First attempt at smoking sausages!

[Mffl84]

Fired up the Smoke Vault 18 this evening to take a crack at some wild boar sausages I processed yesterday from a hog I shot last year. They are looking good! Hopefully they taste as good as they look!

 

[SmokinAl]

They look real good so far!
Al

 

[Mffl84]

Thanks, Al! The flavor of them turned out pretty good, but there were some things I wish were better. For one, the casings were a bit tough/chewy. Is that a result of something I did in the cooking process, or is that typical for natural hog casings?

While they tasted good, the texture was not right. They were a bit on the dry side, and had somewhat of a grainy feel. Maybe I needed more fat? I used 20lbs of hog meat and added 5lbs of pork fat, so I should have had somewhere between 20-25% fat when you include the small amount of fat that was on the hog itself. Maybe I overcooked them? I had a probe in one of the links to monitor while it smoked, and pulled them out when it hit 152. I was curious and stuck the probe in one of the other links and it was at 166, so it was clearly in a hotter spot in the smoker. Maybe should have probed all of them since some were clearly done before others...I just hate sticking holes in all the meat if I don't have to, haha!

 

[tallbm]

Thanks, Al! The flavor of them turned out pretty good, but there were some things I wish were better. For one, the casings were a bit tough/chewy. Is that a result of something I did in the cooking process, or is that typical for natural hog casings?

While they tasted good, the texture was not right. They were a bit on the dry side, and had somewhat of a grainy feel. Maybe I needed more fat? I used 20lbs of hog meat and added 5lbs of pork fat, so I should have had somewhere between 20-25% fat when you include the small amount of fat that was on the hog itself. Maybe I overcooked them? I had a probe in one of the links to monitor while it smoked, and pulled them out when it hit 152. I was curious and stuck the probe in one of the other links and it was at 166, so it was clearly in a hotter spot in the smoker. Maybe should have probed all of them since some were clearly done before others...I just hate sticking holes in all the meat if I don't have to, haha!

Hi there and welcome!

I'm not sure about the casings, I've not had that problem
What you describe sounds like what people encounter when getting "fat out" from cooking the sausages too hot or not bringing the temp up smoothly enough to avoid melting the fat out of the sausage.

What temp did you smoke at? Did you walk up the smoker temp in increments starting from 100F and going to 165-170F?

Did you ice water bath the sausages when you pulled them from the smoker?

A little more info and we may be able to help you figure out where things may have gone a little sideways :)

 

[Mffl84]

Hi there and welcome!

I'm not sure about the casings, I've not had that problem
What you describe sounds like what people encounter when getting "fat out" from cooking the sausages too hot or not bringing the temp up smoothly enough to avoid melting the fat out of the sausage.

What temp did you smoke at? Did you walk up the smoker temp in increments starting from 100F and going to 165-170F?

Did you ice water bath the sausages when you pulled them from the smoker?

A little more info and we may be able to help you figure out where things may have gone a little sideways :)

I started them out in the smoker at around 110F for a little over an hour. I wasn't able to get it much lower than that, and in order to maintain that temp, I had to crack the door a little. I went up to around 125F for probably 30 or 40 minutes, then up to around 160F for about 30 minutes, then finished them off at 180F until I got to 152F internal temp of the link I had probed (as mentioned before, some had cooked to a higher temp than the one I had probed :/).

Did I walk them up too fast? And maybe 180F was a bit high...I have read so many different opinions on temps, haha!

I did give them an ice bath immediately, and hung them to dry and bloom for 3 hours at room temp.

 

[tallbm]

I started them out in the smoker at around 110F for a little over an hour. I wasn't able to get it much lower than that, and in order to maintain that temp, I had to crack the door a little. I went up to around 125F for probably 30 or 40 minutes, then up to around 160F for about 30 minutes, then finished them off at 180F until I got to 152F internal temp of the link I had probed (as mentioned before, some had cooked to a higher temp than the one I had probed :/).

Did I walk them up too fast? And maybe 180F was a bit high...I have read so many different opinions on temps, haha!

I did give them an ice bath immediately, and hung them to dry and bloom for 3 hours at room temp.

The jump from 125F to 160F may have been too large of a jump, you may want to stop at around 140F in between. The 180F being at the top temp shouldn't be the culprit but I wouldn't go higher. I smoke wild pork meat sausages and to get to 165F IT of the meat I have to go to 180F smoker temp and they come out fine but I don't run 180F until a majority of the cook is complete meaning I do it towards the end of the cook.

My thoughts are that your smoker temp readings may not have been 100% accurate or you had a number of differences in temp in your smoking chamber. As you mention you had to open the door to keep temps and some sausages cooked other than the others etc. This is the easiest explanation of what may have gone on with your sausages and the way you described them turning out.

I run an MES40 and I run 3 probes simply to watch my smoker temps inside my smoker. I know that one side is hotter than the other side and that the back is hotter than the front.

 

[Mffl84]

Okay, I will keep all that in mind for next time. I'll also do some tests on my probes to make sure they are reading correctly. I have a ThermoPro TP-08 that is practically new. Hopefully don't have to replace it, but may need to get one with more probes in order to monitor temps in various spots.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!!

