internal temp

[Ethan Soland]

We are making some sausage this weekend and I have been looking at the methods of everyone on here. One thing I'm confused with...why does the internal temp need to get to 154* + ?

The sausage will have cure...we plan to freeze after smoking to be eaten later throughout the year...and we always cook before eating.

any info on this would be helpful...thanks guys

 

[oddegan]

The IT becomes important if it's uncured and it's warm out while you are smoking. You want the IT to get above 140 in 4 hours to avoid nasty bacteria in the meat but if your meat is cured or your smoker won't get above 40 I don't see a problem unless I'm forgetting something. That being said I would not want my sausage smoking at 70 degrees for 10 hours just cause the idea of it wierds me out.

 

[SmokinAl]

What kind of sausage are you making?
What is the recipe you are following?
Al

 

[Ethan Soland]

sausage is 70/30 venison/pork mixture.

we get a seasoning mix with added cure from the local butcher shop according to the weight.
we plan to make around 150 pounds of sausage

 

[oddegan]

That's a lot of sausage. What are you smoking it in?

 

[indaswamp]

When I'm doing wild game sausages, especially wild hog, I go to 154* for 12 minutes just as a safety precaution as per USDA recommendations. If you follow a pasteurization chart, you can pull them once the temp./time has been met.
This is for link sausage, if you are doing sticks, disregard.

 

[Ethan Soland]

thanks for the reply...this is a picture of our smoker from last year. always looking for advice to make things better.

 

[oddegan]

That is impressive!

 

[indaswamp]

How big is your smokehouse Ethan? Care to post pictures for us? And what size pipe are you using for your flue stack?