So much a Newbie

[ramosthompson]

I'm a 'wet behind the ears' newbie. I've been making fresh sausage and want to move on to cured and smoked. I have a Pit Barrel and have been experimentnig with a smoke tube and have been monitorings barrel temps. I've watched countless videos on YouTube (Chuds, etc.) and most are using offsets or pellet grills and cold smoke at 150, sometimes between 80 and 100. Whats the advatange of doing that? My barrel temps start at 64 degrees and climbs to 96 in a couple of hours using a smoke tube. It creeps up to 127 after a total of 6 1/2 hoursI plan on attempting jalapeno and cheddar using prague powder #1.

My idea was to cols smoke for 2 to 3 hours (barrel temp gets to 100), remove, cold shock in ice water, run my PBC normally ( I use a DigiQ fan system) and finish cooking to 155. Starting with cured meat. Am I good to go or is this a pipe dream? Any shared experiences are appreciated.

 

[Dave in AZ]

cold smoke at 150, sometimes between 80 and 100

Cold smoke is below 85f. 150f is cooking, not cold smoking.
"Smoker" vs a BBQ grill, smokers let you cook at temps drom 100 to 190f or so, accurately. Bbq grills tend to be 200- 425f.
Advantage of lower, and why smokers are used-- it is not for the smoke. You can add smoke to any grill easily. The low temps below 170f really, are for sausage, bacon etc. Fat melts out above 160f or so, good extraction and binders let you maybe get 170f. When making sausage, you need to smoke and cook below 170ish, to keep the fat from melting out and ruining the sausage. Same with bacon.

 

[uncle eddie]

Welcome to SMF from central Missouri.

There is a lot of great info in the sausage forum https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/sausage.130/

I recently (past 6 months) started to finish my cold-smoked (MES40) sausage(s) using a sous vide. It works so well I doubt I ever finish sausage in my smoker again.

 

[ramosthompson]

Welcome to SMF from central Missouri.

There is a lot of great info in the sausage forum https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/sausage.130/

I recently (past 6 months) started to finish my cold-smoked (MES40) sausage(s) using a sous vide. It works so well I doubt I ever finish sausage in my smoker again.

Thanks for the welcome and for the comment and for the info. I'm still learning my way around the site.