Recipe 4 fresh smoked sausage & Curing 4 canning?

[knightsilver]

I'm looking to get a Weber 22" Gold Kettle for grilling and indirect smoking.


I'm a smoke noon, and not sure if I'm not comfortable cold smoking, if I'm understanding right, that's below 150F , and can you cann fully (150F+) smoked(fresh) sausage? and do I use or what cure for the fresh sausage?

 

[couger78]

No cold-smoking (often described as under 75°F but varies from region to region) without cure added.

The DANGER ZONE for harmful rapid bacteria growth is from 50-140°F so if not cure is being used, you need to use higher temps (200°F+) to get the meat out of that range fairly quickly.

There are plenty of resources here and other sites, plus some really good books that are well-worth the time spent reading & learning.

For me personally, because of the health risks of consuming potentially fatal meat, I'd want to make sure I've good information about the whole process before firing up a smoker or cooking over lower temps.

Kevin

 

[knightsilver]

What cure would yall go with?

Prague powder #1?

Steps here:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/537843-how-to-cure-sausage-before-smoking/

And Id prefer smoking at 150-200F.

KS

 

[woodcutter]

Here is a very helpful thread. Post 4 has a good information about different cures. It can be dangerous to use too little or too much so some schooling should be done before using cures.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/137410/cures

 

[knightsilver]

Nice!

Part of what I was looking for, thanks.
[h3]Step 1[/h3]
Spread the meat in the bottom of a large pan, then sprinkle the seasonings on top. Mix well.
[h3]Step 2[/h3]
Dissolve the Prague powder in water in the proportions called for in the recipe.
[h3]Step 3[/h3]
Pour the water and cure mixture over the meat. Mix well, then store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
[h3]Step 5[/h3]
Remove the meat from the refrigerator, and grind it through a 3/16-inch plate to get a finer texture and to better distribute the seasonings and cure. Chill for another 30 minutes before stuffing it into a casing.

After Step 5,  Do I give the finished link a water bath for so many mins?

Info from here (link)

Step 6:

Smoke, till what temp, and how warm/hot should I keep the smoke, IM guessing 160-200F?

Step 7:

When, would I cann the freshly full smoked sausages?

Sorry for all the questions, guys, but once ya had Salmonella, ya never want to go back.......................

KS

 

[jarhead]

[h3]Step 3[/h3]
Pour the water and cure mixture over the meat. Mix well, then store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

I leave overnight in the fridge. 30 minutes is not long enough.

After Step 5,  Do I give the finished link a water bath for so many mins?

The water bath is to stop the cooking AFTER you have reached temp, not before.

Step 6:

Smoke, till what temp, and how warm/hot should I keep the smoke, IM guessing 160-200F?

I start my smoker at 120 and bump up 10 degrees per hour til I hit 170.

I pull the sausage at between 151-154 and give it an ice water bath to stop the cooking. Hang to dry and bloom. (4-6 hours)

I always vac pac and freeze. Never canned any. I would not even know where to tell ya to go for that info.

 

[BGKYSmoker]

Properly cured sausage can be canned.

saunegg.JPG

• BGKYSmoker
• Mar 21, 2013

 

[BGKYSmoker]

I'm looking to get a Weber 22" Gold Kettle for grilling and indirect smoking.


I'm a smoke noon, and not sure if I'm not comfortable cold smoking, if I'm understanding right, that's below 150F , and can you cann fully (150F+) smoked(fresh) sausage? and do I use or what cure for the fresh sausage?

With a Weber kettle your going to have a tough time actually cold smoking. Not saying it cant be done but you will need to do some test runs on how much heat your putting in the kettle. I smoked bacon in my WSM and used 6 charcoals. Try 2-4 and look at temps.

For fresh sausage (like you buy in the store) you do not need cure as you normally cook above 180. If however you buy store bought fresh sausage and want to smoke it at lower temps you will need to add cure #1. To do this you will need to take the meat from the casings and add the proper amount of cure and then re stuff into new prepared casings. Mixing the cure with 1/4 cup of water makes for better distribution into the meat, really no need to let in fridge overnight but thats your call, we all do things different.

1 level tsp of cure to every 5 lbs of meat.

2.5 lbs you will need 1/2 tsp

Good luck

 

[knightsilver]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, much appreciated!

As for smoking on a Weber Kettle, I was thinking about using the chimney starter, to rotate hot coals, and keeping soaked chips, and just baby sitting the first few times, to figure out what Im doing. And start out maybe with boneless chicken sliced thin?

The thing is, Im on a tight budget, or Id get the WSM, but I want something to grill on too. But only grilling for 2-4 people.........

But with the Weber Kettle, ya got the bottom rack, and or could use the very bottom of the kettle its self, to place the charcoal/chips? And would the Gold, with the ash basket give me abit better air control vs the Silver?



or Silver


EDIT, Anyone know what Brinkmann's Quality is like?

http://brinkmann.net/products/outdo...okers_and_grills/details.aspx?item=852-7080-E

 

[knightsilver]

I just stumbled on these:
[h1]Smokenator 1000 - Transform Your  Weber Kettle Into Efficient Smoker[/h1]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/shops/stor...tplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&sellerID=AWK6OG69ISEA8

 

[forluvofsmoke]

KS, lots of great advice above.

With the Weber Gold kettles, temp control is a matter of three things:

1) amount of fuel added, if all burning/hot;

2) amount of intake draft allowed;

3) amount of venting, or exhaust opening;

The Weber Gold is no different than the silver for intake or exhaust control. The major differences are the ash catcher and the hinged cooking grate with the gold, and you pay a premium for them. I do see where you could use 2-3 charcoal briquettes in the ash catcher for heating your smoke wood and keeping chamber temps even lower as a result of having the heat that much farther away from the food grate.

The Brinkmann Gourmet is a low-budget smoker/grill...not a bad value, but is a lower quality...light-weight chrome-plated grates, etc. With some modifications, it can handle a lot of hot smoking tasks, though while without mods can be a problem with ash build-up from the charcoal and snuff out the fire on longer smokes. I have one identical to that which you linked above...well, it USED to be identical...heavily modified now, of course. Intake draft control and ash fall-out were the first two things I decided to correct before I even fired it up for it's maiden voyage. I don't use it a lot nowadays, but have no problems firing it up whenever I get the whim...some of my best creations have come from that rig, btw. Oh, and it can be used for char-grilling, I just never did due to being up to my eyeballs in dedicated grills.

Here's the bulk of the mods from the beginning, but I've done much more since I wrote this up, but the main issues to go after are covered here:

Wiki: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/a/brinkmann-gourmet-low-budget-mods-how-to-w-pics

Thread with discussion: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/95616/brinkmann-gourmet-low-budget-mods-how-to-w-pics

Here's something that popped-up in my search which may help answer a few questions you may not yet have thought about regarding the Gourmet (I had forgotten about this until seeing it):

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/81508/wanted-from-ecb-gourmet-users-opinions-on-your-smoker

The Gourmet, being it has a tall smoke chamber, will be easier to keep low chamber temps with small amounts of fuel when cold smoking, and is tall enough to hang shorter sausage links from the upper grate, or with a dedicated sausage mod for hanging from the barrel rim, etc.

Hope this helps explain more about what you're looking at for now.

Eric

 

[jarhead]

Knight, check out one with a damaged box from Amazon for $126. That's for the 22-1/2" OTG.

I've bought several items from the warehouse. Always new condition.

Amazon Warehouse Deals
 

 

[knightsilver]

Thanks JH, Hopefully thy'll still have a few when I order.