Well, The boudin did eventually take on some smoke so This is my first successful boudin smoke after many many failed attempts. At least I did not end up with a huge pile of busted boudin on the floor of the smoker-not a single link busted!
Here is a pic. then I will go into my thoughts on the cook...
Finished smoked boudin:
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Lessons learned:In the past when I thought I the casings dry, they were dry to the touch, but upon putting the links in the smokehouse to warm smoke, they would immediately sweat water, which of course would re-wet the casings, the casings would never get tough and would eventually bust...
This batch cold smoked for 9 hours...they never really did get "tacky" during this time...just kept weeping water. I moved to plan B and warm smoked the links. This worked because the casings finally got tough and firm.
So, the lesson I learned from this is that my smoked boudin recipe must be different from my regular boudin recipe. I will nee to add a weigh of pork skin equal to the meat, and remove 1/2 or more of the water. This will keep the boudin really smooth and moist. I may even add a little STPP to help hold onto the water. These steps should stop the weeping problem and help the casings dry sufficiently upon heating.
The salt-
Because I lost so much water, the smoke boudin is a little on the salty side. I will need to adjust that down on the next batch.
The Color-
I got a good color on the links but no where near what I want. It was a long day after being sick the day before so after the attempt @ cold smoking, I bumped the temp to 120~130* and warm smoked them for 3 hours to finish them.
Once I adjust the recipe, and get the links to the point where I can actually dry them, warm smoking (100~130*) them will be the way to go. The boudin is already cooked so the cold smoke won't penetrate deeply anyways....
I will still add cure #1, and probably warm smoke like I do my regular sausages stepping up the temps. slowly. But I will focus on getting those casings tough first before bumping the heat.
Money shot:
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