First attempt at smoking Brats and Kielbasa.. question?

[stainless]

Mixed up 8 lbs of brats and 8 lbs of Kielbasa last night using pork butt and stuffed into hog casings.  Followed all the directions to a T.  I added the correct amount of pink salt to each batch.  

Warmed up the MES this morning to 120F and then put the sausages on.  Let them sit at this temp for a little over an hour.  I then added smoke and increased the temp by 10 degrees every 30 minutes until I reached 170.  I started the sausages at 7 AM and finally pulled them at around 8.  I gave up trying to get them to 153 and settled for 144.  The sausages were starting to dry out.  I'm not a hundred percent sure on what the actual temp in the smoker was but it's usually pretty close.  I did crank it up to 175 in the last few hours just because I knew I was getting to a point where the meat was going to dry out.  I pulled them off and put them in a water bath and currently have them hanging.  

I tested the flavor out and they taste really good.  Everything is moist and good on the inside.  The outside is a little tough.. I believe because it was beginning to cook for too long.  I had my mav probes in two pieces of meat so I didn't have anything to double check the cooker temp.  This being my first time smoking sausages.. I'm just a little confused as to why I couldn't get them to temp.  I don't know if the meat ran into a stall and it being thinner.. just cooked the outer casing more or what.  I'm a perfectionist and want to get this figured out before I try another batch.  I'll definitely use one of the probes to monitor the MES temp next time just in case that was my problem.  

 

[stainless]

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[SmokinAl]

They sure look good.

I've had stubborn sausages like that before too.

I think I would make sure that your smoker temp is correct.

It sounds like you may have been smoking them at a lower temp than you thought.

Also next time you can always poach them to finish them up.

Al

 

[BGKYSmoker]

You may have been real close to the IT you needed before the fat rendered out. like Al said you can hot water the sausage. Water temp at 160-165, put the sausage in a zip lock bag and into the hot water this way the water does not take off the smoke. use a thermapen to check IT, keep the water moving with a wood spoon, careful not to puncture the bag.

 

[stainless]

Is there an average that it takes roughly to know when you're getting to that point where you should pull them and poach them instead of letting them finish out in the smoker?  I figured I would have had these smoked in eight hours or less.  

 

[stainless]

I fried some up as I was bagging it. They turned out really good and weren't tough. No more crisp than you would expect after frying them anyways.

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[wild west]

I almost always finish in hot water. Smoke until you get the color you want then finish in the water. I smoke minimum of 6 hrs. Even if I finish in the smoker I don't use smoke for the whole cook. My guess was your cabinet temp was lower than you thought. If you were actually at 160 instead of 170 you might never hit 153 IT.

 

[cal1956]

i  do a LOT OF SAUSAGE,

and to me it looks like you over smoked the sausage ( i use a heavy smoke for the 1st 30 minutes )  then slowly bring up the temp , start to finish takes about 6 hours

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• cal1956
• Oct 12, 2015

 

[goliath]

I have also had some stubborn ones and i close the vent to about 25% open to keep more heat in at the end and less air flow causing the dehydration. if dehydration continues to be a problem add a cup of NF milk powder. really holds the moisture, i do this when i make turkey kielbasa and pepperoni as it should go 165 IT. dont be afraid to crank the heat up to 180 or 185 for a bit but keep an eye on it.

DONT TRUST THE TEMP GUAGE ON THE SMOKER .... get a Maverick !!!!!

GOOD LUCK

Goliath

 

[cal1956]

i only make pure pork sausage ( meaning spice . meat and cure nothing else added )  never had a problem with them drying out ,

i have made 450 lbs so far and will do another 100 or 150 lbs in the next month or so,    i always open the smoker and  check the  internal temp of the sausage with a thermometer 

to make sure that they reach 180 before cooling them in a cold water bath to stop the cooking .