would use 3.5 tbsp pepper (50% of the salt value). Also the recipe calls for NITRATE . Nitrate is cure #2 and is not intended to be used for makeing simple smoked sausage. It is used for making cured meats and sausage intended to be eaten raw once a reduced moisture level is achieved . For mennonite farmer sausage you need to use cure #1(nitrite) at a rate of 1tsp for 5lbs of meat so for your recipe of 24lb , 4.8 tsp of cure #1. You can grind mix and stuff your sausage all in one day and let it cure over night or cure over night and stuff the next day which ever is more convenient. Let them dry hanging in a room until they feel tacky not totally dry. Smoke will adhear better. A fan blowing on them will speed the drying time. For smoking you mentioned cold smoking. If going that route try to keep the smoker below 100* f and smoke about 4 hrs. With cold smoking the sausage is still raw when done and needs to be fully cooked before consumption. The other option is to warm smoke starting out at 120* and bump temp up 10* every hour but not excede 170* smoker temp. Smoke to an IT of 155*. At that point the sausage is fully cooked and can be eaten cold or heated on a grill before you eat it. With such a simply flavoured sausage i like like to cold smoke below 100* the next day for an additional 4hrs. Choice of wood could be anythimg but my choice would be hickory. Good luck and have fun

 

[SmokyMose]

I was going to mention the difference between nitrite and nitrate, but
Wild West beat me to it. His advice is spot on, including adding a bit more pepper...