Sausage on pellet grill

[PapaRed]

Does anyone smoke home made sausage on a pellet grill? If so, I would be very interested in knowing your procedures used in smoking the sausage to 152℉. I bought a new pellet grill with the lowest temp setting of 180℉ - I'm thinking that's too hot for sausage?

 

[SmokinEdge]

Does anyone smoke home made sausage on a pellet grill? If so, I would be very interested in knowing your procedures used in smoking the sausage to 152℉. I bought a new pellet grill with the lowest temp setting of 180℉ - I'm thinking that's too hot for sausage?

Technically that is to hot, that said, you can successfully smoke sausage on a pellet grill. You have less smoke time and you have to watch it close to not over cook, but yes it can be done and done well enough.

 

[PapaRed]

Would be interested in the procedure used by those who successfully do sausage on a pellet grill.

 

[chopsaw]

Just set it to the lowest temp , and think of it as cooking more than smoking . Keep an eye on your temps and pull the sausage around 152 . It works as long as you get the sausage off when it reaches temp . It comes out great like this .
I have a SmokeFire . I put the sausage as far from the hottest part of the grill as I can .

The stuff on the right / rack is from the pellet grill . Left side MES 30 / poached finish .

The pellet grill cooked sausage was fantastic , and actually like it better this way .
Comes out great as long as you don't let it hang past a finished internal temp .

 

[GatorAGR]

Chud's bbq has a good Youtube video on this. He cold smokes in his pellet grill with a tube then cooks it to temp on the pellet grill.

 

[PapaRed]

Wow! Great looking sausage from a pellet grill. And they DO look professional. Chopsaw, your links have become my goal!

 

[chopsaw]

The last ones I did , I mixed , stuffed and went into the freezer . I'm gonna cook them on the pellet grill when I want to eat them . Might do that tomorrow . If so I'll let you know how it came out .

What type of sausage are you wanting to make ? I'm assuming something cured .

 

[PapaRed]

The sausage recipe I came up with is an attempt to clone Rudy's Country Store (Texas) smoked sausage. My recipe is a 25% pork and 75% beef sausage with cure. Have previously used WSM (could not control temperature) a MES (too much temp swing) and am now using a Weber kettle with extended ring (see avatar). That configuration works for me, but it takes a loooong time at temp <160℉, and I believe partly accounts for tough casings.
Have read several accounts of sausage on the pellet grill, but not the procedure used. I recently purchased a rec teq TR-1250 grill and am anxious to try it, but am reluctant to ruin 5 pounds of good sausage. I trust your experience.
I do not have a food service or food handling background, being a retired aircraft mechanic, so am inclined to use verbatim instructions in books such as Marianski and Rytek Kutas. Both warn about the use of cure and avoiding temperatures above 160℉. So, I've been on a self-learn trip!
Now I intend to pick your brain along with the other experts here.

 

[PapaRed]

The sausage recipe I came up with is an attempt to clone Rudy's Country Store (Texas) smoked sausage. My recipe is a 25% pork and 75% beef sausage with cure. Have previously used WSM (could not control temperature) a MES (too much temp swing) and am now using a Weber kettle with extended ring (see avatar). That configuration works for me, but it takes a loooong time at temp <160℉, and I believe partly accounts for tough casings.
Have read several accounts of sausage on the pellet grill, but not the procedure used. I recently purchased a rec teq TR-1250 grill and am anxious to try it, but am reluctant to ruin 5 pounds of good sausage. I trust your experience.
I do not have a food service or food handling background, being a retired aircraft mechanic, so am inclined to use verbatim instructions in books such as Marianski and Rytek Kutas. Both warn about the use of cure and avoiding temperatures above 160℉. So, I've been on a self-learn trip!
Now I intend to pick your brain along with the other experts here.

BTW, the Weber kettle temperature configuration is now controlled by a Spider Grills Venom temp controller. The minimum temp setting is 150℉ and works quite well.

