Cold Smoking Sausage(internal temperature)

[smoker lar]

This is my first try at cold smoking venison sausage. I'm after that deep smoke flavor you get. I don't have a special recipe to follow on salt ratio's, length of time to smoke and when to pull the sausage out of the smoker. All I know is that you should use a cure #2,and smoke at 90 degrees or lower. Can anyone advice me on salt and cure#2 ratio's and when do I know it's done(is there a internal temperature you shoot for or do you just keep sampling it until it's to you liking)
Also, if anyone has a super recipe for cold smoked beef/venison sausage with procedures it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks   

[NePaSmoKer]

This is my first try at cold smoking venison sausage. I'm after that deep smoke flavor you get. I don't have a special recipe to follow on salt ratio's, length of time to smoke and when to pull the sausage out of the smoker. All I know is that you should use a cure #2,and smoke at 90 degrees or lower. Can anyone advice me on salt and cure#2 ratio's and when do I know it's done(is there a internal temperature you shoot for or do you just keep sampling it until it's to you liking)
Also, if anyone has a super recipe for cold smoked beef/venison sausage with procedures it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks   

Depends on how many pounds you mix. What kind of sausage are you making? Cold smoke at 90* can take around 10 hours.

Rule of thumb is 1 level teaspoon cure #1 or #2 per every 5 pounds of meat. It looks like you may want to use cure #1
Salt depends on your taste and how much you like

Most dry cure sausage is done in an R/H and temp environment and uses cure #2

Habs is up on this type of sausage making using cure #2

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi smoker lar;

Welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure what you mean by cold smoke sausage. Are you trying to make fermented or dry cured sausage that is air dried over a long period of time?

For that type of sausage you really should have a recipe to go by; besides needing cure #2 you need to introduce either starter bacteria such as Bactoferm F-RM-52 or some other ingredient like GDL to lower the pH. Also for this type of sausage the amount of salt is important. You can check this site http://lpoli.50webs.com/Sausage%20recipes.htm and click on Dry Cured Sausage and Meats. You may find a sausage there you can use your venison instead of beef or use 60% venision and 40% pork.

If you are just looking to cold smoke sausage at 90°F for a period of time, then treat it as uncooked sausage and freeze or refrigerate until you want to cook it, then you must use cure #1.

NePas has given you the amount of cure to use. As he said salt is a preferrence. A common use of salt would be 1/3 ounce per pound; or 1 ½ ounces per five pounds of meat and fat. In volume that is equal to 3 tablespoons of Morton Kosher salt per five pounds. (I have had success using 2 tablespoons of Morton Kosher salt per five pounds).

[smoker lar]

Thanks Nepa and Habs for your responce. To answer both your questions: I usually make about 5-6 lb. batches when I hot smoke sausage(above 120 degrees plus). I have a MBS(electric) which doesn't allow much more than that.As to what kind of sausage I'm making(I guess I would just call it summer sausage(it's usually venison/pork and spices mixed with cure#1).
I tasted a quys sausage he brought to a party and immediately loved it, the deep smoke flavor is what blew me away. Without getting to nosy, I asked him how he did it and he said I have an old wood smoker out in the woods and before I go to work I just throw a green maple log on the coals and when I get home I throw another one on. He said it takes me about 10 days. He didn't say anything about cure number or cooking it, or how to tell when it was done without poisoning yourself. And I was to dumb to ask. Anyway, that's what I'm trying to accomplish.
I just assumed from what I've been picking up on a couple forums that this is what they call cold smoking sausage. I do know there is a difference between semi-dry sausage and dry-cured sausage(where you
need R/H and temp. control.I don't have the setup for dry-cured.
I just assumed I could take my hot smoking recipe for SS, add the proper salt ratio and proper cure and "cold smoke" it under 90 degrees for "X" amount of days and come close to what this other guy made.
Habs, you mentioned if I did it this way I have to cook it before eating. I don't understand why if it has the proper cure,proper salt ratio and proper smoke time?
Habs, you also asked if I'm trying to make fermented sausage by using a starter culture? I guess I don't know the proper terminolgy yet, but if thats what gives the sausage a deep smoky flavor then I need to know the procedures using that.
I hope either of you can make sence out of what I'm trying to accomplish and give me the right direction to go.Thank you for your imput and hope to hear back.         

