Smoking Summer Sausage

[cheryl1949]

To get the temperature down to 140 degrees to smoke summer sausage do you recommend using aan electric or gas smoker to control the temperatures?  Can a gas smoker get down to 140 degrees and if so which smoker do you recommend.

Bones

 

[DanMcG]

Hello and welcome to the forums Bones. Although its sort of small I like the 20lb electric smoker that I have. (it;s identical to the one the Sausagemaker sell's only Ifound this on ebay for half the price. I think it's a Mustang smoker. I will maintain a temp from 100°-200° with little fuss. It's downfalls are its only really good for 10-15 lbs., and you shouldn't't cook over 200° because of the insulation in the walls.

I hope this helps some. Dan

 

[vesteroid]

in my opinion you will have a very hard if not impossible time with any gas smoker.  I also can not recommend many of the electrics.  cookshack makes a fine smoker but wont do what you want it to.

The electrics like mentioned above that are specially designed for "cold" smoking are all that I have found to work.

I have seen several folks swear by the bradleys, but I personally dont like the size for sausage.

The 30lb smoke house from sausage maker seems ok, as does the 100 lb from ps seasonings (or cabellas pro line...same smoker)  of course those are running up there in price.

depending on your budget I hear cabelas is closing out its 50 lb pro smoker so you may find that on a goo deal in the near future.  they list for 999 now.

Only other thing I will say is dont try and turn a bbq smoker into a sausage smoker,  you will only end up disappointed.

 

[erain]

in my opinion you will have a very hard if not impossible time with any gas smoker. 

i have smoked many a summer sausage in my gosm. i do it during winter and up here in minnesota and if i can plan ahead to when the temp is going to be cold out, 0 degrees or less... it makes it that much easier. but to say its difficult or impossible is not accurate...

 

 

[mballi3011]

Now I have my older GOSM and I use a hot plate in mine. I just smoked some sausage the other day and I had my smoker to 80 with nothing in or on inside he smoker. I just left it there for the first hour and then started the climb up to the 170° to finish my sausage some 8-9 hours later. You can get the hot plate at walgreens for maybe 10 bucks. Not bad I thnk.

 

[Bearcarver]

IMO your best bet for low heat smoking would be a combination:

Masterbuilt Electric Smokehouse-----40" if you can afford $400------30" for between $150 & $200.

Also to do low heat smoking you would need a smoke generator. There are many on the market, but I recommend the "A-MAZE-N-SMOKER".----About $30:

http://www.amazenproducts.com/

Bearcarver

 

[pantherfan83]

Many have an MES (as do I) and love it.  I'd recommend the 40" and recommend you get it from Sam's Club.  You can pay an extra $30(ish) bucks and extend the warranty from 1 year to 3.  The latest model has a 1200 W element and I'd make sure you get one of those. The MES has a few quirks, but the are still the best for the money.  Masterbuilt also has great customer service. 

Bradley's are good, but they are smaller (maybe the equivalent of the 30" MES), and more expensive.  You are also stuck using their pricey wood pucks.  The upside of a Bradley is with the puck loader, they are a little more set and forget. I don't think the puck loader is much of a plus though as it is a mechanical piece that is bound to eventually break/fail.

 

[Bearcarver]

Many have an MES (as do I) and love it.  I'd recommend the 40" and recommend you get it from Sam's Club.  You can pay an extra $30(ish) bucks and extend the warranty from 1 year to 3.  The latest model has a 1200 W element and I'd make sure you get one of those. The MES has a few quirks, but the are still the best for the money.  Masterbuilt also has great customer service. 

Bradley's are good, but they are smaller (maybe the equivalent of the 30" MES), and more expensive.  You are also stuck using their pricey wood pucks.  The upside of a Bradley is with the puck loader, they are a little more set and forget. I don't think the puck loader is much of a plus though as it is a mechanical piece that is bound to eventually break/fail.

I agree with all "Panther" said, except the "customer service". It could be a hit & miss, but when it comes to the inability to make some of the newer model of the MES30 smoke, they don't have a clue. I called twice to try to get help. and it was like talking to a couple of young female monkeys.

Also ---- The Bradley "pucks" are expensive if you figure how many you need to do a smoke.

Bearcarver

 

[old poi dog]

I was in a similar situation last week when I needed to get my smoker to about 150 degrees.  I selected the lowest setting on my Smoke Vault and still had to crack the door open a bit.  At that low temp. I did what Bearcarver recommended and used a smoke generator (Smoke Daddy).   I also have a needle valve on order so I can furthur fine tune the flame on the burner.

 

[vesteroid]

If you read all these replies you see all kinds of "work arounds"  It had to be zero outside, I had to get a smoke generator, I had to crack the door, I had to use a hot plate with a sawdust bowl.

what I was trying to get a across, is if you want to smoke sausage the way the recipe books say, there are very few on the market that do this well.

That is to say with no work arounds.

If you want to set it and forget it, a cold smoker is about our only option....if you dont mind fooling with your product all day long or what have you, I suppose you can get anything to work, however I would call that difficult.

If its budget, then the 20 lb sausage maker is not a bad option, and heck for one household, its not like we need to make 50 lbs.

