I harvested a nice Antelope this season and I had a bunch of Bratwurst made. I'm wanting to try cold smoking it. I've tried hot smoking and it turns out great if eaten right away, but it has a tendency to dry out when reheating. How long should I smoke it? IE: How do I know when it's done? I was thinking Cherry wood would be best? I'm using a 4 rack digital Bradley with the cold smoke adapter.
First we need to know if when your sausage was made was sodium nitrite (Cure #1, Prague Powder #1, or pink salt) added. If not it is not safe to smoke/cook them at a temperature below 200°F in the Bradley.
Cold smoking would be under 90°F. I prefer keeping the smoker around 70°F. Prior to smoking let them air dry uncovered for one hour in the refrigerator. Since you are not cooking the sausage, for cold smoking you know they are done when you are satisfied with the color. If the color doesn't develop after two hours, I would stop applying smoke. If this is your first time applying cold smoke you should apply around 2 hours, and I wouldn't go over that; you can always adjust for more smoke the next time you cold smoke some. Then let them bloom at room temperature another hour or two before packaging. Cherry wood will give them a nice mahogany color.
I didn't think about the cure. Thanks for the advice/warning. I'm waiting for a call back from the processor now to confirm. Thank You
Thanks again for the warning and advice. The processor confirmed that they do not use cure. So it looks like I'm hot smoking and barbecuing them. Lesson learned!!!!