Sausage Meat - Frozen

[PaulD]

Smoked my first sausage batch this weekend (15 lbs).  It was a blend of venison, beef and pork.  I (and my sister) were very impressed with the results.

Learned two things, 1.  the links don't cook as evenly when you use the racks (plan to get some dowels next time so the heat can move all around the links).  2.  the bottom of the bradley cooks much faster than the top (at least using the racks)  3.  The whole process, from start to finish, requires a lot of "standing time" (including the meat prep, grinding and stuffing).

My conclusion:  do a large amount of meat prep prior to "smoke day". 

To my question:

If I prep the meat first and then freeze (to thaw on smoke day), is it better to

1.  cut it into pieces but not grind (this would result in more stand time on smoke day)
2.  grind meat and then freeze to thaw on smoke day (just leaving the stuffing to be done on smoke day)
3.  grind and stuff in casings, then freeze finished links (so that the finished casings only have to be thawed on smoke day.

I guess the question I'm really asking is whether freezing adversely effects the sausage outcome?

Thanks for your help,

[cobra6223]

I don't think freezing in the casing would be a good idea due to moisture problems, I believe. As for freezing mixed and ready to stuff meat, I just had a seal on my stuffer break with about 12# left to stuff and one of the real pros said to just freeze it till the new gasket arrives. So I guess freezing just meat okay but not stuffed. Once again the real experts will be along and let you know for sure. Welcome to forum and good luck.

[pikeman_95]

I guess I would ask how long do you intend to wait between prep and smoking. I most often thaw frozen pork and venison and prep and grind the meat then pop it into the fridge overnight I have stuffed and refrigerated also. I am talking natural and fibrous casings. I would not do the same with other casings like collagen casings as they do not do well when left in the fridge after being stuffed. If you store stuffed casings in the fridge over night make sure that they have some air circulation around them. You have to allow them to come to room temp before heading to the smoker. I only spice and add the cure to the prepped meat before they are going to be stuffed. If you mix the spices and cure into the meat and then refrigerate it will be so stiff the next day that it is difficult to stuff. I would think the usual plan is to prep and grind one evening and then stuff and smoke the nest day if you need to stretch out your process a little.

[RAF128]

Sausage that has a cure in it should be stuffed right after mixing in the spices and cure.    The sausage is then refridgerated  for at least 24 hours to allow the cure and seasonings to do their thing.    You could grind you meat and then freeze.    When you're ready, thaw, mix in spices and cure and stuff.   Put in the fridge overnight. and then smoke.    Of course if you do that, then there's a lot of waiting around for the ground meat to thaw and you don't want anything growing in your mix, so the thaw will take a few days in the fridge.    Me, I plan for a full morning of cutting, dicing and grinding.   Then mixing and stuffing.    Then put the sausage in the fridge and start cleaning.   

[beefmann]

agrees  with above, though there are  stopping   points,,  grinding  meat,,,  cubing  meat  would be  one stop  point,,,  next  stopping point would be  after the meat  has  been   mixed and stuffed into casings,,,, though i  personally  would  smoke and cook the sausage at this  point,,  wont take that  much  longer,,, then  vac seal them  once they  have cooled and  into the freezer..now you  have a  complete sausage  ready  to go...

there are  also pre made  sausages in  casings that are made and  not cooked that can be  frozen for  later   use...

[PaulD]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Let me get one point straight, is there a problem with freezing meat that has already had cure and seasonings added?

I ask because when I processed the 15 libs, I ran out of casing.  So I had to "bag" about 10 lbs of meat that already had cure/seasonings added (and put in the freezer).  There was no way to get any more natural casings that late at night.  Ordered enough to have "extra" waiting, if needed, in the future. 

Also, it didn't look to me like you can smoke more than 15 lbs of meat in a 4 rack Bradley (if you're only using the racks).  Anyone have an estimate of how many pounds you can smoke if you use dowels instead.  I'm guessing something like 25 libs.

Appreciate having experienced help to ask questions.  Kinda like still having Dad around (he passed years ago now).

[Sailor]

Smoked my first sausage batch this weekend (15 lbs).  It was a blend of venison, beef and pork.  I (and my sister) were very impressed with the results.

Learned two things, 1.  the links don't cook as evenly when you use the racks (plan to get some dowels next time so the heat can move all around the links).  2.  the bottom of the bradley cooks much faster than the top (at least using the racks)  3.  The whole process, from start to finish, requires a lot of "standing time" (including the meat prep, grinding and stuffing).

