Smoke

[marauder11]

Ok i work with a guy who is a part owner in a meat shop. We talk a lot about making sausage and smoking it. Here is the deal he told me they don't add cure to all their sausage. He said some they smoke at 180 F. for 1 to 2 hours. Then pull it let it cool and wrap. I know they are above the temp fro safe smoking with no cure who else does it this way. it would be uncooked and need to be fully cooked before eating. Also he said that they do not smoke much more than an hour or two because people don't like the heavy smoke flavor. he said my grandpa era would like the heavier smoke but these days not many like it. Just been thinking about this and wanted top know what other think.

[Habanero Smoker]

I don't do it that way, but what he is doing can be safe if he follows the correct precautions. He is not keeping the sausage at a low temperature for an extended amount of time, although I would add 2 hours is pushing the limit. If he cools it quickly that method can be safe. He is probably moving the sausage from refrigeration directly to the smoker, but I would leave that method to the professional sausage makers.

If I were to do something like this, I would go the route of cold smoking for less then 2 hours. Cold smoking is keeping the temperature below 90°F. Most of us fully smoke/cook the sausage so that we have brown and serve sausage that only needs to be heated up; so a cure is required.

The temperature for safe smoking uncured sausage is recommended to be 225°F or higher. Depending on what source you go by, the 180°F is the high temperature limit for hot smoking