Summer Sausage

[Russ McDonald]

Well my first try at summer sausage.  All mixed and sitting in the frig over night then to the smoker.  Any tips appreciated.

[grundy53]

Here's a tip... you should send me some .

[Simcoe hunter]

Hopefully it is in a glass or stainless bowl covered with Glad wrap.

Should have been well mixed and would do with at least 12 hours of resting in the refer.

What do you plan to use for a chip flavor?

[WCTaxidermy]

I am assuming that you have them stuffed in casings.  If so make sure that right when you remove them from your smoker when your sausage reaches the target temp you want, , have an Ice bath ready to put them in for at least 5 minutes to get the sausage to stop cooking.  Then lay out and air dry in fridge over night before packaging and putting them to bed in the freezer, unless of course you eat all of it with no left overs.

Good luck on your batch russ_mcdonald and don't forget to send us some pictures so we can drool over it.  John

[Russ McDonald]

glass bowl in the frig....mixed for about half hour with seasoning....that is what I was wondering...I have hickory and mesquite I was wondering at what temp and how long.  Going to smoke tomorrow.

[Simcoe hunter]

My bad.  I always let mine set in a bowl in the fridge overnight.  It has all been spiced and mixed and gets 12-24 hours to age before being stuffed for smoking.  I like hickory myself.  I use a Little Chief and it smokes well but doesn't get warm enough in the winter.  So, I put my wife's cookie cooling racks on her cookie sheets and finish it in the oven after a couple of pans of chips.  200 degrees for 2 hours kills everything but the flavor.  I like the idea mentioned about the ice bath.  I do 5-7 pounds at a time and it never lasts long enough to need freezing, just refrigeration.

If you have a smoker that produces enough heat you can do it all in it.  I would like to hear Kracker weigh in on this.

[Russ McDonald]

Yeah I was wondering if KC would chime in.  Yeah I got a electric digital smoker gets up to 275.

[WCTaxidermy]

This is how I do mine and I have done a ton of the stuff.  After you stuff in casings, (I prefer Mahogany) I hang them on my smoke sticks and let them dry at room temperature for 4 to 5 hours.  I preheat my smoker to 170 degrees with hickory.  I would suggest staying away from Mesquite for summer sausage because it's a very strong smoke and it bitters easy.  Smoke/Cook until your internal temp. reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from your smoker and immediately put in ice bath to stop the cooking.  Lay your sausage out on a platter and let air dry at room temp for at least 2 hours.  Put in refrigerator over night then package it up.  That should make you a pretty good sausage.  Let us know how it turns out and have fun with it.  John

[Simcoe hunter]

That should produce enough heat.  What temp did your recipe say to get your sausage to.

[dogtuk]

I start my Sausage at 120 for an hour no smoke then add a pan of chips let smoke for another hour at 120 then bump temp up to 140 for an hour then up to 160 for an hour then finish at 175 when sausage temp is 152 remove from smoker and into an ice water bath
Do not go above 180 on your smoker temps the fat melts at 180 if the fat melts your sausage will crumble and lose flavor Good Luck

[Wea300mag]

This is how I do it:

Pre-heat smoker to 120 F
Load smoker
Run 1 hour at 120 F with no smoke (dries out surface)
Smoke for 3 hours anywhere between 120 and 140 F
Raise temp to 155 F for 1 hour (no Smoke)
Bump temp to 165 F and hold until the the internal temp reaches 152 F then remove and soak in cold water bath for 5 min.

[Simcoe hunter]

This is how I do mine and I have done a ton of the stuff.  After you stuff in casings, (I prefer Mahogany) I hang them on my smoke sticks and let them dry at room temperature for 4 to 5 hours.  I preheat my smoker to 170 degrees with hickory.  I would suggest staying away from Mesquite for summer sausage because it's a very strong smoke and it bitters easy.  Smoke/Cook until your internal temp. reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from your smoker and immediately put in ice bath to stop the cooking.  Lay your sausage out on a platter and let air dry at room temp for at least 2 hours.  Put in refrigerator over night then package it up.  That should make you a pretty good sausage.  Let us know how it turns out and have fun with it.  John

.


This sounds like what I will do on my next recipe.  How long after the internal temp hits 160 do you pull it?

[WCTaxidermy]

This is how I do mine and I have done a ton of the stuff.  After you stuff in casings, (I prefer Mahogany) I hang them on my smoke sticks and let them dry at room temperature for 4 to 5 hours.  I preheat my smoker to 170 degrees with hickory.  I would suggest staying away from Mesquite for summer sausage because it's a very strong smoke and it bitters easy.  Smoke/Cook until your internal temp. reaches 160 degrees.

Remove from your smoker and immediately put in ice bath to stop the cooking.  Lay your sausage out on a platter and let air dry at room temp for at least 2 hours.  Put in refrigerator over night then package it up.  That should make you a pretty good sausage.  Let us know how it turns out and have fun with it.  John

.


This sounds like what I will do on my next recipe.  How long after the internal temp hits 160 do you pull it?

You want to pull it immediately and get that temp down as fast as possible so it doesn't climb up on you.  The reason why I hang them on my smoke sticks and allow to AIR dry for 4-5 hours before putting them in the smoker with any heat at all is to keep the sausage from drying out, and you get the smoke to them right away.  Hope that helps.

[Russ McDonald]

Very cool something to do tomorrow while the race is on.  Thanks guys.