 

[tallbm]

Okay, I will keep all that in mind for next time. I'll also do some tests on my probes to make sure they are reading correctly. I have a ThermoPro TP-08 that is practically new. Hopefully don't have to replace it, but may need to get one with more probes in order to monitor temps in various spots.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions!!

No problem. Since you have the TP-08 you may want to find the hottest spot in your smoker and then pout it at that point. This way you at least know the top end heat and can adjust accordingly :)

 

[indaswamp]

Yep. if you step up too quickly, the links tighten up and squeeze the meat paste...this leads to loss of both moisture and fat. rule of thumb is 10* every hour. Try to keep the smokehouse temp 25~30* higher than sausage INT... don't go higher than 170~175 on the top thermometer. If you are using domestic pork, you can pull links @144~145 after about 12 minutes as per the USDA log function pasteurization scale. Cooking to 152~154* is not necessary unless you want to dry the links out some more....

 

[Mffl84]

Yep. if you step up too quickly, the links tighten up and squeeze the meat paste...this leads to loss of both moisture and fat. rule of thumb is 10* every hour. Try to keep the smokehouse temp 25~30* higher than sausage INT... don't go higher than 170~175 on the top thermometer. If you are using domestic pork, you can pull links @144~145 after about 12 minutes as per the USDA log function pasteurization scale. Cooking to 152~154* is not necessary unless you want to dry the links out some more....

Thanks indaswamp! I'll make those adjustments for next time! It was a wild boar, so I wanted to take the temp a bit further, to be safe.

No problem. Since you have the TP-08 you may want to find the hottest spot in your smoker and then pout it at that point. This way you at least know the top end heat and can adjust accordingly :)

Smart! Will do that for sure!

 

[indaswamp]

Yea, wild hog needs to be cooked to 154* for safety....I do the same with all the wild hog sausage we make. You want the smokehouse to stay as low as possible and still cook the meat. The step process brings the INT close to finish so you do not need to keep the smokehouse @170~175 for very long to reach target INT.

 

[jimalbert]

I may be an outsider when I say this but in my experiences with smoked sausage, I never take it to 154* in the smoker. I start out low at maybe 115 or so for an hour without smoke and then maintain 115 until my internal temp gets to 115, then move it to 125 until I hit 125 internally, then 140 until 140 internal temp. at that point I am done. I find that the longer those hog casings stay in the smoke and heat the harder they are. With that being said, I finish them in some water before eating. I always make "links" from any sort of sausage anymore. Reason being, if it was smoked and I didnt take it to temperature while smoking, I just need to grab a vacuum seal bag from the freezer and let it thaw overnight. Next day, poach the links for a few minutes, and brown if you like. easy peasy and you dont have rock hard casings. I should mention they are links out of hog casings not sheep casings (like bkfst sausage). Am I the only one that does it this way?

They Look great BTW.

Jim

 

[DanMcG]

As far as the tough casings go, A long smoke with to much draft and low humidity will cause this.

 

[indaswamp]

I may be an outsider when I say this but in my experiences with smoked sausage, I never take it to 154* in the smoker. I start out low at maybe 115 or so for an hour without smoke and then maintain 115 until my internal temp gets to 115, then move it to 125 until I hit 125 internally, then 140 until 140 internal temp. at that point I am done. I find that the longer those hog casings stay in the smoke and heat the harder they are. With that being said, I finish them in some water before eating. I always make "links" from any sort of sausage anymore. Reason being, if it was smoked and I didnt take it to temperature while smoking, I just need to grab a vacuum seal bag from the freezer and let it thaw overnight. Next day, poach the links for a few minutes, and brown if you like. easy peasy and you dont have rock hard casings. I should mention they are links out of hog casings not sheep casings (like bkfst sausage). Am I the only one that does it this way?

They Look great BTW.

Jim

If your smokehouse is @115, it will take a long time for the links to get to 115 without raising the temp. Typically, the smokehouse needs to run 25~30* above INT of the links to keep the INT rising slowly.
The reason to take the links to final temp is to sanitize the links. If you stop the process before final temp is reached, pathogens still in the meat paste may start to grow upon cooling. then will multiply again upon heating.

 

[jimalbert]

duly noted. In all of my sausage I smoke im using cure as well.

 

[chopsaw]

I agree with Dan above , but I was wondering how long did you soak the casings before you stuffed them ?

 

[Mffl84]

I agree with Dan above , but I was wondering how long did you soak the casings before you stuffed them ?

I soaked them for 2-3 hours. I was also having a tough time making the links without busting the casing, and I was trying to make sure not to fill them too full. Would soaking them for a longer period of time make them a bit more forgiving when twisting the links?

 

[indaswamp]

I soaked them for 2-3 hours. I was also having a tough time making the links without busting the casing, and I was trying to make sure not to fill them too full. Would soaking them for a longer period of time make them a bit more forgiving when twisting the links?

were the casings dry packed in salt or in a liquid brine solution?

 

[Mffl84]

were the casings dry packed in salt or in a liquid brine solution?

Dry packed in salt. http://a.co/7LmWHlS

 

[Mffl84]

I'm guessing I overpacked them, even though I felt as though I was leaving some space. I made 25lbs of sausage, and I had casings left over from that package I bought, which is supposed to make 20-25lbs. :oops: