Is there a stall when making sausage?

[jimmyb]

I made some polish sausage (aka kielbasa) and started the smoking this morning while raising the temps by 10 starting at 120* until hitting 170. I am sitting at 170 for several hours now and am finally getting into the 140s with my IT. I am over 11 hrs so far into this. I have about 7 lbs. in the bradley and have them stuffed about 1.5 inches in diameter. It appeared to have stalled around the 137/138* mark for a while. Is this typical? I bumped the temp to 175 * to get these done. I know this varies but what is the max time I should let these go before getting concerned? I saw someone reporting 24 hrs at the same temps and everyone said to chuck them.

[NePaSmoKer]

I made some polish sausage (aka kielbasa) and started the smoking this morning while raising the temps by 10 starting at 120* until hitting 170. I am sitting at 170 for several hours now and am finally getting into the 140s with my IT. I am over 11 hrs so far into this. I have about 7 lbs. in the bradley and have them stuffed about 1.5 inches in diameter. It appeared to have stalled around the 137/138* mark for a while. Is this typical? I bumped the temp to 175 * to get these done. I know this varies but what is the max time I should let these go before getting concerned? I saw someone reporting 24 hrs at the same temps and everyone said to chuck them.

You are still ok....The stall is normal. If you need to bump to 180 but watch for fat out.

[jimmyb]

Thanks for the reassurance. I bumped temp to 175 and the IT seems to be slowly climbing. Around 145* now so I think we're good.

[Kevin A]

I always anticipate a 'plateauing' of the IT whenever I smoke—but its always tests my patience.  ;)

The bump in temp up to around 180° (as nepas suggested) seems to spur on the continual climb of the IT until it reaches the desired level.
If I'm short on time, I'll pull the load post-smoke & plunge 'em into a hot water bath (160°)—problem solved as IT is reached usually within 30 minutes.

—Kevin

[Stickbowcrafter]

Ah, the dreaded temperature plateau. Yep, it's not uncommon at all. Patience is the only cure...something I certainly need to work on  ;D

-Brian