Question about hanging sausage to smoke

[SherryT]

So I have the MB 40xl propane smoker and am using a hot plate on the same rack as the water pan would go as a heat source.

When I smoked the snack sticks the other day, my thought was to hang them as I see a lot of you do, but the ends of the links seemed, to me, to be too close to the hot plate (about 6"). Now, the cook in me says these ends close to the heat source are going to cook a lot faster than the rest, but I could be wrong since the heat is lower than, say, inside of an oven.

Any idea if that's too close to the hot plate? I ended up laying them on the racks and they smoked fine, but it seems to me you can fit more in the smoker by hanging rather than laying them on the racks.

 

[Coreymacc]

Your instincts were correct, the bottoms will be to temp quicker. I have the same issue. Not much you can do besides make the rings shorter, or keep moving them around to keep the heat off one spot. I do small batches and keep the rings to about 12" or less. Laying them down works fine also.

Corey

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Yes ANY sausage will get done fast closer to the heat source.

I make 18" twist the middle and make another the same. I do have a (buffer) water pan between my pellets and the sticks. You will be fine.

 

[bill ace 350]

You can cut the sticks in lengths that fit your racks. Smoke them horizontally.

 

[Wurstmeister]

I placed my 10 spice "spicy" Kielbasa on grill plates for the first time in December since they were too long to hang in the 40"MES. There was no difference in flavor/texture, well smoked, a few burnt ends, and just visually "different." Received great reviews on the sausage texture, aroma, flavor, so I guess either hanging or on the grill plates is a matter of preference.

 

[indaswamp]

Someone here at SMF invented a wood rack that fits over the side of the wire rack in the MES. Anybody know who made that and can post it for Sherry?

 

[BGKYSmoker]

tropics

Richie makes them

 

[Winterrider]

Sausage/Jerky Rack MES40 w step by step

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