I will say I have had very bad service after the sale from the sausage maker and will not buy from them again.

and just to clarify, i went so far outside the norm when I bought a fec 100 that most sausage guys wouldnt even consider one.  I have found it does everything I want.  I can cook my bbq and still do my sausage with little work on my part.

but if I wanted just a sausage cooker, I would have gone for the cabellas pro 100....can do both bbq and sausage with no modifications in hot or cold.  (just one note, if you plan to do 14 hour pork shoulders, prepare to refill the sawdust pan ever few hours (hence I bought the fec100))

 

[Bearcarver]

I was in a similar situation last week when I needed to get my smoker to about 150 degrees.  I selected the lowest setting on my Smoke Vault and still had to crack the door open a bit.  At that low temp. I did what Bearcarver recommended and used a smoke generator (Smoke Daddy).   I also have a needle valve on order so I can furthur fine tune the flame on the burner.

Old poi dog,

I have a Big Kahuna Smoke Daddy too, but I had nothing but trouble with it. I had to constantly be poking down in it with a screw driver to get the chips into the burning pit of tar. Then it would smoke too much---then not enough---poke it some more----to much again. I gave up & got the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER-----No more problems.

Now I notice Smoke Daddy has a new model with some kind of reverse flow. The air line goes into the container up at the level of the pipe that goes into your smoker, instead of into the bottom. Does this work any better than the old model???

Thanks,

Bearcarver

 

[old poi dog]

Old poi dog,

I have a Big Kahuna Smoke Daddy too, but I had nothing but trouble with it. I had to constantly be poking down in it with a screw driver to get the chips into the burning pit of tar. Then it would smoke too much---then not enough---poke it some more----to much again. I gave up & got the A-MAZE-N-SMOKER-----No more problems.

Now I notice Smoke Daddy has a new model with some kind of reverse flow. The air line goes into the container up at the level of the pipe that goes into your smoker, instead of into the bottom. Does this work any better than the old model???

Thanks,

Bearcarver

Bearcarver,

I also have the older version of the Smoke Daddy (B Kahuna).  I'm not familiar with the newer version.  Yes I have to fiddle with the chips so that they fall within the hot burn area. It puts out a lot of smoke though.  I think I'll use an aquarium manifold to better control the air flow and will try using wood chunks that I will pre ignite in the burn chamber.  The stream of air that is pumped into the burn chamber has a very narrow dispersal area.  I am wodering if I could somehow broaden the dispersal area so that a more even burn can be achieved in the chamber.  It may solve having to  fiddle with the chips when using them.

Old poi dog

 

[Bearcarver]

Bearcarver,

I also have the older version of the Smoke Daddy (B Kahuna).  I'm not familiar with the newer version.  Yes I have to fiddle with the chips so that they fall within the hot burn area. It puts out a lot of smoke though.  I think I'll use an aquarium manifold to better control the air flow and will try using wood chunks that I will pre ignite in the burn chamber.  The stream of air that is pumped into the burn chamber has a very narrow dispersal area.  I am wodering if I could somehow broaden the dispersal area so that a more even burn can be achieved in the chamber.  It may solve having to  fiddle with the chips when using them.

Old poi dog

I don't know, I'm not as mechanically inclined as most, unless we're talking about woodworking. If you go to their site, you can see their new model. The air line goes in at about the same height as the pipe that goes into your smoker, and I believe there are vent holes in one of the lids (or both---I forget). If this works better, maybe they have a retro-kit to change the old one over, or maybe you could figure out how to covert your own. When I used to use mine, it would stop smoking. Then I would jab it a few times, and it would smoke so heavy I couldn't see New Jersey from here. Then not much later it would stop again! Then I got my Maze, and it's left my mind, until you mentioned it.

Bear
 

 

[werdwolf]

I have the older MES.  as long as you are not smoking that on a hot day (80+ degrees) I have had no problems.  If it is warmer out, leave the chip loader cracked open, and just hook the door without latching it.

 

[Bearcarver]

I have the older MES.  as long as you are not smoking that on a hot day (80+ degrees) I have had no problems.  If it is warmer out, leave the chip loader cracked open, and just hook the door without latching it.

werdwolf,
I have the older model MES too, but I'm not sure what you're smoking with the door open. Leaving the door open can cause flare-ups. Are you able to smoke things under 120˚ in your MES without a separate smoke generator, like Cheese or Bacon or Salmon?

Bearcarver

 

[solaryellow]

I have a homebuilt plywood smoker and have no problem holding 120* with a hot plate. 140* is easy to hold with a propane burner as well. I have a BassPro fish cooker burner with a needle valve and can go as low as 120* and hold it with no problem. I spent roughly $200 on building the smoker and have done as much as 40lbs of summer sausage at one time.

 

[nickelmore]

I like the electric for sausage.    I think its a little bit more consistent once its heated up.   I did install a needle valve on my setup but did not like the results.

In my hybrid I use the electric element that is controlled with a PID controller fro temps below 175, and propane for 175 up, usually around 200.

I also put a fan in mine when I am running electric, I think it helps evens out the heat.