[NePaSmoKer]

Thanks Nepa and Habs for your responce. To answer both your questions: I usually make about 5-6 lb. batches when I hot smoke sausage(above 120 degrees plus). I have a MBS(electric) which doesn't allow much more than that.As to what kind of sausage I'm making(I guess I would just call it summer sausage(it's usually venison/pork and spices mixed with cure#1).
I tasted a quys sausage he brought to a party and immediately loved it, the deep smoke flavor is what blew me away. Without getting to nosy, I asked him how he did it and he said I have an old wood smoker out in the woods and before I go to work I just throw a green maple log on the coals and when I get home I throw another one on. He said it takes me about 10 days. He didn't say anything about cure number or cooking it, or how to tell when it was done without poisoning yourself. And I was to dumb to ask. Anyway, that's what I'm trying to accomplish.
I just assumed from what I've been picking up on a couple forums that this is what they call cold smoking sausage. I do know there is a difference between semi-dry sausage and dry-cured sausage(where you
need R/H and temp. control.I don't have the setup for dry-cured.
I just assumed I could take my hot smoking recipe for SS, add the proper salt ratio and proper cure and "cold smoke" it under 90 degrees for "X" amount of days and come close to what this other guy made.
Habs, you mentioned if I did it this way I have to cook it before eating. I don't understand why if it has the proper cure,proper salt ratio and proper smoke time?
Habs, you also asked if I'm trying to make fermented sausage by using a starter culture? I guess I don't know the proper terminolgy yet, but if thats what gives the sausage a deep smoky flavor then I need to know the procedures using that.
I hope either of you can make sence out of what I'm trying to accomplish and give me the right direction to go.Thank you for your imput and hope to hear back.         

sl

If your going to make SS at a low temp, I would go with cure #1 but dont let it go for more than a couple hours at 90* or below. Then turn up the smoke and heat from 140* thru 175-180* If your really looking for smokey add 1 to 1.5 teasp of liquid smoke to the mix before stuffing

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi smoker lar;

Your first post lacked a lot of information, so from your post it seemed you were only going to smoke it for a short period of time. Your last post if more clearer, and I understand what you are making. Summer sausage can either be dry cured or semi-dry cured.

I've did some searching and found that some sausage can be dry cured within 2 weeks, and in that case cure #1 can be used; but you still need to insure that the RH is high enough so that the casings do not dry out too quickly. If that happens then the meat can begin to spoil from the middle outward.
Polish Smoked Sausage- The Cold Smoked Version; this recipe recommends 85% - 90% RH, but I have better outcome with 75% - 80% RH for dry cured and semi-dry cured sausage.

If you cannot control the RH level, I would follow NePas suggestion and semi-dry cure it. If you want a drier sausage (meaning one with less moisture and a more concentrated flavor), after cooking you can air dry it for another 3 - 5 days at around 70% RH. I would also follow up with your friend and ask what temperatures he is using to smoke his sausage. He may be more then happy to share his method with you. He may be starting out with cold smoke, but finishing with hot smoke.

Cure #1 will only provide protection for about 2 weeks, then it's antimicrobial protections diminish; cure #2 will provide protect for an extended period or time such as a few months. That is why you still need to refrigerate cooked sausage that used cure #1. For dry cured (uncooked sausage), generally you need a cure #2 to protect the sausage over an extended period of time until the sausage has lost about 1/3 of it moisture in weight. Also, usually a starter culture is added to lower the pH. The pH level doesn't increase the smoke flavor but besides providing protection it give the sausage a tangy taste. It is the lack of moisture and low pH that preserves uncooked sausage after the curing process, not the cure.

I hope this helps.

