First summer sausage attempt

[swagler]

Ok made my first batch of summer sausage last night. Everything went well and the flavor is great, didn't dry out. Two things that I don't think came out right though. First one I used LEM fibrous casings that were sitting in my cupboard for a few years. The meat stuck to the casings when I tried to peal it off. Would that be due to poor choice of casing? Age? Not correctly smoking?
The second was the sausage was a little course when done, almost brittle but did hold together. I smoked on a traeger at 180 for about 8-9 hours until they hit 165. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[driedstick]

Looks great to me, dont knowabout the casing problems on the smoking did you smoke the whole time at 180 I useally start out at 120 for a hr or so then take up 10* ever hr to 170  till the IT gets to 152 hope this helps also were you using beef or venison or what?? meat to fat ratio??

If you want I will force myself to try some if you send me some gosh Im a nice guy

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Did you soak the casings?

And yes old casings will stick to the meat almost like a protein lined casing

The Traeger wont go much lower than the 180 setting on smoke. I start at 130 and PID thru 170-175

Got any pics of the meat?

 

[shoneyboy]

I just wanted to follow this thread, I have experienced the same problem.......

 

[swagler]

Thanks for the quick response. Ok so this the meat prior to seasonings and after. Since this was my first attempt I bought a seasoning/cure premix packet for 25 lbs. Meat is 21 lb venison and 4 lb pork fat. Deer I killed last week, and pork was trimmings from pigs we raised this summer. I kept the temp pretty much at 180( it went up and down some), although I just put a new control on my traeger with a dial and have the option to smoke lower than 180. Thanks for the tips, I will try the next batch starting lower than move it up. I'm excited to try again, and wasn't expecting to be perfect on the first attempt so glad for the advise. Also what casing should I look for? Seems the thinner ones I got on purchased SS would be better. Should I order from sausagemaker.com?

 

[swagler]

Did you soak the casings?



And yes old casings will stick to the meat almost like a protein lined casing



The Traeger wont go much lower than the 180 setting on smoke. I start at 130 and PID thru 170-175




Got any pics of the meat?

Glad to hear it could have been the old casings. Will try new ones.

 

[tennsmoker]

Hello Swagler,

sounds to me like you had two problems, One was the heat "180 is too high"  I think you rendered out lots of your fat.

Also those old casing's.

Like Rick and others said start at 130 and gradually increase up to 170 until IT reaches 150 or so. With a  traeger grill it might be difficult to hold those temps!!!

I use The Sausagemaker (a SMF sponsor) casing #26100 which is 24" long I cut in half to make approx 1lb chubs works real good.

Al

 

[swagler]

OK thanks again! I am enjoying this smoking and will probably  look into a better smoker. Have the notion to build one with an old fridge I found in a house we bought. I am sure i can find threads on that here on forums. 

 

[smokinhusker]

Looks great! When you slice it, can you post a pic of the meat? 

 

[misisipismoke]

I had a similar problem with sausage being brittle when I first started doing it.  Found out that I had my temps too high. Got a good thermometer and haven't had that problem since.  Like the others, I start out between 120-130 and work my way up to 170-180.

 

[johnnie walker]

I have had the same problem with the casing not peeling away clean. I found out if I leave them in the fridge for a couple days before slicing (or freezing) them that the casing comes right off.

 

[DanMcG]

Never heard of old fibrous casings causing troubles.
Did you cool them properly with a cold shower?

Although I never tried it, I think you can dip them in some boiling water for a minute (not really sure how long) and it will loosen the casing from the meat. If you do try this, let us know if it works ....thanks