[Simcoe hunter]

I start my Sausage at 120 for an hour no smoke then add a pan of chips let smoke for another hour at 120 then bump temp up to 140 for an hour then up to 160 for an hour then finish at 175 when sausage temp is 152 remove from smoker and into an ice water bath
Do not go above 180 on your smoker temps the fat melts at 180 if the fat melts your sausage will crumble and lose flavor Good Luck

Dog- I do mine fairly lean so don't have issues with fat melting and sausage crumbling.  I do use a little higher temp, successfully in an effort to kill any bacteria that might make others sick.  That's the reason I use a little higher temp.  I end up sharing a lot, so it must be good since they ask for it if they know I'm making it.

Anyway, I think I will try a lower temp though.  What kind of thermometer do you use?

[kentrek]

Do not go above 180 on your smoker temps the fat melts at 180 if the fat melts your sausage will crumble and lose flavor Good Luck

 

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

The way i learned to do SS, i cut the meat into 1 inch cubes (elk+pork shoulder) then i mix the seasoning in (zesty summer sausage seasoning from Michlitch's in spokane). Then i grind it twice, then stuff it. Let it sit in refer for 24 hours. Then into the smoker untill the internal temps hit 150-160 and then into ice bath.
Hang dry then i cut it in half and vacuum pack it. I will be making a 25 pound batch starting tomorrow, i have the elk and pork in the refer right now.
Cash and carry had Pork shoulder on sale yesterday for 1.28 a pound.

[dogtuk]

I start my Sausage at 120 for an hour no smoke then add a pan of chips let smoke for another hour at 120 then bump temp up to 140 for an hour then up to 160 for an hour then finish at 175 when sausage temp is 152 remove from smoker and into an ice water bath
Do not go above 180 on your smoker temps the fat melts at 180 if the fat melts your sausage will crumble and lose flavor Good Luck

Dog- I do mine fairly lean so don't have issues with fat melting and sausage crumbling.  I do use a little higher temp, successfully in an effort to kill any bacteria that might make others sick.  That's the reason I use a little higher temp.  I end up sharing a lot, so it must be good since they ask for it if they know I'm making it.

Anyway, I think I will try a lower temp though.  What kind of thermometer do you use?

The Cure in the Sausage helps take care of any bacteria thats why you can smoke sausages at the lower temps I think you will see a big difference in your sausages when you start using a lower temp I have a thermo works thermapen

[Russ McDonald]

It is in the smoker.  Now hope the snow and cold don't flux my temp to much.  Woke up this morning with a 1/2" on the on the ground.

[WCTaxidermy]

It is in the smoker.  Now hope the snow and cold don't flux my temp to much.  Woke up this morning with a 1/2" on the on the ground.

Way to go!  Can't wait to see the pic's.  My mouth is watering already.

[grundy53]

Jealous!:)

sent from my typewriter

[Todd_ID]

I hope yours turns out better than mine.  I cut about 1" off my left ring finger with my grinder while I was stuffing the summer sausage 2 weeks ago.  You don't get that inch back from a meat grinder: always use a push stick!

[Russ McDonald]

I hope yours turns out better than mine.  I cut about 1" off my left ring finger with my grinder while I was stuffing the summer sausage 2 weeks ago.  You don't get that inch back from a meat grinder: always use a push stick!

Did you wrap it up and keep stuffing  Just kidding.  That sucks big time.  I didn't loose no fingers in mine.

[Blacklab]

mmm sounds good 

[kentrek]

I hope yours turns out better than mine.  I cut about 1" off my left ring finger with my grinder while I was stuffing the summer sausage 2 weeks ago.  You don't get that inch back from a meat grinder: always use a push stick!

that my worst nightmare..next to our grinder we had a pic of some dudes arm most of the way through a grinder  im glad it was only a piece of your finger and not the rest of your arm like in the pic  ..i had a push stick get gobled up by a bigger Cabelas grinder...things happen fast

[mossy8352]

Safety first and now PICTURES please. Have not done the summer sausage yet but I am going to try it this year.

[Russ McDonald]

Soon and the final part of smoking waiting for it to hit the 152 temp.

[WCTaxidermy]

You better not be eating it all before you send us some pictures!!!!!

[Russ McDonald]

I have to test drive it first.  Make sure it is good.  It its damn good btw.  A little salty but not to salty probable just the spices.  Used Smoke House seasoning package with hickory chips.  Getting that sucker too 152 on the temp was a chore. Even raising the temp up to 165 it took almost 2 hours about half the race actually.  I used your way wea300mag

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[Blacklab]

Nice job 

[Wea300mag]

Yes, you have to be patient. It's usually 6-7 hours (total time) for me to get to 152 F but the final product is great.

Now you have to start experimenting with jalepeno, cayenne, peppercorns, and high-temp cheeses.

[Russ McDonald]

Yes, you have to be patient. It's usually 6-7 hours (total time) for me to get to 152 F but the final product is great.

Now you have to start experimenting with jalepeno, cayenne, peppercorns, and high-temp cheeses.

I was thinking about the cheese and jalepeno, but by next thing is going to be beer brauts.  Thanks everyone for the input.

[Simcoe hunter]

Russ,

My mouth is watering so bad right now.  That looks so good.  It looks just like mine turns out at 200 degrees, but mine only takes 3 hours including smoking.  I only do the inside oven in the winter though.  Harder to get the Little Chief to a reasonable temp.  Would like to hear how you do the brats though, and input from the others who posted here.

[sled]

  Been watching this all day!

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

Nice looking Russ. I just finished stuffing mine. It is settling in the refer and going into the smoker as soon as i get home tomorrow. for a 25 pound batch i got 7 3.5 pound rolls. I used the 2.5 inch mahogany casings.

[WCTaxidermy]

Very nice looking sausage!  Great job.

[grundy53]

looks good 

[JohnVH]

Yum, did my first batch of SS this past year out of my bear, its delish!

[Kc_Kracker]

next you need some jalapeno bear brats