Naw dont think its critical on the temps. Just whatever it is outside but dont think freezing would be good for it. Something that do seem to be real important is the humidity..needs to be high. The hard core dry sausage types go nuts over that. I forget where you live but Jouston and Corpus would be about right for Texas. The Left Coast is way to dry if you can believe that. Least that is what a guy said that lives out there. If the air is too dry it can get case hardened which is a bad old deal...forms a shell on the outside and dont dry in the middle. Sounded nasty to listen to em tell it. Guess the Eyetalians who made it on the shore of the Mediterrian for quite a while had the ideal conditions.