My new years resolution was to take up smoking, and what better way to keep that resolution that to make an attempt at Andouille sausage!
Started by cutting up the pork shoulders and spicing/curing the meat on Wednesday. I had planned on leaving it cure for a full two days in the fridge and stuff it into casing on Friday after work, but started get flu symptoms on Thursday. I spent Thursday and Friday in bed but felt much better on Saturday. I guess it paid to get a flu shot. Saturday was my first attempt at sausage stuffing. Didn't think about photos until after I finished stuffing.
Notice the nice uniform sizing!
Let them sit in the fridge for a day. Sunday was smoking day. Unfortunately, the temps took a dip here in Wisconsin with highs in the teens. Not ideal for my first smoke on my MES 40.
It was 14 degrees and fairly windy outside when I fired up the smoker. We'll see how things go.
MES 40 has been on for 42 minutes of the one hour warm up. So far so good. My target temp for the first two hours is 135. Ready to start the AMNPS.
Fired up the AMNPS on it's inaugural run. Used a mix of hickory, apple and alder pellets. Let it burn for about 10 minutes prior to adding to the smoker.
Sausage and AMNPS are in the smoker. Were off and smoking!
Looking good! My plan was to smoke the sausage for two and a half hours at 135 then turn the temp up to 170 for another two hours or until the internal temps reached 155.
14 minutes into my second two hour session my Maverick started to freak out! No the temp wasn't anywhere near 245. Looks like I might need a new set of probes or a new remote temp sensor.
I ended up removing the sausage after the second two hour session and finishing them in the oven. The AMNPS still had half a row of pellets left but with I didn't want to over smoke the sausage. Internal temps were around 128 when I pulled them. Here is a shot after oven finishing to 155 and then drenching in a cold water bath. I hung them to air dry with a fan for an hour.
Ready for the vacuum sealer! Overall a very fun experience. My wife was a little leery of my smoking resolution but I think she's going to be all right with it once she tastes the gumbo!
Started by cutting up the pork shoulders and spicing/curing the meat on Wednesday. I had planned on leaving it cure for a full two days in the fridge and stuff it into casing on Friday after work, but started get flu symptoms on Thursday. I spent Thursday and Friday in bed but felt much better on Saturday. I guess it paid to get a flu shot. Saturday was my first attempt at sausage stuffing. Didn't think about photos until after I finished stuffing.
Notice the nice uniform sizing!
Let them sit in the fridge for a day. Sunday was smoking day. Unfortunately, the temps took a dip here in Wisconsin with highs in the teens. Not ideal for my first smoke on my MES 40.
It was 14 degrees and fairly windy outside when I fired up the smoker. We'll see how things go.
MES 40 has been on for 42 minutes of the one hour warm up. So far so good. My target temp for the first two hours is 135. Ready to start the AMNPS.
Fired up the AMNPS on it's inaugural run. Used a mix of hickory, apple and alder pellets. Let it burn for about 10 minutes prior to adding to the smoker.
Sausage and AMNPS are in the smoker. Were off and smoking!
Looking good! My plan was to smoke the sausage for two and a half hours at 135 then turn the temp up to 170 for another two hours or until the internal temps reached 155.
14 minutes into my second two hour session my Maverick started to freak out! No the temp wasn't anywhere near 245. Looks like I might need a new set of probes or a new remote temp sensor.
I ended up removing the sausage after the second two hour session and finishing them in the oven. The AMNPS still had half a row of pellets left but with I didn't want to over smoke the sausage. Internal temps were around 128 when I pulled them. Here is a shot after oven finishing to 155 and then drenching in a cold water bath. I hung them to air dry with a fan for an hour.
Ready for the vacuum sealer! Overall a very fun experience. My wife was a little leery of my smoking resolution but I think she's going to be all right with it once she tastes the gumbo!
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