Hello, I live in Airdrie Alberta and I'm looking for a good butcher to make a friends smokie recipe, then I thought I would smoke them myself after he makes them. I read that I should smoke for 3-4 hours to about 165.......does this sound good, what type of wood should I use? Thanks in advance
Welcome Bandit. What exactly are you classifying a smokie? I probably wont be much help, just wanted clarification for myself.
Quote from: thebandit on January 11, 2011, 08:37:21 PM
Hello, I live in Airdrie Alberta and I'm looking for a good butcher to make a friends smokie recipe, then I thought I would smoke them myself after he makes them. I read that I should smoke for 3-4 hours to about 165.......does this sound good, what type of wood should I use? Thanks in advance
Balzac Meats? Mad Butcher (Innisfail)?
Personally I'd just go at it myself. Find someone with a meat
grinder & stuffer (Go shopping at Bass Pro) ;-)
I'm sure the others will chime in about IT and wood choices.
Funny, I'm going to Balzac meats tomorrow to pick up 2 top sirloin caps so I'll see what they charge. A smokie in my opinion is just a sausage that's smoked and makes a hell of a hotdog.
That's all I can think of. I used to go to Balzac Meats all the time when I lived in Airdrie.
I was at Bass pro today, looking at a LEM stuffer and a meat grinder.
I think I'm getting the snack stix / sausage bug. ;D
I tried making my own years ago, too much work for this guy. Hey I tried a product from drybagsteak.com, if you guys like your steak, give this a whirl, it's fantastic
Well I am not a Canada guy, but I have found grinding and stuffing my own sausage is not only easy, the family loves it more than store bought and it has better ingredients. Like the others said, do it yourself.
Do not and I repeat Do not start making your own sausage.
I crossed that line and it is all I can think about.
Don't do it.
It is too easy and too good. take up basket weaving ... leave the
sauasage making alone.
You will thank me later.
CRG you crack me up. I my wife and I had a good laugh. But on a more serious note. Listen to the crazy monkey kid. He is right you will find yourself out in the garage stuffing the neighbors pit bull through the grinder. Or that is what I have been thinking about lately. You will start sneaking parts and equipment into the shop. It will never stop. Road kill starts looking better and better. By the way does Bradley also sponsor a therapy group. If they don't they should
kc
Quote from: classicrockgriller on January 12, 2011, 12:16:41 AM
Do not and I repeat Do not start making your own sausage.
I crossed that line and it is all I can think about.
Don't do it.
It is too easy and too good. take up basket weaving ... leave the
sauasage making alone.
You will thank me later.
crg used to be a normal guy. Now look at him he is a sausage monkey :D
Ok, so I found a place to make my smokies for me, and I'm gonna try to smoke them myself. From what I read, I thought I would use Alder, and smoke for 3-4 hours, and bring the IT to 160-165, does this sound good? I was just trying to use the same wood as I smoke my salmon with, is this a mistake, should I use apple maybe? If they turn out good, maybe I'll take a whirl at making my own next time, thanks for your input guys.
Bandit cgr is right don't do it ;) I have had my smoker since just before christmas and I am on my sixth batch, put them in the smoker this morning. On the lighter side it is easy, wife and I can grind and stuff ten pounds in just a couple hours. I am new at this and everyone on this site is so helpful. Take a deep breath and jump in with both hands you will enjoy it and reap the rewards of great sausages.
micman ;D
See now you have me thinking about it. The last time I tried making my own was 20 years ago. I'm just Leary because I received a recipe from a buddy who's dad made the best smokies, here's the recipe, the only thing he didn't have was exactly how much garlic to use, here it is, maybe you can help.
33 lbs Beef
5 lbs Pork
3/4 cup salt
1/2 cup pepper
1/2 cup Mortans tender quick
Whole garlic cloves soaked in hot water with one tsp garlic salt, strain
Liquid and pour over meat, mix.
1/3 cup brown sugar.
Smoke
well garlic is a personal taste thing. I just did a polish kielbasa the recipe called for 2 medium cloves, I did 5 large, chopped them finely and put them into the mix before the second grind. Wife says it will keep most people back, but it really taste good.
your recipe sounds good if you like garlic, remember the saying go big or go home. ;D
micman
So, you guys are not talking about this then?
http://www.arbroath-smokie.co.uk/
So I'm getting ready to smoke these suckers, is it ok if I smoke them on the racks, and then turn half way, or must they be hanging?
