Smoking Kielbasa

[rveal23]

So I decided to smoke some Kielbasa, and will now adjust it a bit.

I smoked for 1hr20min with apple.. I will probably smoke longer or use a stronger wood. I was barely able to taste any smoke.

Now, I have a question for you guys.
I pulled the Kielbasa and started to eat it, I noticed that the Casing was very leathery. I was able to eat it, but my wife had to pull hers off.  Did I do something wrong? Did I not cook it long enough or hot enough?

I cooked for the first few hours at 180 and then the last hour or so at 200.

Any info would be great!

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[Cobra7]

I cooked mine for 4 hours at 200* and I could cut it with my fork. That "special blend" would be better than the apple I think.

[rveal23]

I cooked mine low first since I wasn't at home and then bumped it up when I got home.
I think it cooked for maybe 4-5hrs.

What IT did you pull yours at?

[Saber 4]

Here's tonight's dinner, I had to throw a couple of butt's on for pulled pork for my wife's quilt guild meeting tomorrow night and this post was fresh in my mind. So after the first 2 hours of a 4 hour mesquite smoke on the butt's I added this rack of sausage under the pork and after 3 hours total it was done. I'll wait to cut into it until the wife gets home in a few minutes.

[pz]

Love kielbasa; however, my experience is like rveal23's - I tend to end up with a tough casing which begs to be peeled off.

[rveal23]

PZ, I'm glad I'm not the only one with this issue... LOL

I left my Kielbasa till an IT of 190.  Inside was great outside to leathery..  :-\ :'(

[SiFumar]

I'm no expert...but do you do a fast soak? Or overnight soak? ...on the casings?  I find better results for me, is overnight soak. I also " prick" the casing before smoking.  I'm sure some of our sausage experts will be on with some help. :D

[NePaSmoKer]

Was the sausage homemade or store bought?

Cooking a sausage can toughen any casing. To maximize the tender bite of a casing, cook with moisture. Prick sausage before grilling.
Some casings are tougher because of their origin. They are usually cheap. The tough ones are usually thick and opaque. Smoke cycles can also affect the bite of a casing. Humidity during the smoke cycle is very important to maximize a tender eating experience.


Tough or rubbery casings

Sausage was cooked in a pan too hot and too quickly.
Casings were not soaked long enough.
Origin of casing.
Sausage was under stuffed
Soak casings longer
Add lemon juice or pineapple juice to the soak water.
Use proper moisture levels during smoke cycle

[Saber 4]

I don't know about everyone else, mine was store bought and I put it on the lowest rack at 220 while doing pork butts and put boiling water in the puck bowl and cake pan after smoking, rotated rack halfway through the 3 hours total and the casing was like coming off of the grill nice bite and not tough at all.

[rveal23]

I smoked store bought as well. I fill the bowl full of water and had the kielbasa on the very top rack. However I didn't poke any holes before smoking. I'll have to try that the next time

[Snoopy]

just did this the other night with some turkey kilbasa that i found at the store. i actually ran a slit down the entire outside so it kind of bursted like leaving on the grill for too long or just long enough. i think it helped get some more of that smoke flavor inside because i only did an hour of apple and it had a good flavor to it.

[rveal23]

a few great tips, and I know my next time will be even better