Humidity

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Beaverdam213

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May 27, 2019
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Oregon
For smoking/cooking cured meats such as meat sticks, summer sausage, etc...I typically start them at 100° for an hour, then gradually increase the temp until the internal temp on the meat is 150-152. My question is, what would be the ideal humidity in the smoker? I like the summer sausage to be moist when I eat it...but not wet and not dry like salami...just middle of the road. Also, I have the ability to change the humidity regardless of the temperature...should I start with a lower humidity like less than 10% and then increase it as I turn up the temp? what would be the maximum desired humidity in the smoker/oven? I am using a proofing oven and can control the temp and humidity independently.
 
The ideal humidity for smoking temperatures of around 100-160*F is around 60-70%RH, this keeps evaporative cooling to a minimum. If you go higher, you are wet smoking, which is how most all the big sausage manufactures cook the sausages, with liquid smoke in a hot water mist so that the %RH in the coking chamber is 100% and stops evaporative cooling and keeps the water in the product....because water is weight, and weight is money.

When the links are around 133-136*F, you can shut the damper on the exhaust to drive up the RH% and keep the links from sweating. This will speed up the cooking time and give you a moist product.

Also, you can use a pasteurization chart and once the links reach 136*F, start a timer and pull them after about an hour and a half. I believe that is a Log7 reduction without looking it up.
daveomak daveomak might see this and post his charts or a link to them....
 
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Holding final temp for 1.5 hours is a very good choice to allow for uneven heating of the meat.... That's what I do and the meat comes out awesome...

The pasteurization times for beef, lamb and pork are listed in Table C.1. Table C.2 lists the pasteurization times for chicken and turkey.
Temperature... ....... Time.... ....... Temperature... ........ Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)
130 (54.4)........... 112 min
131 (55.0) ......... 89 min...........
132 (55.6).......... 71 min............
133 (56.1).................. 56 min............
134 (56.7).................. 45 min...........
135 (57.2).................. 36 min............
136 (57.8).................. 28 min...........
137 (58.4)................. 23 min............
138 (58.9).................. 18 min...........
139 (59.5).................. 15 min ...........
140 (60.0).................... 12 min............
141 (60.6).................. 9 min..............
142 (61.1).................. 8 min.............
143 (61.7).................. 6 min
144 (62.2).................. 5 min
145 (62.8).................. 4 min
Table C.1: Pasteurization times for beef, corned beef, lamb, pork and cured pork (FDA, 2009, 3-401.11.B.2).
 
Holding final temp for 1.5 hours is a very good choice to allow for uneven heating of the meat.... That's what I do and the meat comes out awesome...

The pasteurization times for beef, lamb and pork are listed in Table C.1. Table C.2 lists the pasteurization times for chicken and turkey.
Temperature... ....... Time.... ....... Temperature... ........ Time
°F (°C) (Minutes) °F (°C) (Seconds)
130 (54.4)........... 112 min
131 (55.0) ......... 89 min...........
132 (55.6).......... 71 min............
133 (56.1).................. 56 min............
134 (56.7).................. 45 min...........
135 (57.2).................. 36 min............
136 (57.8).................. 28 min...........
137 (58.4)................. 23 min............
138 (58.9).................. 18 min...........
139 (59.5).................. 15 min ...........
140 (60.0).................... 12 min............
141 (60.6).................. 9 min..............
142 (61.1).................. 8 min.............
143 (61.7).................. 6 min
144 (62.2).................. 5 min
145 (62.8).................. 4 min
Table C.1: Pasteurization times for beef, corned beef, lamb, pork and cured pork (FDA, 2009, 3-401.11.B.2).
awesome. great info. thank you both!!
 
Holding final temp for 1.5 hours is a very good choice to allow for uneven heating of the meat.... That's what I do and the meat comes out awesome...
I started doing this about a year ago Dave. First dropped it to 144*F for about 20 minutes, then 140*F for about 45 minutes. But with large batches double stacked in the smokehouse, 136*F for hour and a half seems to work the best....definitely a more even cook doing it this way on large batches...
 
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I started doing this about a year ago Dave. First dropped it to 144*F for about 20 minutes, then 140*F for about 45 minutes. But with large batches double stacked in the smokehouse, 136*F for hour and a half seems to work the best....definitely a more even cook doing it this way on large batches...
what humidity do you recommend at each temp?
 
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