Both ways work just fine. I like to lay my sticks/chubs down and rotate halfway through the process.
Ok so I'm gonna smoke those babies tomorrow, for about 4 hours, until I reach an IT of 160. Now should I get them into the fridge right away after, or freezer. I was wondering that if the smoke flavor might need time to settle a bit before freezing, and tips would be great. If they turn out tasty, I'm gonna try and make my own next time for sure. Thank you.
If it were me, I would smoke until IT is 152, make sure your smoker temp is not higher than 165. Then I would throw them in the cold shower to coll them to an IT of about 110. Then hang them at room temp for a couple hours, and let them bloom, (take on a nice color) then I would refrigerate them overnight, then vacuum seal and freeze.
Jim
Friar_Tuck has the word.
Good advise.
Thanks for the advice, that's exactly what I will do.
Ok now im smoking them as we speak, but I think I made a stupid mistake. In order to get all the smokies onto the racks, I cut some of them apart. Now when I go to give them a cold bath those are going to fall apart in the water.....what can I do now, im assuming they wont hold in the moisture like the others either........any tips?
Ok so I thought that instead of cooling them in the water, I could put them on a rack outside after smoking, it cools down to zero at night so it wouldnt take long to cool, and would have to rinse off when still frozen and before you BBQ, is this an option?
Quote from: thebandit on January 26, 2011, 12:54:32 PM
Ok now im smoking them as we speak, but I think I made a stupid mistake. In order to get all the smokies onto the racks, I cut some of them apart. Now when I go to give them a cold bath those are going to fall apart in the water.....what can I do now, im assuming they wont hold in the moisture like the others either........any tips?
You will be fine giving them a cold shower. I put my Kielbasa in ice water to cool down to 100º then leave out for an hour to dry and bloom. You shouldn't have any moisture issues. I also would suggest pulling at 152º and giving them a shower.
Im finding that I can't get the it above 136, too cold outside, so I'm going to put them in the oven to reach that IT, also having a hell of a time getting good color, just around the edges of the racks. I realize this is probably from the uneven heat, i hope I get better color once I put them in the oven, and then cool and let bloom.
Quote from: thebandit on January 26, 2011, 06:23:16 PM
Im finding that I can't get the it above 136, too cold outside, so I'm going to put them in the oven to reach that IT, also having a hell of a time getting good color, just around the edges of the racks. I realize this is probably from the uneven heat, i hope I get better color once I put them in the oven, and then cool and let bloom.
136 IT of the meat?
Sounds like you hit the stall point
Yep the 136 stall. That is very common with smoked sausage Bandit. Just let it go it will start climbing again. It will still hang out at that temp even if you put it in the oven. The only benefiet of moving to the oven is you don't have to go outside to check on it.
I keep learning something new every day, but by the time I read this I had put it in the oven, and your right, it's sitting at around........oh, 136, man I hope they turn out tasty
What is the temp inside your oven?
You do not want it to be above 170, or better yet 165.
Make sure you don't melt the fat out of your sausage, onto your element in your oven, or you may get a visit from the boys in turnout gear!
Well I have to say I'm a bit disappointed, not the taste I remember. I think the butcher may have made them leaner than I like. Also the color is all over the place from almost black on some to really pail on others. Ah well I will try to cook them a bit different next time, instead of the BBQ, he used to boil them in about a half inch of water for a bit, then lightly brown in the pan, maybe this will help with juiciness. Also I imagine the flavor will improve overnight too.
Hey Bandit welcome to the addiction. I live in Calgary and cant seem to stop making and smoking sausage. If you are looking for premix packages of spices try CTR on 52nd St in Calgary. They do a fantastic sausage course also. If you are looking for stuff send me a message I am usually on here every day. If you cant get a hold of me the guys here are a great resource to learn stuff.
If they are black,did you have the vent on your smoker closed or almost closed thinking that will get the heat up? It sounds weird but you need to keep vent 1/2 to full open at all times to get moisture out. If moisture builds up it will rain black droplets onto your sausage(this is called black rain). Also with the vent not open enough the moisture helps cool the inside temp of the smoker.
I did have the vent open almost all the way, but I think I might have had way too much sausage in the smoker. I had every rack full and also another rack upside down on top of those. This outfit on 52nd, when do they have these courses, I would be interested in taking one