[smoker lar]

Taking bits and pieces from what both of you(Nepas and Habs) have said, here's what I'm going to try to accomplish:
Mixing a 10# batch of SS using cure#1,adding 1 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke for extra flavor, mixing in 6 Tablespoons of kosher salt,stuffing in 1 1/2"x12" fibrous casings and refrigerating overnight. Next morning, preheating smoker at 100 degrees(doesn't go any lower than that) and hanging sausage in there for 12 hours while applying smoke. QUESTION: Because I would rather not run an electric smoker while I'm sleeping, can I shut off after the first 12 hours and resume the next morning ? If so, then restart smoker at 130 degrees to 170 degrees to finish up with an internal temp. of 150 degrees. Shower with cold water and let hang at room temperature for 2-3 days and sample.
I have no way of controlling R/H with my smoker. Would using a pan of ice in the bottom of smoker help?
Let me know what you guys think and thanks again for all your information. Greatly appreciated. :-X   

[NePaSmoKer]

Taking bits and pieces from what both of you(Nepas and Habs) have said, here's what I'm going to try to accomplish:
Mixing a 10# batch of SS using cure#1,adding 1 1/2 teaspoon of liquid smoke for extra flavor, mixing in 6 Tablespoons of kosher salt,stuffing in 1 1/2"x12" fibrous casings and refrigerating overnight. Next morning, preheating smoker at 100 degrees(doesn't go any lower than that) and hanging sausage in there for 12 hours while applying smoke. QUESTION: Because I would rather not run an electric smoker while I'm sleeping, can I shut off after the first 12 hours and resume the next morning ? If so, then restart smoker at 130 degrees to 170 degrees to finish up with an internal temp. of 150 degrees. Shower with cold water and let hang at room temperature for 2-3 days and sample.
I have no way of controlling R/H with my smoker. Would using a pan of ice in the bottom of smoker help?
Let me know what you guys think and thanks again for all your information. Greatly appreciated. :-X   

Your mix sounds good.

But i dont think i would shut the heat and continue the next morning. The SS will be semi dry anyways. Why not in the 12 hr period apply 3 hrs of smoke at 140 then continue with heat the SS should be done in the other 9 hrs or less. I understand you dont like to smoke while sleeping. Try early in the morning or when you have a day off to tend your smoker.

Its very difficult to maintain the proper RH in your smoker. Add water to the pan while your SS smokes, it will produce some steam.

Hanging your SS for days will require a controlled enviroment to prevent spoilage. What i would so is shower to cool and let bloom for 2-3 hrs then vac seal and fridge for all the flavor to marryup.

Again My opinion. Its your call

[Habanero Smoker]

It is difficult to maintain a proper RH in the Bradley. I have done it before, but I could not apply smoke. I had to remove the generator and place a hot plate with a pan of water in the smoker to create enough moisture.

With the liquid smoke; 12 hours of smoke may be too much. You receive much more smoke flavor from Bradley bisquettes then you get form green wood, or chips. I would follow NePas instructions.

If you really think that extra smoke will work, then start by applying 3 hours of smoke with the cabinet temperature at 100°F, raise the temperature to 140°F and apply 3 more hours of smoke; then begin to increase the heat until your sausage is fully cooked. But for your first trial I would take it easy on the smoke. If the first batch doesn't come out the way you like then you can add more smoke next time. If you start with a lot of smoke and find out that the taste is terrible, then you may have ruined a batch of sausage.

After they are fully cooked, and you hang them at room temperature for a few days, but the RH should be close to 70%.

[smoker lar]

Nepas and Habs, learned alot from these post and want to thank you for taking the time to reply. Just wanted to share a recipe I found on the Len Poli wedsite for German Farmer-style Summer Sausage. Couple of questions: He uses 4 1/2#pork shoulder to 3/4/# lean beef for his mix, I always thought SS was more beef and less pork. Can either of you set me straight?
The other thing is, in this recipe they are using cure #1 and incubating the sausage at 80 degrees in the smoker for 48 hours and applying cold smoke after 24 hours for 3 hours. Then raising temp. to 190 degrees until IT of 160.
Does this procedure sound correct with cure #1 and no starter culture? Would like your opinion.     

[Habanero Smoker]

There are many variations of summer sausage from various countries, so you will see different meat mixtures and different ratios between them. I can't comment on the recipe description, I would like to review the whole recipe. His site is difficult to navigate around, and I don't have much time today to search for that particular recipe. A link to the recipe would be helpful.