Original Bradley Smoker - Trying to figure out what to buy

[cstallings]

Hello,

I've never smoked a thing in my life, but wanted to start smoking summer sausage from the deer I kill every year.  I usually process the whole deer myself and take some ground meat to the butcher for summer sausage, but can't find anyone who makes sausage without nitrates and MSG anymore (my wife is a health nut and is allergic to MSG). 

I know nothing about smokers, but from my research Bradley makes one of the best if not the best smoker.  I have not bought one yet, but need help determining what to get.  I'm thinking the OBS with a PID is my best bet for sausage at least from a cost perspective.  Not even sure I really understand what the PID is besides a temperature control.  With the PID mod does this make this unit similar to bradley's digital smokers?  Is the OBS easy to control lower temperatures without a PID?  Should I look at the digital ones? Sorry for all the questions.  The shear amount of information on this site is hard to look through when you are unsure what you are looking for.
   
Does anyone have a link to the PID people usually use?

Thanks for you help

[mikecorn.1]

Look at the Bradley dual probe, that's the one most of us have.

PID


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[GusRobin]

I think the OBS and the dual PID are your best bet. The only negative is that it only comes as a 4 rack so with sausage you can't have a long links. Other than that I think the above combo works best.

[beefmann]

if you are planning to do sausages the 6 rack  will give you more room, or a 4 rack with an additional 4 racks inverted ontop  of the original 4 rack  will allow you  to do more in a  load,,,and a  step pid I believe is the prefered unit to have

[cstallings]

Do you have to go to the digital to get a 6 rack?

[KyNola]

You need to do your homework on smoking and curing before you buy anything.(Sorry Brian)  You have never smoked anything but you want to start making smoked sausages which frankly is one of the more labor intensive and somewhat difficult things to make.  The first clue was your mention of nitrates.  Nitrates are used for long term dry curing sausages such as salami, etc.  Nitrites are used for smoked sausages such as venison summer sausages, andouille, etc, any type of sausage that is going to be cured and smoked/cooked in a relatively short amount of time.

[cstallings]

You need to do your homework on smoking and curing before you buy anything.(Sorry Brian)  You have never smoked anything but you want to start making smoked sausages which frankly is one of the more labor intensive and somewhat difficult things to make.  The first clue was your mention of nitrates.  Nitrates are used for long term dry curing sausages such as salami, etc.  Nitrites are used for smoked sausages such as venison summer sausages, andouille, etc, any type of sausage that is going to be cured and smoked/cooked in a relatively short amount of time.

No I like trial and error.  That's the best "homework" for me.  I understand exactly what Nitrates are.  I only buy meats with out nitrates, which is a personal choice.  Sodium nitrate as a preservative is linked to production of carcinogenic compounds.

[TedEbear]

Do you have to go to the digital to get a 6 rack?

You can modify any of the Bradleys to increase the number of racks.  The 6-rack digital is a bit taller.

On the PID controller, you can get a $45 unit from Auber for a whole lot less than the plug-n-play version.  You have to also buy a few things to make it all work but the cost is still less than 1/2 of the stand-alone version. You have to install it yourself but you won't have all the extra wires and things to deal with.   Here's mine:

[KyNola]

You need to do your homework on smoking and curing before you buy anything.(Sorry Brian)  You have never smoked anything but you want to start making smoked sausages which frankly is one of the more labor intensive and somewhat difficult things to make.  The first clue was your mention of nitrates.  Nitrates are used for long term dry curing sausages such as salami, etc.  Nitrites are used for smoked sausages such as venison summer sausages, andouille, etc, any type of sausage that is going to be cured and smoked/cooked in a relatively short amount of time.

No I like trial and error.  That's the best "homework" for me.  I understand exactly what Nitrates are.  I only buy meats with out nitrates, which is a personal choice.  Sodium nitrate as a preservative is linked to production of carcinogenic compounds.

Then drive on.

[Tenpoint5]

You need to do your homework on smoking and curing before you buy anything.(Sorry Brian)  You have never smoked anything but you want to start making smoked sausages which frankly is one of the more labor intensive and somewhat difficult things to make.  The first clue was your mention of nitrates.  Nitrates are used for long term dry curing sausages such as salami, etc.  Nitrites are used for smoked sausages such as venison summer sausages, andouille, etc, any type of sausage that is going to be cured and smoked/cooked in a relatively short amount of time.

