Finishing Sausages in the DBS?

[FlyFitz]

Hello All,

New owner of a DBS and on my second smoking...  Live in MD and hunt and fish quite a bit, so we are pretty excited about the potential of the smoker.

Did a chicken first to test a couple of weeks ago and it came out just OK, as I could never get the temp up to what I wanted until too late.  Turned out (based on what I learned here...) that I did not have the connectors plugged in all the way.  After that I bought the Charcuterie book (awesome book, BTW) and mixed up a batch of Milo's Country Venison Sausage.  Stuffed it into hog casing, air dried while BS was pre-heating to 180, then hung on smoke sticks for 6 hours, rotating some.  I also had 2 trays of goose jerky in there as well.

After 6 hours at 180 (according to the useless DBS temp gauge) with 4 hours of smoke, the internal temp of the sausage was only up to about 120 max. with an instant read thermometer.  It was 11PM on a work night with forecast for rain, so I pulled them out, cooled them, and put them in the fridge overnight.  They have a decent brown color, but I know could be better if I had more time.  FYI, I have read about the 20 deg +/- fluctuations in temp with this smoker, so I am assuming I was cooking much lower than 180.

So here is what I have--a bunch of not-fully-cooked emulsified sausages.  What I am trying to figure out is if I should put them in the oven (regular) and get them up to an internal temp of 150, cool, then package, with the idea that they will be slow grilled to re-heat before serving later.  Alternatively, I could leave them as-is, and just grill to get the temp up to 150 before serving later in the week.

Thoughts from any sausage experts?  I do know that I need the after-market temp probe that you all are suggesting in the future, but I have this immediate issue with the under-cooked sausages...

Thanks and look forward to posting more in the future!

Sean

[Mr Walleye]

Hi Sean and welcome to the forum!

I'm not a sausage guru so it's probably best I leave this to the experts. They'll be along soon!

You will definitely want to get a Maverick ET73 duel probe thermometer. The temp sensor for the DBS is located about halfway up the back of the cabinet. The heater is also at the back of the cabinet. The ET73 has 2 probes, one for the meat and one for the smoker. This will help you make sure your temps are where you want them. As I said I don't have much experience with sausage but hope to soon.

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi FlyFitz;

I'm surprise that smoking/cooking them at 180°F for 6 hours they only reached 120°F.

If I were you I would pouch them in a pan of simmering water 170°F - 180°F (staying closer to the 170°F temperature) until they reach about 152°F. Once they reach that temperature shock them in ice water. Air dry, package and store them in the refrigerator or freezer.

[FlyFitz]

Thanks for the replies!  I think we will poach all of them except for 2, which we want to eat tonight.  I'll grill those 2 slowly until they reach 152 inside--I assume at that point they will be ready to eat???

Thanks again,

Sean

PS--the goose jerky turned out great.  Made a brine of spicy V8, soy, Worchester, salt, cure, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper.

[Habanero Smoker]

At 152°F they are fully cooked, but can still be grilled or steamed later on.

The jerky recipe sounds great!

[FlyFitz]

Thanks again.  I ended up slow grilling (indirect) most of them to raise their temps to 152, iced them, then vaccuum packed them for the freezer.  We med. heat grilled 4 of them for dinner and they were fantastic, served sliced and tossed in a mushroom, onion, and sun-dried tomato sauce over pasta...

First success making emulsified sausage in the BS!  Pretty cool. 

Sean

[Stickbowcrafter]

The Bradley is one of the best sausage smokers I've used over the years. You'll get it down before long and will be smokin' perfect sausage.





-Brian

[tlh178]

congrats on your dbs. i just found this website. here is how i do my summer sausage, after mixing and letting set in fridge for 24 hrs, i let them set at room temp for 2 hrs before heading for the dbs. at this point i start out at 120 for 1 hr w/ no smoke. this will dry your casings before you start your smoke, then at 140 i start my smoke for an hr, then 160 for an 1/2 hr w/ smoke. after that i set my dbs for 7 hrs at 170, the temp is usally around 180 and i will smoke the 4 hrs out of the 7. everyone has there own ideas and taste, for me the, this has been my way, good luck any enjoy the wonderful world of smoking, terry