Fat-out in today's summer sausage

[kelbro]

Ground up a 3# chuck roast and thought that I would try something new. Sous vide instead of smoking. Same mix and overnight cure. Stuffed and vac-sealed. Into the SV pot at 130 for 45 mins, 141 for 45 mins and then 153 for another 45 mins. Ice bath for an hour.

The casings each had a couple of teaspoons of liquid in them and quite a bit of fat chunked up between the sausage and the casing. Tasted OK but it did taste kind of 'lean'.

What went wrong or does the fat ooze out of the casings in the smoker and the vac-seal just held it all in?

Thanks

 

[SmokinEdge]

Ground up a 3# chuck roast and thought that I would try something new. Sous vide instead of smoking. Same mix and overnight cure. Stuffed and vac-sealed. Into the SV pot at 130 for 45 mins, 141 for 45 mins and then 153 for another 45 mins. Ice bath for an hour.

The casings each had a couple of teaspoons of liquid in them and quite a bit of fat chunked up between the sausage and the casing. Tasted OK but it did taste kind of 'lean'.

What went wrong or does the fat ooze out of the casings in the smoker and the vac-seal just held it all in?

Thanks

To long in heat. Don’t do the ramp up method in SV. The ramp up is designed for the warm air of a smoker, not hot water. Two completely different heat types. Just set the SV for final desired IT and get it done. When you spend hours in the heat the sausage will fat out, and remember, hot water heat is way more efficient than hot air.

 

[kelbro]

To long in heat. Don’t do the ramp up method in SV. The ramp up is designed for the warm air of a smoker, not hot water. Two completely different heat types. Just set the SV for final desired IT and get it done. When you spend hours in the heat the sausage will fat out, and remember, hot water heat is way more efficient than hot air.

Thanks. So set to 152 and run with it. Still one hour per inch of diameter? Should I reduce the water volume in my mix?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Thanks. So set to 152 and run with it. Still one hour per inch of diameter? Should I reduce the water volume in my mix?

I’m seeing hit and miss success with this method of SV only, but yes pick a temp and stick with it, may even go hotter for a sorter time like they poach in Europe at 170F. I like to smoke until I have the color I want then SV to finish. This starts my IT around 120F and I finish in 151F water in less than 45 minutes.

 

[indaswamp]

^^^^what SE said.

I will also suggest smoking THEN sous vide. Raw meat takes in smoke way better than cooked meat will. This is one of the reasons for the step in temps. in a smokehouse as well.

 

[chopsaw]

. So set to 152 and run with it. Still one hour per inch of diameter?

I use 140 and go with the length of time for the size of the casing as listed in Baldwins chart . 140 is my max temp when doing sausage . I got that with help from daveomak ', and it works .
If you want to poach use a pot of water on the stove top . High temp like 170 in a SV pot has to much room for error .

 

[indaswamp]

Thing to keep in mine is that water is 25X more efficient t heat transfer than a gas like air.

 

[DougE]

I’m seeing hit and miss success with this method of SV only, but yes pick a temp and stick with it, may even go hotter for a sorter time like they poach in Europe at 170F. I like to smoke until I have the color I want then SV to finish. This starts my IT around 120F and I finish in 151F water in less than 45 minutes.

I've played around some with hotter/less time with my Taylor ham since it is completely done in SV with good results. I don't have much experience with an all beef sausage though.

 

[kelbro]

Experimenting is fun and I'm OK with hiccups on small 3# batches like this. I also tried the liquid smoke and a little jalapeno powder. None of those flavors really came through like fresh jalapenos and blue smoke.

I'm still a fan of real wood smoke and killing a few hours sitting out by the smoker.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

 

[SmokinEdge]

People have success and Failure all over the board in SV with sausage. Keep in mind that most fats, they vary a bit, will start melting and about 100F so my experience with SV and sausage is really to limit the time in the water as much as you can. Get the temp and get out. But your mileage may vary. Experiment and find what works for you.

 

[indaswamp]

Experimenting is fun and I'm OK with hiccups on small 3# batches like this. I also tried the liquid smoke and a little jalapeno powder. None of those flavors really came through like fresh jalapenos and blue smoke.

I'm still a fan of real wood smoke and killing a few hours sitting out by the smoker.

Thanks for all of the feedback.

I make fermented jalapeno and cheddar stixs a lot. For the best jalapeno flavor, I buy 3# fresh jalapenos, cut the tops off, cut in half ,then scrape the seeds out. I dice1/4" then dry @135*F in my dehydrator over night. Do this 2-3 days in advance. Right before I mix up the seasonings into the meat, I'll take 2 TBSPS of the diced jalapenos and buzz in my spice grinder into a powder. The freshness is key IMO. Fresh grind the powder, then straight into the meat.

This is for a 25# batch....

 

[mike243]

A cows temperature is 101, best method for me is a electric smoker to control temps

 

[indaswamp]

A cows temperature is 101

Curious as to why a cow's temperature would matter?

 

[mike243]

It was stated some fats melt at 100, never seen a liquid cow lol

 

[SmokinEdge]

It was stated some fats melt at 100, never seen a liquid cow lol

I made a general statement, but beef fat melts between 104 - 120F it this matters not to a live bovine.

 

[gregder]

This may be a long post but with all the different opinions and information on sous vide summer sausage I thought I would do an experiment. I found the results to be very interesting and thought I would share what I found. I will attach all the information for you to view. The experiment was on a five pound batch that was mixed, stuffed and sat at least over night in the fridge. I did this experiment with 1 pound chubs, one chub at a time using an MES 40 smoker and were put in a small container with a sous vide unit and "cooked" according to Baldwins pasturization chart. Chubs were not put in bags for the sous vide. All chubs were numbered and the information gathered was closely monitored. The results I found were very little to no difference in texture between the 5 different chubs. There was a slight amount of fat rendered between each sausage but a slightly bigger difference between #1 and #5 sausage.

 

[gregder]

I have a question about my previous sous vide experiment. If 140° for 12 minutes is ok for sous vide sausage, why do most of the recipies state to cook to 152° or higher?

 

[indaswamp]

I have a question about my previous sous vide experiment. If 140° for 12 minutes is ok for sous vide sausage, why do most of the recipies state to cook to 152° or higher?

Texture...

The links will be firmer cooked to 152*F INT.

 

[gregder]

Texture...

The links will be firmer cooked to 152*F INT.

Thanks! I did the experiment above with 5 seperate 1 lb chubs cooked at different temperatures shown in the chart. There was very little to no difference in texture. Others said they were all the same. So is 140° for 12 minutes in a smoker considered safe. Newbie here just looking for answers I have not been able to find.

 

[indaswamp]

So is 140° for 12 minutes in a smoker considered safe. Newbie here just looking for answers I have not been able to find.

AS long as the internal reaches 140*F for 12 minutes everywhere in every link, then yes, it is safe. What I do is start the countdown for an hour once the INT reaches 136*F. When I pull the links, the INT could be 140 or as high as 148*F....but either way, they are safe to eat and finished cooking.