Ok,
Where to start?
I've been making sausage for about 15 years now,however I'm new to smoking sausage in the bradley. I will post a series of photos that will explain my dilemna. I usually make 50 to 100 lbs at a time and smoke in my traditional smokehouse back home in LA.. Now that I have moved to the Katy TX area I don't have access to my smokehouse, so I will be making smaller batches and smoking in the bradley.
I tried smoking sausage in the bradley one time,but was not happy with the results. After seeing some perfectly smoked sausage on the Forum I'm convinced it's my lack of experience with the bradley. I would appreciate any tips or help from the bradley pros.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5508/12415127335_2a7e365397.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415127335/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415127335/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
Getting ready to stuff,
(http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3724/12415133475_7542d28264.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415133475/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415133475/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
Stuffed ready for the smokehouse
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7392/12415289793_4d3dd83159.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415289793/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415289793/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
Smokehouse prep.
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5525/12415618724_0e9b245339.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415618724/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415618724/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
Smoking
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7354/12415282053_73b48e0fbc.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415282053/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415282053/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
Done
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7399/12415633384_4947325a5e.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415633384/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415633384/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5531/12415160905_2a94034d53.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415160905/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415160905/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
(http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5481/12415310043_60b80eb42d.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415310043/)
image (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/12415310043/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
As you can see the sausage that comes out of the smokehouse has a nice consistent texture and color. Now for my bradley results.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7092/7251869250_f654e4fcba.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/7251869250/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/7251869250/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on Flickr
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7074/7256033818_f39091a435.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/7256033818/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/boodreaux/7256033818/) by Boo Boudreaux (http://www.flickr.com/people/boodreaux/), on
I just installed a fan kit from smoke and stuff, I also have a Auber controller so I should be set up just need some tips.
When I smoked this batch in the bradley I did not have the fan kit so hopefully that will help. I just set my temp to 150 then bumped it up to 155 after a couple hrs. Applied 5 hrs smoke if I remember correctly. I guess it takes more attention due to moisture build up in the bradley. If I understand correctly most folks let the sausage dry some at around 120 before applying smoke.
Am I missing something?
The smokehouse is different than the bradley, I maintain my temp between 150 - 155 and usually it takes about 5 hrs.. The bradley
Wow thats one heck of a nice smoke house, to bad you couldn't bring it with you.
I will defer to the real sausage guru's here for the best answers and I will only ask one question, did you rotate your racks front to back and top to bottom? That could account for some of your issues.
Hi Boo
You clearly don't need any pointers on making sausage. ;) That's some nice looking sausage you were producing in your smoke house.
Most people around here start out at 120 for an hour to an hour and a half to dry the casings before starting the smoke and beginning to ramp the temperature. Personally, I always dry my casings at 130 but that's just me. You should try to ramp your temperature at a rate of about 10 degrees per hour until you hit 165. I think you have a programmable PID so you can program the ramp into it.
You will want to rotate your racks, both front to back and top to bottom a few times during the process so that all the sausage is more evenly cooked.
Make sure your running your vent wide open. The sausage gives off lots of moisture and you want it out of there.
In the picture of the sausage loaded on the racks it appears you have the temp sensor for the PID sitting above the top rack. If this is correct and you maintained 155 degrees at that level, your bottom rack was probably being exposed to much higher temperatures. You really want to monitor the temps that the bottom of the meat is being exposed to, then rotate the racks to even things out.
As opposed to running the temp probe through the vent you can just clip it to the bottom rack near the front and just close the door on the wire.
Mike
Hi Boo
You clearly don't need any pointers on making sausage. ;) That's some nice looking sausage you were producing in your smoke house.
Most people around here start out at 120 for an hour to an hour and a half to dry the casings before starting the smoke and beginning to ramp the temperature. Personally, I always dry my casings at 130 but that's just me. You should try to ramp your temperature at a rate of about 10 degrees per hour until you hit 165. I think you have a programmable PID so you can program the ramp into it.
You will want to rotate your racks, both front to back and top to bottom a few times during the process so that all the sausage is more evenly cooked.
Make sure your running your vent wide open. The sausage gives off lots of moisture and you want it out of there.
In the picture of the sausage loaded on the racks it appears you have the temp sensor for the PID sitting above the top rack. If this is correct and you maintained 155 degrees at that level, your bottom rack was probably being exposed to much higher temperatures. You really want to monitor the temps that the bottom of the meat is being exposed to, then rotate the racks to even things out.
As opposed to running the temp probe through the vent you can just clip it to the bottom rack near the front and just close the door on the wire.
X2. Mike has you going in the right direction.