Help with deer sausage

boomer2 · December 02, 2014, 08:27:37 PM

Hi folks. I know its late, but I hope someone is still up. First time trying to smoke deer sausages. Made about 12 lbs of sausage (using a store bought mix, that also added about 1.1L of water) and put it in the 4 rack digital bradely at 1:30 pm. Held temp at 130F for an hour, raised temp up to 150F and added smoke for two hours. Raised temp up to 160F for next 4 hours. Internal temp (measured by inserting a meat thermometer in link) was still low so raised it to 170F for another hour. Still not up and is around 110F. Sausage starting to really shrink and hog casings are getting loose. Have put temp up to 180F now hoping to try and finish this off. Outside temp is -5-15C but I have my Bradley in an enclosed structure. Anything I can do to hasten this? Maybe finish off in hot water or oven? Thanks in advance for all the help!!!
PS. Using 3 wooden dowels to hang sausage from upper tray if that makes a difference.

boomer2 · December 03, 2014, 06:30:11 AM

Well, an update. I smoked until 2:00am and gave up at 12.5 hours total smoker time. I tried turning up the smoker oven temp to 180F and even 190F the last hour but the highest temp achieved was 177F on the digital reading. I believe this temp was too high as I noticed that grease/fat seemed to be gathering on outside casing near the bottom of the hanging sausage. Using a cheap meat thermometer that you stick in only registered internal temp of 110F. Why and how to prevent this long a time next time?

This was a very disappointing first time attempt at smoked sausage and maybe my last. WHAT DO I DO NOW? I left the sausage cool now for 6 hours in my cold storage room on the floor. Temp on wall of cold room is 48F. Can I vacuum package and freeze it(fry it before eating)? Keep smoking it? Oven cook or hot water cook? PLEASE HELP WITH ADVICE.

watchdog56 · December 03, 2014, 08:01:51 AM

Definitely sounds like a fat out to me. You never want to get temp up over 175-180. Are you using a PID or some other electronic device to control temp. Don't rely on the Bradley to keep your temps that tight. They might swing +/- 20 degree which setting at 170 could go anywhere from 150-190. Way to hilt for making sausage. A PID can keep temp swings +/- 2 degree.
I have done the water bath method after smoking and it helps but there you do not want the water to get over 170 also. When I have done it is seems the casings want to peel off. From what others have said on this forum is you can put in water bath after temp of sausage hits 135 or so, that way the meat adheres to the casing so it does not peel. Have not tried it this way but I will in the future.
Also remember to keep vent open at least 3/4.

As far as the meat I would probably throw it away if it only got to 110. Never know if it is safe to eat or not. Might want to invest in a Maverick 732 thermometer or one like it. It is VERY important to know the temps of the sausage and smoker when making sausage.

boomer2 · December 03, 2014, 08:09:01 AM

THANK YOU for the reply. Can you tell me why this happened? Why after 12+ hours the sausage (12 lbs) still was not done?

renoman · December 03, 2014, 12:57:29 PM

Where did you get the idea to put 1.1L of water in 12 pounds of sausage. Without looking at my recipes, off the top of my head it looks like a lot for 12 pounds. That could be why you are getting the shrinkage. I dry for 1 hour smoke for 2-3 hours and water bath to finish. I gave up trying to finish in the Bradley because the bottom of the tower is so much hotter than the top and I can't be bothered turning/flipping/switching the chubs every hour or so.

Habanero Smoker · December 03, 2014, 01:23:38 PM

The general rule for smoked sausage is to add 4 ounces of liquid for every 5 pounds. For "fresh" sausage the general rule is 2.5 ounces per 5 pounds. There are exceptions, you can add a little more, especially if it is all beef sausage or a little less, but the amount you used is excessive for 12 pounds. That may be the cause for the problems you encountered as far as cooking times go. With the extra water I'm not sure what caused the shrinkage.

Here is a quote from Sausage Maker

"My sausage does not look good—it is shriveled. What do you think was the problem?

There could be several reasons for these results. The temperature may have risen too high and either melted or repositioned the fat. Also, the sausage may not have been showered with cold water immediately after it was finished smoking. Finally, the sausage casings may not have been stuffed to their full capacity."

boomer2 · December 03, 2014, 02:00:22 PM

The water added was called for in the instructions of JB's Sausage Maker in Regina, Sask. For Farmer Style Mennonite Sausage. Label says to add to 25 lbs meat 900g binder, 40g cure, and 2.3L water. Since I did half or 12 lbs, everything else was halved.

boomer2 · December 07, 2014, 06:54:48 PM

UPDATE: To be safe I discarded the above mentioned deer sausage. After reading all the replies, and a phone call to great forum member Mr Walleye, my second batch turned out great! I can't thank him enough and he encouraged me not to quit and give it another shot. So for the others having problems similar to me, I reduced the water added to 1/3 of the recipe and utilized an instant read digital thermometer. After 4 hours of smoke to the hanging sausage, i did not try to finish the sausage in the smoker. I put them into hot water (@160F) for 20 minutes until internal temp reached 153/155F. Removed from water and hang at room temp for couple hours. THANKS AGAIN MR WALLEYE!

Mr Walleye · December 08, 2014, 04:47:26 AM

Hi Barry

It was great talking to you and I was glad to hear you got everything under control. You certainly weren't the first to have to throw out a batch of sausage and I know you won't be the last. It can be discouraging but once you find your way there's no end in sight to what you can make! ;)

Mike

boomer2 · December 08, 2014, 03:20:59 PM

Just one more question guys. Noticed a small hole or hollow center in my sausage. Should I be concerned? Tnx

renoman · December 08, 2014, 03:51:12 PM

In all of them or just the ones you put the meat probe in???

Mr Walleye · December 08, 2014, 04:29:52 PM

I would suspect you may have had a little bit of a stuffing problem. You want to make sure when filling your stuffer that you get all the air out of the meat when you are packing it in. The other thing is to use a stuffing horn that is appropriately sized for the casing your using. And last but not least you want to make sure you are filling the casing adequately, obviously you don't want to burst the casings but you do want them full.

I would bet you simply had an air pocket in the meat in the stuffer that caused it.

Mike

boomer2 · December 09, 2014, 09:50:26 AM

Yes it could be a stuffing problem LOL. My grinder is an OLD Toledo brand grinder. I suspect in it's heyday it was a commercial model. I can barely lift it now that I am in my golden years haha. I would not hazard a guess how many lbs has gone through it in from the 30's to 70's. I know it has gone through many moose and deer since I got it from my father-in-law. The grinding plates actually have a flat side to them and you can see that some are home-made. The stuffer is just a funnel attached to the front of the grinder. I have tried to find different/better funnels but alas only this old original seems to work well. It appears (and probably is) to be fashioned from a metal oil funnel LOL. So all in all, it has worked this long....why change? Today's sausage I tried hard to really fill the hog casings so hopefully have gotten the air out. Thanks.

njxbow · December 18, 2014, 07:02:01 PM

when I smoke venison sausages, i put them in for 1 hour at 125 before i smoke them for 3 hours at 140. i then take them out, cool and package. i reheat them by treating them as if they're fresh/raw. i've found that they're much more moist this way rather then fully cooking them in the smoker then reheating a second time when eating. i do use an auber unit and always cure the sausages.