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?