My conclusion:  do a large amount of meat prep prior to "smoke day". 

To my question:

If I prep the meat first and then freeze (to thaw on smoke day), is it better to

1.  cut it into pieces but not grind (this would result in more stand time on smoke day)
2.  grind meat and then freeze to thaw on smoke day (just leaving the stuffing to be done on smoke day)
3.  grind and stuff in casings, then freeze finished links (so that the finished casings only have to be thawed on smoke day.

I guess the question I'm really asking is whether freezing adversely effects the sausage outcome?

Thanks for your help,

Paul, You have received some good advice from others and I am just going to add my "for what it's worth department" comments.

My fear of buying meat is that it may have been already frozen from the packer and defrosted by the store.  So when you refreeze it you are getting a 2nd freeze on it.  I don't think this is a problem as I normally will vac seal a lot of meat and freeze.  Now you thaw out that meat to use and mix it up and then refreeze it you are now putting a 3rd freeze on it and my thoughts are that you may harm the fibers and perhaps the taste a bit.  I personally am not in the camp of freezing meat a 3rd time.

I will purchase pork butts and grind them up and then vac seal them in 2 1/2 pound bags and freeze so I can make a 5 pound batch of what ever .....and I vac seal 2 1/2 pounds of Ground Beef so I can use all beef, all pork or 50/50 beef pork for what ever batch I am making.  I find that by grinding one day and freezing or just putting in the fridge for the next day of mixing and smoking works best for me and the way that I do sausage.

I try to mix, stuff and smoke in one day.  It is easy to mix up 10 to 20 pounds and stuff in a few hours and get the smoke going by 10am so you are finished and blooming by early evening.

There are times that I am mixing and something comes up and have to fridge the mix (cure was added).  I either zip bag it or put it in a tupperware bowl with a tight fitting lid so moisture will not escape and stuff the next morning and I have never had a problem with it being to hard to stuff.  You can always add a little more water to it if you find it hard to stuff.

I would stay away from stuffing and freezing at all costs. You should not have any trouble stuffing and putting in the fridge overnight or perhaps a few days.  Just remember that the fridge will suck moisture out of the sausage so I would not recommend any longer than 2 days in the fridge.  I never will fridge snack sticks or anything that has collegan casings as the protein will break away from the casings and you will have lose casings when you finish a smoke.

Personally I think the best plan is to get your meat ready, mix, stuff and smoke.  Meat can be done way in advance.  Mixing, stuffing and smoke is a one day event in my book but there are exceptions.

Now for your question on the pounds that can be done in the Bradley.

If you use racks you need to rotate the racks every hour to keep them even.  15 pounds in the racks is a load for sure.  I hang all my sausage in my 4 rack.  I can do 10 pounds of 19mm casing snack sticks using 2 hanging bars.  I use a block of wood on the top shelf to extend the length and cut the lengths to 37 inches and they fit perfect without touching the V-Tray.  I try to keep them as far away from the back as I can as the back row will over heat.

I normally will do 20 pounds of summer sausage in the 4 rack with 5 chubs per hanger using 2 hanging bars.  I stuff the chubs with 2 1/2 pounds of meat.

I have done 20 pounds of stuffed 32mm hog casing sausage by hanging but one has to be careful in the way they hang them.

The Bradley is a good smoker however it is not designed to do a big load of sausage.  If you are going to do 25 pounds then you are looking at least doing 2 different smokes.  Until you get to know your Bradley and what it can do I would suggest only doing 10 pound loads to get a feel for how it smokes them.  You can built up to max your smokes.  It took me a while to be able to fit a large load and to have a good product.

As a full disclaimer......I have installed a fan kit in my 4 rack which helps me do larger loads while hanging sausage.  I would not be able to do the large loads without the fan because the back row would burn.  Even with the fan I have to be careful in how close to the back I hang.

Hope this gives you some help to the questions that you are asking.

Jim

[KyNola]

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Let me get one point straight, is there a problem with freezing meat that has already had cure and seasonings added?

The short answer is no, there is nothing wrong with it.  It won't kill the cure.  I have made beef jerky using ground beef that had the cure and seasoning added to it and then pressed  into a pan to freeze so I could then use my slicer to thin slice it before putting it in the smoker.  Works just fine.