Sausage virgin with questions??

[nodak]

Read through postings. I still have a couple questions that I'm not sure about.

-cook to 152F, what temp for my smoker and how long does it take?

-do I need to hold that 152F temp for any certain length of time or pull it out as soon as it hits 152F?

-I once heard use beer instead of water with my season/cure?

-Should I let the meat set after season/cure before stuffing?

-Smoke 2 hours or 4 hours? I will be using Hickory.

-should I put stuffed sausage in fridge or on counter to let stand for hour before smoking?

thanks



"If you're not living on the edge, You're taking up way too much room, so get the he-- out of my way."

[iceman]

I usually keep my smoker temp hovering aroung 200F. when I smoke sausage. I shut the heat off as soon as it hits the 150 mark and let it hang for about a half hour. After you stuff the casing it should be hung in the refer over night so the spices meld together. Make sure the links don't touch each other. You can go from the refer to the smoker if you want but I usually let mine hang for an hour at room temp. Beer is okay in some sausages and not in others. This is your call by all means. Beer in Brats is a good one to try. Smoking time is all up to you. Smoked brats taste good at about two hours but the elk garlic sausage I make needs more like 4 hours of smoke. Have fun [:p][:p][:p]<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by nodak</i>
<br />Read through postings. I still have a couple questions that I'm not sure about.

-cook to 152F, what temp for my smoker and how long does it take?

-do I need to hold that 152F temp for any certain length of time or pull it out as soon as it hits 152F?

-I once heard use beer instead of water with my season/cure?

-Should I let the meat set after season/cure before stuffing?

-Smoke 2 hours or 4 hours? I will be using Hickory.

-should I put stuffed sausage in fridge or on counter to let stand for hour before smoking?

thanks



"If you're not living on the edge, You're taking up way too much room, so get the he-- out of my way."
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Big or small you can smoke'm all!!!

[jaeger]

nodak,
Have you started your sausage yet? Iceman's info looks good, here is my variation.
I usually mix all ingredients, let sit 24 hours and then stuff. At this point I let the links dry for at least an hour at room temperature.
My cook smoke method with the Bradley is start at 130F cabinet temp. for one hour,150F cabinet temp. for one hour, 180F cabinet temp until the internal temp is 152 at which time I turn off the heat, cool with the door open and refrigerate.
I usually smoke with hickory for 3 hours.

Don't add beer to the sausage. As Iceman stated, not all sausages call for beer.

Depending on the size of your batch, the size of the casings and the ambient temp/wind chill, your sausage should take anywhere from 3-5 hrs approx.

Good luck.Let us know how it goes!!!!!



<font size="4"><b>Doug</b></font id="size4">

[Muskwa]

I have only used a charcoal smoker for my sausage, not the BS as of yet. I have always mixed the sausage up and refrigerated overnight. The next day I stuff and hang at room temp for an hour after the last sausage is stuffed. This seems to allow them to go in the smoker at the same temp and makes for more consistent smoking.

Muskwa

[nodak]

With you help the sausage turned out great, actually finishing smoking a little bit tonight that didn't fit in the smoker.  Something came up, so I didn't have time to experiment.  Just made one batch about approximately 50%+ pork, 10% beef, 35% deer.  Ended up short at guessing deer# I took out of freezer, glad I did as I like juicier sausage.  Was going to do potatoes with my last casing and forgot, as I was in a hurry.  I also found help at meatman.com it's a pretty good website and tells exactly how he makes deer sausage.  I kind of blended ever body's idea and got something that worked for me, don't know if I can repeat it though.

"If you're not living on the edge, You're taking up way too much room, so get the he-- out of my way."