two questions

[micman]

I have my sausage in the smoker and have reached a IT of 163 at the bottom of the sausage and 146 at the top of the sausage. The casings are 2.5 by 20. I have rotated the ones from front to back and so on but the temp at the top still remains at 146. This has gone on for about two hours. The destructions say to hit an IT of 156 does this mean all the way through or just at the bottom where you stick the thermometer in.

Second question. Pepperoni do you need to let the meat and spices sit overnight be for you put it into casings or can you put it into the casings and into the smoker then.


Mickey

[Habanero Smoker]

You should rotate front to back, and also top to bottom for more even temperatures. If the bottom tray(s) reach the ideal IT, then I would remove those trays, and leave the others to finish cooking.

It is best to let the sausage sit over night, for the flavors and cure to better develop. But if you air dry your sausage an hour or more prior to increasing the heat to smoke, that time is long enough for the cure to work.

[RAF128]

Don't leave the meat in the fridge over night before stuffing.   It'll will harden up and be hard to stuff.    Stuff right after mixing and store the sausage in the fridge over night before smoking.

[lumpy]

Habs has you covered. I stopped hanging my sausage because of the temp difference and now lay them down.

[pikeman_95]

Has anyone with a Bradley smoker tried to place a fan in the smoker to spin the air and distribute the heat better. I have purchased two large flat biscut fans with metal blades and installed them in my smoker and they seam to not be damaged by the heat. I have and external fan system that recirculates heat from the smoker and blows it back into the smoker right above the smoke generator inlet. I would think one of these fans would help with the heat distribution in a Bradely. You might look at Radio Shack for some of their larger fans. The nice thing about a flat biscut fan they will fit just about anywhere. It keeps you form having to move the sausage so much. I also place a heat diffuser plate above my heat source. In my case it is the face screen off the door on an old microwave. You know the ones with the small holes in it so that you can see into the microwave. The diffuser lets some of the heat come straight up but also forces some or it to the edges and gives a more ever heat coming off of the burner. This keeps you from having fat-out on the bottom of your casings.

Kirby

[marauder11]

Pikeman i did try some small PC fans but they crapped out do to the heat maybe. I now use a regular fan for  use in the summer to draw air out of my vent on the top. Overall good results. When i dry my sausage i put a pencil between the door and smoker so it stay open a crack and run the fan sausage drys faster and more consistant. Also seem to get more even temp. Fan is a bit over kill but i am cheap and not going to buy a new one.

[Habanero Smoker]

Many have made this modification:

Circulation Fan

A small fan is used, being the theory is that you don't want the air circulating too fast, or the bisquettes will burn too fast, and there may be some interference in smoke circulation.

[pikeman_95]

I can see your point with the biscut smoke generator. My smoke generator is 2 feet away from the Inside of the smoker so the circulation doesn't change anything. I do know that with plenty of circulation my sausage takes on the smoke much faster and I don't have to move the sausage around in the smoker. I do not seem to over cook the bottoms of the sausages also. There should be a balance or you might have a way of keeping the air flow off of the biscut burner??? I do kn ow some air flow helps with hot spots.

Kirby

[classicrockgriller]

Pikeman I have a fan in my Bradley but have not let it run while smoking sausage.

Still kinda new at this game. Might give it a try soon.

I use it about 30% of the time cause I don't always think about it.

I am running a heat shield/redirector in mine so the two may be a good combo.