Inaugural "hot plate" smoke in my propane smoker...

[tallbm]

Well, I'm perplexed...

This morning, I cut few slices on the diagonal about 3/8" thick and fried just until they began to brown up.

The sausage itself is fine other than too garlicky, but the casings turned out like "almost hard fried leather" (sorry, but that's the best I can describe it). I mean, it was edible, but I've never bit into a smoked sausage with a casing like that.

So I've consigned this batch as Jake the German Shepherd treats...I can deal with too much garlic, but as I simply cannot get past that casing issue.

Could it be the casings (LEM home pack hog casing)? Could it be I held them too long at 140 (about 4 hours)?

Oh well...the good thing is that I now know the hot plate inside my propane smoker DOES work and I CAN smoke sausage.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

Congrats they look great!!!

Try something for me. Grill them over an open flame and make sure they get some good heat on both sides of a link.

I believe its a temp vs liquid thing JUST like chicken skin. If you don't cook chicken skin at a high enough heat it turns into the texture you explain.
I've noticed this with natural hog casings cooked in a skillet before or if you boil the sausage and then heat on the skillet the casing is tough.

You can also put on a roasting rack on/in a pan and broil the sausage and keep rotating it and that works for the casing as well.

Let me know what you find if you try this out :)

 

[JckDanls 07]

Pssst

Try some pineapple juice instead of vinegar.

HMMMMMM.... And Rick is one of the other guys that knows what he's doing ...

 

[pc farmer]

HMMMMMM.... And Rick is one of the other guys that knows what he's doing ...

Got all the heavy hitters on this one once Joe shows up.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Farmer aint no sausage newbie either

 

[pc farmer]

Farmer aint no sausage newbie either

I am compared to you all

 

[daveomak]

Well, I'm perplexed...
Could it be the casings (LEM home pack hog casing)? Could it be I held them too long at 140 (about 4 hours)?

Oh well...the good thing is that I now know the hot plate inside my propane smoker DOES work and I CAN smoke sausage.

Suggestions?

Thanks!

YES..... Home pack are the odds and ends... The cheap stuff.... and they come from China...

Syracuse Casing IS the place to get fresh casings.....
After the smoke, vac pack and refer for a day or 3 for the casing to come to equilibrium with the meat... OR, add moisture in the smoker.. Just to keep stuff moist... an aluminum pie tin with water works well...

 

[SherryT]

YES..... Home pack are the odds and ends... The cheap stuff.... and they come from China...

Syracuse Casing IS the place to get fresh casings.....
After the smoke, vac pack and refer for a day or 3 for the casing to come to equilibrium with the meat... OR, add moisture in the smoker.. Just to keep stuff moist... an aluminum pie tin with water works well...

Well, I didn't do either of those...no water pan in the smoker AND I fried the slices less than 24 hrs after smoking...

Be right back...

OK...ran to the kitchen, sliced a few pieces and fried...MUCH better than before! Still a little chewey, but not "hard" like it was the morning after I smoked them.

So...better casings on the way, add a water pan, and allow then to equalize for a couple of days.

Thanks!!!

 

[indaswamp]

Lots of great advice here...
Dave hit the mark-home pack casings packed in salt. They never really return to their original supple softness-even when soaked and can get a little chewy once smoked.

 

[boykjo]

Yes. You have to be very careful using vinegar with casings. If you add too much it will turn them into rubber. The 1 cap full of vinegar is only added when storing casings to mask any odors. It has nothing to do with softening the casings. A good quality natural casing packed in a salt solution done with my method will become
elastic, soft and able to stretch. The object here is to stretch the casing when stuffing to make it thinner. The thinner casing around the sausage makes a lighter softer bite into the casing. Drying the casing before smoking also hardens the casings. I do not recommend drying before cooking. After the sausages are stuffed the casings should still be wet. Hang the sausages with a fan blowing in their direction moving air. within about 30 minutes you should feel the casings become sticky. This is where the pellicle has formed and smoke is going to stick to it. Place them in the smoker with no heat and cold smoke them for about 2 hrs then start your heat while still smoking.
This process should give you a nice clean snap or pop when you bite into the sausage.

Boykjo

 

[SherryT]

Thank you!

 

[SherryT]

OK...ran into a snag!

It would appear that the hot plate inside my propane smoker does NOT like it when the temps are in the low 30s with 20 MPH wind.

Everything was going well until the temp started dropping into the low 30s...temps were running between 160 - 165 and started steadily falling...finally pulled (snack sticks, IT was 143) and finished in the oven.

Now if I just TASTE the darned things...

 

[tallbm]

OK...ran into a snag!

It would appear that the hot plate inside my propane smoker does NOT like it when the temps are in the low 30s with 20 MPH wind.

Everything was going well until the temp started dropping into the low 30s...temps were running between 160 - 165 and started steadily falling...finally pulled (snack sticks, IT was 143) and finished in the oven.

Now if I just TASTE the darned things...

Hahaha, might be worth wrapping your setup in some insulation of some kind and that should help in any situation :)

 

[SherryT]

Hahaha, might be worth wrapping your setup in some insulation of some kind and that should help in any situation :)

Looks that way!