Help with a New ( New being ME) Smoker

[Rick Rod]

Hey everyone, allow myself tooooo introduce myself.. lol Im a big time deer hunter here in NJ and the season starts this Saturday. Im getting very excited to start stocking up my freezer for the year. I just recently purchased my new Bradley Smoker and made an awesome brisket. But when it comes to making sausage I am a new-be. I have picked up some kits and some recipes off of here that just sound amazing. The only info that I don't have is the temperatures for the different sausages. Im planning on making Venison  Summer sausage, Kielbasa, Hot dogs, Salami maybe even some Landjaeger. OK so what would the Internal Temps be for these products? and what would be the Cook and Smoke times be?

I really appreciate the info,

Rick

[Sailor]

Hi Rick and welcome to the forum.  Lot's of folks here to help you out and all you gotta do is ask.   ;D

Main thing about smoking sausage is that you MUST use a cure.  With cure #1 you use 1 tsp for every 5 pounds of meat.  The cure keeps the bad nasty stuff from growing as you slow smoke the meat.  The nasty stuff grows from 40 degrees to 140 degrees so if you are smoking it is very important to use a cure.  Cure also gives the meat that red look that you get in smoked meats.

For smoking, everyone has there own way of doing it.  After the sausage has been stuff I normally put it in the smoker.  Some let it rest in the fridge for a day.  Dry the casings at 130 for 1 hr our until the casing becomes tacky.  This will let the smoke stick to it.  A wet casing does not let the smoke stick.  After drying then ramp the temp up to 140 for 2 hrs and pour the smoke to it.  Then to 150 for 2 hrs, then 160 for a few and then to 170 for 2 hrs.  Then to 175 until the IT of the meat is 152-155 degrees.  You can also use a hot water bath to get them done faster and I like to do this on links.  After the smoke put them into a pot or electric turkey roaster that has 160 degree water and let them come up to 152 degrees and pull.  Ice bath and then let them hang for a few hours top bloom.  Lots of different ways to smoke at different temps but this is how I do it and have had good luck.

Just remember that when you smoke and tell us about it......it didn't happen unless there are photo's to prove it.  ;D

[classicrockgriller]

Congrats on the Bradley and Welcome to the Forum.

Making your own sausage is just too much fun.

Kits are a good way to start.

Might be best to decide which sausage you want to make first

and ask questions about that one as all of the above are different.

Good Luck and shoot a lot of Deer.

[Rick Rod]

Hi Rick and welcome to the forum.  Lot's of folks here to help you out and all you gotta do is ask.   ;D

Main thing about smoking sausage is that you MUST use a cure.  With cure #1 you use 1 tsp for every 5 pounds of meat.  The cure keeps the bad nasty stuff from growing as you slow smoke the meat.  The nasty stuff grows from 40 degrees to 140 degrees so if you are smoking it is very important to use a cure.  Cure also gives the meat that red look that you get in smoked meats.

For smoking, everyone has there own way of doing it.  After the sausage has been stuff I normally put it in the smoker.  Some let it rest in the fridge for a day.  Dry the casings at 130 for 1 hr our until the casing becomes tacky.  This will let the smoke stick to it.  A wet casing does not let the smoke stick.  After drying then ramp the temp up to 140 for 2 hrs and pour the smoke to it.  Then to 150 for 2 hrs, then 160 for a few and then to 170 for 2 hrs.  Then to 175 until the IT of the meat is 152-155 degrees.  You can also use a hot water bath to get them done faster and I like to do this on links.  After the smoke put them into a pot or electric turkey roaster that has 160 degree water and let them come up to 152 degrees and pull.  Ice bath and then let them hang for a few hours top bloom.  Lots of different ways to smoke at different temps but this is how I do it and have had good luck.

Just remember that when you smoke and tell us about it......it didn't happen unless there are photo's to prove it.  ;D

Sailor,

I plan on smoking those products that I have mentioned. Now do I need to do the hot bath followed by the cold bath? or can I get by without it? Also what is the purpose of the hot and cold baths?

Thanks

Rick

[Sailor]

The hot bath is just another way of getting the IT up to 152.  Instead of doing the full cook in the smoker you can plop them in a hot bath of 160 degrees of water and poach them to IT of 152.  They come out very plump and juice.  Many here do it that way and many do the full cook in the smoker.  Normally you can smoke for 2 hrs and have them up to temp in 30 min or less using the hot water bath.  If you slow smoke the entire time in the smoker it could take anywhere from 6 to 8 hrs depending on the stall times.

The purpose of the cold water after a smoke or after a hot water bath is to cool the sausage down to 100 degrees to stop it from continuing to cook.  The blooming is to give the sausage the nice color.  I have done sausage and forgotten about it and did not hear my PID chirp and did not get them right out to give a cold water bath and they turned out just fine.  The important thing  is not to get over 175 degrees because you will have fat out.  Sausage that has gotten hot and fatted out is good for the trash dump.

Good luck with your sausage making.

[cobra6223]

Hey Rick
Congrats on the new Bradley, you won't regret it, Sailor and CRG forgot to give you the best advice of all, DONT"start with sausage you can't and won't stop once you start. It's worse than any drug or alcohol addiction anyone could have, although it is the most tasty one !! ;D Listen to the folks on this site it's the best advice a newbie can get. The other thing I would like to say is experiment with different methods of cooking and making your sausage, its the best way to find out what you like, for instance I use to cook it all the way in the smoker until I tried the hot water bath that sailor talked about, I think it works great for me. the other thing is NEVER forget the cure, no sense in taking a chance on making your family or friends sick, OK enough dribble. Have fun with the new Bradley and if you shoot to many deer look me up, I'm sure there's some way to get from NJ to IA !!!
Tim

[beefmann]

welcome to the form and purchase of a smoker, lots of good people and information here and you are well on your  way

[SouthernSmoked]

Hey Rick, Welcome to the forum...Enjoy!

http://www.susanminor.org

Remember we like pic's!!

[watchdog56]

Welcome to the forum. As Sailor said both ways are good and you will enjoy your sausage either way.