summer sausage tuff on outside

[wlf89]

what causes this problem? i started at 120 for a hour then added smoke and went to 140 for 3hrs then bumped temp up to 165 till i got 153internal temp. the insides are good but the outside is very tuff.

i made 5lb batch with 4lb venison and 1lb pork shoulder that i ground up. i dont think it had near enough fat for one thing but i dont know if that had anything to do with being tuff on outside.

i didnt give them a icebath when i took them out, it was nice and cool outside so i just let them hand and cool off.

any tips of what i did wrong?

 

[chopsaw]

140 for 3hrs then bumped temp up to 165 till i got 153internal temp.

Raise the temps by 10 degrees per hour to get to 160 or so , then wait for the internal temp to come up .

 

[daveomak]

After you have added the amount of smoke you want, sous-vide the stick according to the charts.. No tough anything...