First Sausage Smoke in BDS

[spudisland19]

Our new BDS should arrive next week. Thanks to the discussions here I ordered an Auber PID. Temperature control during sausage smoking sounded like a critical issue and the PID was added to my equipment list. I also order a load of accessories, just to make sure we were ready to smoke.

In Kevin's great opening topic on making sausage I noticed that he uses the shelves and has a pattern for moving them to different locations during smoking. How does using the shelves compare with using the Bradley set of hangers for sausage? It looks like there may be mixed opinions about this alternative. Any helpful advice will be appreciated.

Another question is if Cure has a shelf life limitation? My batches are usually in the 50 to 100 pound range so I decided to go with bulk supplies rather than kits. Most of the time we prepare and stuff just before a big dinner and the sausage disappears. We never packaged any, except what was auctioned or sold after dinner.

After reading about so many enthusiastic and exciting smoking experiences I am eager to tackle my first smoke very soon. We are supposed to serve a dinner at our church hall later this month. The first smoke will be a trial run with a small batch. If that literally goes up in smoke, in the fashion of a failure,  I may have to eat crow and fall back to my old way. Two German friends our helping me. If we don't end up with a reenactment of WW II, we should succeed.

Charlie the Newbie

[devo]

Well I hope you dont plan on doing 50 lbs at a time in a bradley, cause it just wont happen no matter how you stuff it  ;D
Other than that i'm sure your good to go. Nepas is the sausage guy around here so any questions i'm sure he would be more than happy to help you out. I know I learnt a lot from his posts.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi spudisland19;
Welcome to the forum.

For Cure #1 most manufacturer give a 2 year shelf life to their cure. I have had cure longer then that (4 years) and it is still good; though I will test it occasionally. Storage is the most important thing to maintain self life. Store it in an air tight container that is not clear, and keep it in a dark cool area.

The way I test my cure is to cure something thin that will cure quickly such as a pork chop or hand mix about 1/2 pound of sausage using ground meat.

[cobra6223]

Hi Spud,
  I have a four rack BDS and I'm sorry to say 5# I believe is just about max poundage at a time cause, A) there's just not enough space in it and B) You will run into all kinds of trouble trying to controlthe heat, however I do believe your Auber will help with that problem , good luck, have fun and just remember after your firsty smoke sausage will run deep in your veins and you will never get it out !!! ;D :'(
Tim

[pikeman_95]

Charlie

I sent you a personal email that you might take a look at.
kirby

[spudisland19]

Well I hope you dont plan on doing 50 lbs at a time in a bradley, cause it just wont happen no matter how you stuff it  ;D

Devo, yeah I didn't think in would all fit in there :-\. The Polish Kielbasa recipe in the download area gives an alternative suggestion for smoking then steam cooking or poaching. I may experiement to see how that works. It would introduce some smoke and that would be an improvement over what we have done over the years.

The state of Calif keeps sending letters trying to get my wife's diesel MBZ station wagon off the road. I might take the stipend they offer and turn the car into a smoker. My wife doesn't know about this plan.

Charlie

[spudisland19]

For Cure #1 most manufacturer give a 2 year shelf life to their cure.

Thanks. That info really helps. Searches pull up a lot about Pink Salt but nothing about shelf life. Thinking about poisoning my in-laws is a frightening thought :o.

Charlie

[La Quinta]

Spud...both of those posts made me laugh out loud...I'd definitely bag the thought of the poisoning tho!!!!!  ;D

[NePaSmoKer]

Cured sausage shelf life in a vac bag is around 2-3 weeks. In the fridge is 5-6 weeks, freezer 6-12 months,

All depends on how googd a vac pulls from your bags and how long you can keep from eating it all  ;D


Yes you can do 10 lbs in a Bradley. It will take longer.

[pikeman_95]

Charlie

You might like to look at some old post that I made a long time ago showing how to make a super smoke generator. If you could pipe this into your Bradely and then install a fan so that you can really circulate the smoke. I have a situation like this and I can take 35 # batches in a home made smoker and give the sausage a good smoke in 1-1.5 hours. Then they go into a 160 degree F water bath until the sausage reaches 152-155 for 10 minutes. Mr Walleye does the same and has very good results. The Smoke generator is easy to build but really puts out the smoke. The officials in California will probably offer to pay you not to smoke meat.


here is a quick shot of the smoke generator. If not in you Bradely you might use it in your wife's MBZ wagon. They want you not to drive it but they didn't say you couldn't smoke it. Jut don't inhale!!!



Kirby

[NePaSmoKer]

I have used Kirby's smoke generator. Its a smoke maker for sure.

I will do a smoke with it soon and post pics.

[GusRobin]

For Cure #1 most manufacturer give a 2 year shelf life to their cure.

Thinking about poisoning my in-laws is a frightening thought :o.

Depends upon the in-laws ::)

[spudisland19]

Cured sausage shelf life in a vac bag is around 2-3 weeks. In the fridge is 5-6 weeks, freezer 6-12 months,
All depends on how googd a vac pulls from your bags and how long you can keep from eating it all  ;D
Yes you can do 10 lbs in a Bradley. It will take longer.

That shelf life info is good news. I do have to venture into the vac pack process.

Can you tell me if that 10 lbs in a Bradley using the sausage hangers or laying the links on shelves?
Got a message last night that our BDS is available for pickup at WalMart. Our neighborhood is about to change. First the Bradley, and then Kirby's smoke generator in action!

Charlie
......... The officials in California will probably offer to pay you not to smoke meat.

Kirby

My plan is to get some experience with smoke using the BDS out-of-the box. And then decide how to step into big-time smoking. This learning curve will have to be short. At my age there's no time for indecision  ;)

Charlie

[devo]

I added 4 extra racks to my 4 rack bradley. Now if I cut them to the lenght of the racks I can do 10lbs no problem. There is even room for more but how much more I can't say as the most I have done is 10lbs. loads

[digitalsmoker]

what did you use to hold the extra 4 racks up thanks