SANTAROSANO CHORIZO (ST. ROSE SAUSAGE)

[73Hemi]

Good evening everyone. Been lurking and experimenting since joining a few weeks ago. Made this sausage over the last few days, with just a few changes.added lots of garlic, a head, used 1.75 salt. Sheep casings as they had been soaking for weeks.Did ok stuffing, it’s where I really need to improve, first casing, no blowouts, second I had two.
Smoked at 165, I need to mod my smoker to go way lower. Got about 4-5 hours of smoke, left one on to finish to 165, ice bathed the others.
Thanks to everyone here for sharing knowledge. Learned tons since joining, I will post some pics up tomorrow.

 

[indaswamp]

left one on to finish to 165

No need to finish to 165*F....big risk for fat out in a smoke sasuage. You can finish much lower if you hold at temp for an extended period of time. This is what pasteurization is (temp. plus time) Lots of people finish 152-155*F. I start a timer when the internal reaches 136*F; which is the temp. trichinosis is killed. Let it hold at least 136*F for 1.5 hours, then pull the sausages. They are done to LOG9 reduction in pathogens (that's 1 with 9 zeros behind it). This is per USDA regulations, and how commercial processors cook to finish sausages. The final internal temp. might be 140-148*F depending on the amount of sausages in my smoker. Either way, does not matter, they are safe to eat.