BRADLEY SMOKER | "Taste the Great Outdoors"

Recipe Discussions => Recipes in development => Topic started by: ghosttown on January 26, 2016, 09:25:03 AM

Title: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 26, 2016, 09:25:03 AM
Just picked up a 15lbs pork shoulder and planning on making sausages tonight. I have some questions as this will be my first time.

1) Do you grin some skin at all for flavor?
2) Once all grinned, what spices would work best?
3) Do I had any liquid to the meat so it does not dry out?
4) How many sausages could you make with a 15lbs shoulder?

Thanks
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 26, 2016, 09:42:24 AM
You need to narrow down your goal for us. Fresh Sausage? Cured and smoked? Type?

My suggestion would be to decide exactly what type of sausage you want to make and go from there.

You might also want to set a little more time aside for this undertaking, especially your first time. It can take longer than you think and it sucks to be finishing at 2 in the morning. I always do mine on the weekend and get an early start in the day. The time required is entirely dependant on the type you are making.
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 26, 2016, 09:45:52 AM
To make good sausage you have to have a good recipe and work forward from there. You pick the recipe and we will help you.
I would not grind any of the skin. Some people take the skin and roast it to make it crunchy. Personally, I don't use the skin for anything.

Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 26, 2016, 09:50:42 AM
I wont be smoking the sausage today, the goal is to stuff them and then freeze and then when ready I will smoke them on the smoker over the weekend. That is the thing I don't know what I really want, maybe Italian Sausage?
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 26, 2016, 09:55:12 AM
Go with Mr. Walleyes Keilbasa recipe if you want to make cured and smoked. That is the recipe I used for my first time and it turned out well.

On the other hand, fresh hot Italian sausage is easier to make and is really good. I will look for the link to the recipe I used for Fresh Hot Italian. It turned out amazing.

I always bump up the chili flakes in the recipes as I like it hot and spicy.
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 26, 2016, 09:57:33 AM
This guy knows what he's doing and his recipe works very well. No curing or smoking on this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ9qTxE7qK8&index=76&list=UUhYkChDd_S3gw9UwOZWOtrA
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 26, 2016, 11:43:44 AM
just had a look awesome video thank you
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 29, 2016, 04:42:10 PM
Thanks for all the help they turned out amazing

(http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160130/09c326babd79dee70a395e9d4654c5b2.jpg)

I want to smoke about 15 of them this Sunday but I don't have alot of time, I read its better to smoke them at lower temp like 190 for 4-5hrs. Is it possible to smoke them at 240 until internal temp is 165?

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Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: tskeeter on January 29, 2016, 05:20:59 PM
Ghost, smoking at a high temperature will melt the fat out of the sausage and giving the sausage a dry, grainy texture.

My practice is to smoke my sausage at about 140F, then put it in a 170F hot water bath to finish the cooking.  Because liquids transfer heat faster then air, the hot water bath reduces the cooking time and because you aren't using as high a temp as you might with a smoker, you reduce the risk of melting the fat out of the sausage.  My target IT is 152F or so.

After the hot water bath, I use an ice water bath to cool the sausage down to less tha 100F.  Let the sausage dry at room temp for about an hour, and then freeze.  Or, if you are going to use in the next two or three days, refrigerate the sausage.
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 29, 2016, 06:39:37 PM
Okay thank you, when I made them I vacuum sealed them and put them in the freezer, can I simply pull them out defrost them in the fridge for few days and then do the smoking process you mentioned above and freeze them back?

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Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: GusRobin on January 29, 2016, 06:51:05 PM
Did you use any Cure in your recipe?
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 29, 2016, 06:55:07 PM
I was about to ask the same thing GR.
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 29, 2016, 06:59:09 PM
Nope

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Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 29, 2016, 07:11:04 PM
You need to know that when smoking sausage it is imperative to use cure in your recipe. I did detail this in my previous post. I suspect you have made the "Fresh Italian Sausage" I posted in the video above? This sausage is not safe for smoking. During smoking  the sausage spends hours in the danger zone for temperatures and you can have SERIOUS problems if it does not have cure in it.

Your sausage looks really good. Well done! If you want a smoky flavour for this type of sausage just use a little liquid smoke on it while you cook it.

mediatly
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 29, 2016, 07:17:31 PM
Fresh sausage (sausage without cure) can be cooked and eaten immediately or refrigerated for a day or two and then cooked or lastly frozen immediately and then thawed later to be cooked and eaten. It is not safe to smoke it because without cure the casings and the warm environment are the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow. Could be the last sausage you ever eat if you try to smoke it without cure.
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 29, 2016, 07:20:34 PM
I totally missed the curing process as this is my first time doing sausage and even learning all about it. I found a great site that does explains the important steps http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Cureornot.htm (http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Cureornot.htm),

Only option left is to BBQ what I have when I want some sausage and on my next attempt will follow the steps for making smoke sausages. I just went based on that YouTube video and to tell you the truth I was just excited how they turned out and didn't notice I had to add some cure if I want to smoke them.

One question I have for you guys is next time I do this, can I prep the sausages and put them in the fridge for a day or so until I am ready to smoke them?

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Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 29, 2016, 07:22:28 PM
Quote from: Orion on January 29, 2016, 07:17:31 PM
Fresh sausage (sausage without cure) can be cooked and eaten immediately or refrigerated for a day or two and then cooked or lastly frozen immediately and then thawed later to be cooked and eaten. It is not safe to smoke it because without cure the casings and the warm environment are the perfect conditions for bacteria to grow. Could be the last sausage you ever eat if you try to smoke it without cure.
Ditto

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Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: Orion on January 29, 2016, 07:24:36 PM
Yes, you can refrigerate them prior to smoking however I would not leave them in the fridge for more than 24 hours. That's just me though.
Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: ghosttown on January 29, 2016, 07:28:56 PM
What cure stuff do you use? I assume it's not alot of it.

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Title: Re: Making Sausage First time
Post by: pjplovedog on February 04, 2016, 01:34:27 PM
You can get some smoky flavor when you cook the fresh sausages by cooking them over coals, with wood chips, etc or if you happen to have a pellet burner of any kind.  I cook my fresh sausages on the pellet grill, however this is NOT the same as "smoking" which would be low and slow for several hours.  I roast mine on the pellet grill at about 300 degrees until meat thermometer reads in the safety range for the meat involved.  This generally does not take long- 20-45 minutes max, but does add some smokey flavor to a non-cured sausage.  Otherwise, it is just not safe, as some of the others have already explained.
As far as cure- the type of cure you use is generally specific to the recipe.  Some use cure#1, also known as Prague.  Others use Morton's tender-quick which is a completely different product, and it can NOT be interchanged with the Prague cure part for part.
When working with smoked and cured sausages, it is best to follow a safe, tested recipe for your first time to ensure success and safety. 
There are many recipes on this forum and on the web that are instructional and safe.  You can pick one and run it by the knowledgeable folks on this board to get suggestions. 
Your fresh sausages look great, once you eat your own homemade sausage, you will never want another store-bought...ever.  I just finished up a bunch of lamb with feta and pork/garlic/red wine which are both fantastic. 
:)
Cheers!
PJP