 

[chopsaw]

retired aircraft mechanic, so am

Union Carpenter 30 years retired . Before that I was a certified ASE auto mechanic and before that I did residential HVAC and small appliance repair . I tend to not follow instructions , and do things hands on .
I do use Marianski and info from members here . You won't go wrong with either , just take the advice and find what you like .

Don't ruin 5 lbs . Do a smaller batch , or while you're using the kettle throw part of it on the pellet . That kettle setup sounds pretty good to me .

 

[PapaRed]

"Union Carpenter 30 years retired"
Figured as much with the name Chopsaw.
Later this afternoon will fire up the rec teq and find the hot spots. Have 10 pounds to trim/cut this afternoon and mix with spices then grind and stuff tomorrow. Looks like Tuesday for a cook.
Thanks for the ideas. Will continue to follow advice from members here.

 

[DougE]

I do sausage on my Camp Chef (160° is as low as it goes). What I do is smoke until I get the color I want, then finish to 151 in sous vide, cool water bath, then hang to bloom. A lot of times, I will run just a pellet tube in the grill for an hour or 2 then turn it on.

 

[okie sawbones]

I do sausage on my Camp Chef (160° is as low as it goes). What I do is smoke until I get the color I want, then finish to 151 in sous vide, cool water bath, then hang to bloom. A lot of times, I will run just a pellet tube in the grill for an hour or 2 then turn it on.

+++++++++++++

Similar. I cold smoke for a couple of hours, then turn on the pellet to the lowest temp (165F), cook and smoke for a couple of hours, then finish in the sous vide. It works. Some day I'm going to break down and buy a TSM smoker.

 

[nlife]

I've been using my Traeger for smokies and pepperoni and haven't really had any issues. I set it to smoke and monitor it since it has temp swings that run from 160-180f when running.

Depending on the type of sausage I'm making, I'll pull at 142f since I'll be cooking them on the grill afterwards. Cheddar Cheese Smokies come to mind. I like to finish my pepperoni sticks in the oven after a smoke since it's easier to maintain tighter tolerances on the temp swings.

 

[Fueling Around]

I've smoked / cooked sausage on my pellet grill
I use a smoke tube to add more flavor and color.
Think of a pellet grill as basically an air fryer. Between the temp and the forced air it will get sausage to temperature (& over temperature) very quickly.

 

[chopsaw]

BTW, the Weber kettle temperature configuration is now controlled by a Spider Grills Venom temp controller. The minimum temp setting is 150℉ and works quite well.

Looks like a great setup . I'm currently working on this . 1500 watt element in an old kettle .
Stacker like you have would be great on this . Watch for an old kettle .

 

[PapaRed]

That's a great idea!

 

[chopsaw]

That element was $35.00 . Analog control , but I have an Auber from my MES . I need to do some testing with it . I have a short stack for my spinner / pizza oven that gets the top grate a bit higher above the heat .
I have this from an Old Smokey smoker that I plan to use as a baffle . Fits just above the charcoal grate in a 22 .

 

[Winterrider]

I do sausage on my Camp Chef (160° is as low as it goes). What I do is smoke until I get the color I want, then finish to 151 in sous vide, cool water bath, then hang to bloom. A lot of times, I will run just a pellet tube in the grill for an hour or 2 then turn it on.

View attachment 691037

View attachment 691039

Doug, do you bag them for SV or run them naked ? If naked ,do they take on a bunch of excess water ?

 

[DougE]

Doug, do you bag them for SV or run them naked ? If naked ,do they take on a bunch of excess water ?

Naked all the way. No, natural casings do not really take in any water at all. You do lose a little of the color from the smoking stage, but it mostly comes back after you let them bloom.

These were right out of the water bath after SV. No excess moisture at all inside the casings.

Collagen casings don't fare as well nekkid in SV. They get waterlogged and mushy.