Sous Vide finishing

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bison123

Newbie
Original poster
Jan 24, 2021
20
16
I was making a batch of wild pig jalapeño cheddar sausage today and ran out of time as i'd set the MES temp too low before going out on some errands and then had an evening appointment. The IT of the links was about 123 or so and I'd earlier smoked them for a couple of hours. I pulled out my sous vide and set the water to about 155 and put the sausage directly in the water bath - about 45 mins later they hit an IT of 152 and I pulled them out, dunked in an ice bath, and now have them in the fridge overnight before packaging tomorrow.

This seems so easy that I think I'll use it going forward. What's the right process? I use cure. At what point would I take them from the smoker to the water? Do they need the ice bath after? Should I hang them at room temperature for some time after to dry out?

thanks!
 
Before sous vide became popular I used to finish smoked sausages, hot dogs and bologna in a Nesco roaster with hot water, but it's not as accurate as a sous vide circulator. In those days I took the internal to 155° or so just as a safety buffer, then turned off the roaster and slightly cooled the water to stop the cooking process and let them dwell for 30 minutes or so. Then I did a cool water shower or dip in icy water, but this was to prevent wrinkling and get the internal down below 40°.

Now when I do a sous vide finish I either set the temp at 156° knowing the sausages will not go above that, and still give them some dwell time after they reach that internal. Or... I'll set the temp at 152.5° and use the 151° pasteurization time based on thickness. I think the time is around 90 minutes, and then I repeat the ice bath.
 
I finish most of my smoked sausages with sous vide. My method is to smoke them 3-4 hours or until the color I want. Then I vacuum pack them and sous vide according to the Doug Baldwin chart . For brats, kielbasa, jalapeno bacon cheddar, etc. I usually do 145.5 degrees for 1:45. I then take the vac bags out of the sous vide water and cool in ice water. Beauty of that is that now they are pasteurized and could be left in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Your method works fine as well because its basically the same idea has finish in a water bath. I might just be concerned that any sausage fat or whatever could jam up the sous vide machine
 
has anybody had a sous vide unit fail due to fat or other residue from cooking unbagged sausage with it?
Not yet . I use an old flower vase filled 50 / 50 with vinegar and water when I'm done . Cleans it up pretty good .
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