First Sausage smoke w/ pics "REDEMPTION"

[masonman1345]

Fellow smokers,

   I did my first smoke in the smoker this weekend. I did some Venison/pork sausage.

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• masonman1345
• Mar 9, 2015

Here is the sausage, ready to go into the smoker. I have my smoker @ 95 degrees with no smoke for the drying process.

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• masonman1345
• Mar 9, 2015

We are in the smoker. Temp is hanging in there @ 95 degrees and sausage is starting to dry. The sausage has been in there for about 2 hours now.

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• masonman1345
• Mar 9, 2015

The sausage got dry to the touch. So I sent the smoke to it using one of Todd's smoke tubes. I chose to use the oak pellets for this batch. Looking good so far.

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• masonman1345
• Mar 9, 2015

As soon as it reached about 160 degrees IT. I took it out and immediately showered them in a tub of cold water, They are now hanging in my dining room to bloom. In about 3 hours I will put them in the fridge/freezer.

Thanks for looking.

 

[cdn offroader]

Nice job, they look great. What recipe did you go with?

 

[masonman1345]

I didn't. I went to my local Meat market/Restaurant and told the owner what I needed. He mixed me up a batch of the seasoning they use in their sausage. He mixed up a batch with the seasoning, cure & bonding agent for me that would do 40# of sausage. I did the math myself for the amount I needed. I did a 60% pork 40% Venison.

 

[masonman1345]

I forgot, I also did some fresh pork breakfast sausage with the left over pork I had from the pork butt I used. I will post some pics of them this evening.

 

[ron forst]

the cure police will be along shortly to make sure you put the recommended cure in

 

[masonman1345]

I didn't use all the seasoning but I mixed it real good. The butcher said that they make it in bulk and use as needed, They have been in business for over 30 years and they haven't killed anyone yet.

 

[ron forst]

You will be just fine, sausage looks great by the way, I like your smoker

 

[boykjo]

Nice looking sausages there MM........

Joe

 

[masonman1345]

HOUSTON, We have a problem!!!!!!!!!!!

   I have never seen this before

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• masonman1345
• Mar 10, 2015

I dried my sausage @ 95 degrees until it was dry to the touch. I then brought the temp up to 163 degrees and  started the smoke. I never gained or lost temp in my smokehouse. For about the last hour I did bump up the temp to 173 degrees. I don't know if all the sausage is like this one because I packaged it and left this piece out for a sample. The skin is also very tough. However the seasoning and smoke flavor are spot on. And what is up with the hole in the center?

 

[daveomak]

The hole could be from stuffing not tight enough....

 

[timberjet]

Looks like you had a little fat out as well. I would just shove a stick of string cheese in there and chow down. Hahaha.....

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Most the time its an air pocket in the meat when you add meat into the stuffer. It can also happen when stuffing. IE pulling the casing forward then back onto the tube tip.

But you did a good job. What brand of smoker you using?

 

[masonman1345]

smoke3.jpg

• masonman1345
• Nov 9, 2014

house 3.jpg

• masonman1345
• Nov 6, 2014

It was a smoker I built using old pallet wood. I wanted to see how cheap I could build a smoker. Total cost about $30

 

[masonman1345]

I did notice when I was stuffing that when I pushed the meat down into the stuffer, then pull the push tool out it was empty. Then I would push more mixture into the stuffer hole and repeat. Is there another way to prevent air getting pushed into the casing?

 

[daveomak]

I did notice when I was stuffing that when I pushed the meat down into the stuffer, then pull the push tool out it was empty. Then I would push more mixture into the stuffer hole and repeat. Is there another way to prevent air getting pushed into the casing?

Roll the meat into a ball that fits into the hole.... Better yet, buy a 5# vertical stuffer... grinders don't work well when it comes to stuffing .....

UNLESS, you mix the cubed meat, spices etc. and grind and stuff in one step..... put the stuffing horn on the grinder while grinding the cubed meats....

 

[timberjet]

I second what dave said about buying a stuffer. Best hundred bucks you will ever spend. Makes 30 pound batches easy.

 

[mike johnson]

I also agree about the vertical stuffer but go with a 10lb. , Especially with batches that size. It makes life MUCH easier.

 

[masonman1345]

Guess I need to get a stuffer. I don't want to put in the work it takes to make sausage and get no reward from it. The sausage I made that we ar talking about reminds me of my first wife................. looked good on the outside but was awful on the inside.

 

[masonman1345]

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• masonman1345
• Mar 12, 2015

I decided last night to try and figure out something to do with the Deer/Pork sausage I made the other night. I opened the first package and it was perfect. So I opened another one and it was perfect to! I guess the previous sausage I cooked was just a bad run? Anyway, I am happy and just wanted to share it with all of you.