PID or Water cooking

[fitch32]

Hello all! I am ready to make an investment. I have been smoking sausage successfully for a couple of years now with my share of trials. I have made several batches of sticks and have had one good batch. I am ready to take it to the next level to make my sausage better and to make good sticks more consistently. So like I said I am ready to make an investment to make that happen.

I have been going back and forth between the Auber PID controller for more Bradley smoker or going down the water cooking road. I like both options, I like the tradition of finishing in the smoker but I am attracted to the speed of the water cooking, 1 because I have a family and time is tight and 2, I can make a lot of sausage in one day. By the way does using a PID speed the cooking processes in the smoker?

So I don't really care which direction I go but I want to hear what you are doing, and if you are water cooking what are you using, a pot on the stove, roaster oven etc.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Very similar to Sous Vide

I built a controller to regulate the temperatures for a crockpot, rice cooker, or electric roaster oven similar to this: http://www.instructables.com/id/Sous-vide-cooker-for-less-than-40/

If you have a crockpot or rice cooker, fill it full of water and set it to warm. Check and see with a thermometer what it holds for a temperature or temperature range with its own internal thermostat without using a controller. It may be in a range you can live with to try it for your first time.

Edit:

It must be an analog cooker- not digital. This fontroller just turns the power on and off to control the temps more precisely. If you use this on a digital unit, it will turn it off, but then it will loose its time and temperature settings and not turn back on!

 

[chef jimmyj]

Water is always faster when time is an issue. The PID is useful if your smoker temps are all over the place and hard to control. This keeps you from overheating and causing a Fat Out when you are trying to stay at no more than 170°F. You won't gain a lot of Time with a PID other than you will not have to play around Tweaking the temps to dial in your progression from 130 to 170. 

What to water bath in? Depends on the amount you make. I use a Lasagna Pan on the stove for 10 pounds or so but have to babysit the temp. Some guys have great electric Roasters that can be dialed in and are no fuss...JJ

 

[wild west]

I had one fat out in the smoker and have used water ever since. I keep the sticks in the smoker until they reach at least 130 IT then finish in a large roasting pan on the stove holding the water temp to 160ish (try to stay under 165). I use an instant read therm to test the water temp occationally and use it to probe the sticks once they start to get close . As JJ said you have to babysit the water temp. Keep the water moveing a little for consistent temp

 

[BGKYSmoker]

One easy solution to baby sitting your water finishing.

Anova Sous Vide hot water circulator. You can set it at a certain temp IE 160. It circulates the water, has a thermostat, blue tooth or wifi. Beats the heck out of keeping to move the water around with a spoon and constantly adjusting the temps. I have the wifi.

 

[daveomak]

They are a cool tool.....

Sous Vide.JPG

• daveomak
• Oct 14, 2016

 

[wild west]

Nice. I am going to look into that

 

[fitch32]

Nepas and Dave, Do you guys put your sausage/sticks in a plastic bag before using that Anova Sous Vide cooker/circulator?

 

[daveomak]

I cook my sticks fully in the smoker....   temp 160 and it takes about 24 hours...  They get up to about 145 IT...   I use the USDA time/temp chart to make sure they are pasteurized....

But I would cut to length and vac pack in a single layer and then put in the water...   Single layer for uniform temps. etc...

FSIS Guidance on Safe Cooking of Non-Intact Meat Chops, Roasts, and Steaks April 2009

Temp °F / Time for 5.0 log Reduction

Unit Time

130..........86 min.

131 ..........69 min.

132......... 55 min.

133.......... 44 min.

134.......... 35 min.

135.......... 28 min.

136 ..........22 min.

137 ..........18 min.

138 ..........14 min.

139.......... 11 min.

140 ...........9 min.

141........... 7 min.

142 ...........6 min.

143 ...........5 min.

144 ...........4 min.

145 ...........3 min.

146 .........130 sec.

147......... 103 sec.

148 ...........82 sec.

149 ...........65 sec.

150........... 52 sec.

151........... 41 sec.

152........... 33 sec.

153 ...........26 sec.

154 ...........21 sec.

155 ...........17 sec.

156 ...........14 sec.

157 ...........11 sec.

158 .............0 sec.

159 .............0 sec.

160 .............0 sec.

The required lethalities are achieved instantly when the internal temperature of a cooked meat product reaches 158 °F or above. Humidity must be considered when using this Time/Temperature table.

This Time/Temperature table is based on Thermal Death Curve for Salmonella in Beef Emulsions in tubes (Derived from Goodfellow & Brown1, 1978) Regulatory Curve obtained from Jerry Carosella, Deputy Director, Microbiology Division, Science and Technology. All times that were a fraction of a minute or second was rounded up to the next whole number (e.g., 16.2 seconds for 155 °F was round up to 17 seconds).

________________________ 1. Goodfellow, S. J. and W. L. Brown. 1978. Fate of Salmonella Inoculated into Beef for Cooking. Journal of Food Protection. 41:598-605.