I started some sticks this morning, it was 3*F outside when I put them in. The smoker came right up to temp and held with no problems.
The P.I.D. is working great!! Right now the temp is set to 170*F (Letting the sticks dry a bit) with no problems. I'll pull them at 155*.
The cold smoke attachment is working great as well. It pumps out smoke like crazy without messing with the internal temperature.
I'm wondering if I can run it up to 180*, with no fat-out, now that I have consistent temps?
Thanks for your help Tallbm!
Glad to hear the news!
It is still a good idea to ramp the temp up to avoid fat out.
So first hour at like 100-115F to dry.
After that like every 45-60 min or so up 130-135F.
After that up to like 150-155F and if the sausage Internal Temp (IT) isn't within 12-15 degrees of the smoker I would wait for it to come up to temp so it gently rises.
Then you can ramp to like 165-170F. Again, I wouldn't go above this smoker temp if you are wanting to hit 155F. I like the texture of my smoked sausage around 152F and I pull when the sausage is in the 149F-155F ball. Why this range?
Well they all don't heat as evenly. I often have the ones on the left side of my smoker at a slightly higher temp than the ones right side. Same goes for sausages that are a little lower and closer to the burner compared to the sausage that is higher in the smoker.
I wouldn't push the smoker to 180F unless you need to worry about micro-parasites in the meat. Like if you were making bear meat sausage of the wild game in your area has such a risk.
I've smoked sausage with little to no issue where I walked the smoker up to 180F but only do that once the IT of the sausage is stalled around 158F and then keep an eye on it because fat out will happen if you don't pull the second it hits 165F IT.
Anyhow, I'm rambling now. Off to bed with me! :D