No I like trial and error.  That's the best "homework" for me.  I understand exactly what Nitrates are.  I only buy meats with out nitrates, which is a personal choice.  Sodium nitrate as a preservative is linked to production of carcinogenic compounds.

Don't take this wrong as I am just looking out for your safety and I am sure I will get beat up on this comment.

You are a better man than I am. When testing nitrites and nitrates when sausage making by the "Trial and Error" method. You run the risk of actually KILLING someone or making them extremely sick. Please do more research via books and asking folks that make a lot of sausage, before you start experimenting on your friends and family.

Now on another note you can use celery powder as a natural nitrite cure. I will not tell you how to use it or how much to use. As I have not ventured over and used it as of yet.


1/20

[NePaSmoKer]

Not all sausage has MSG. MSG is a flavor enhancer not a cure agent.

Cure #1
is a mixture of 1 part sodium nitrite and 16 parts salt. You normally use 1 level teaspoon of cure for 5 lb. of meat. Used at any time meat is not immediately put into freezer or refrigerator, such as smoking, air-drying, dehumidifying, etc. This is similar to and sometimes called Curing Salt or Insta Cure #1

" but can't find anyone who makes sausage without nitrates and MSG anymore"

Thats because they are wise to use cure in the form of the above cure or if they really know their stuff they know the EXACT amount of celery powder to use in place of the Cure 1.

Cure 1 is is a mixture of 1oz of Sodium Nitrite (6.25 %) to 1 lb of salt. Used at any time meat is not immediately put into freezer or refrigerator, Such as smoking, air- drying, dehumidifying, etc.

Cure 2 is a mixture of 1 oz of Sodium Nitrite (6.25 %) along with .64 oz of Sodium Nitrate (4 %) to 1 lb of salt. mainly used for products that will be air cured for long time like: Country Ham, salami, pepperoni, and other dry sausages.


We are here to help, But like stated if you like to risk trial end error with your 1st sausage making with out cure....Then go ahead on.

3/20

[cstallings]

Guys,
I appreciate the comments, but I never said I was not going to use a cure. I just said I don't want nitrates or msg (which I know are used for different reasons). I have a recipe that calls for celery juice powder instead of nitrates that I have used in the oven many times before. But as I'm sure you know oven sausage does not tastes near as good as smoked sausage.  I'm just looking for a smoker set up since I have never owned one, which I believe I'll get an obs then try a pid later down the road.  I have a Wireless thermometer I can use in the interim.

[KyNola]

http://ruhlman.com/2011/05/the-no-nitrites-added-hoax/

Don't take this the wrong way but I assume you know that the original model of the OBS is no longer being manufactured and they have a "new" OBS model, right?  The only reason I ask is those of us who have been on the forum a while have to differentiate between the two in discussions so we don't get confused on which smoker is being discussed.

[NePaSmoKer]

Guys,
I appreciate the comments, but I never said I was not going to use a cure. I just said I don't want nitrates or msg (which I know are used for different reasons). I have a recipe that calls for celery juice powder instead of nitrates that I have used in the oven many times before. But as I'm sure you know oven sausage does not tastes near as good as smoked sausage.  I'm just looking for a smoker set up since I have never owned one, which I believe I'll get an obs then try a pid later down the road.  I have a Wireless thermometer I can use in the interim.

You need to make sure you know the EXACT amount of celery juice powder to use for the amount of meat your going to use it in. Too little can have the same bad affect that too little cure 1 can do.

[muebe]

You know nowadays you have to be careful. Unless you raised the cow/pig yourself. Slaughtered it properly yourself. Then ground up the meat on sanitary equipment yourself there is no way to know for sure if anything nasty is ready to grow in the meat.

There have been many cases of people getting very sick and dying. Look what happened to Wendy's all those years ago. If processing equipment is not properly sanitized one time then there will be bugs just waiting to grow.

These guys like Nepas who I consider very much sausage smoking experts are very concerned about your safety. A friend in another forum was in the hospital for months due to his neighbor leaving a pork shoulder in the danger zone too long. He took one bite and did not even swallow it because it tasted funky. Even that was enough to get him very sick! Nepas knows this guy also from another forum.

These cures are used for people's health and safety. The amount of cure used is very minuscule to the amount of meat. Because of large scale meat processing the dangers are very high. And with ground beef, pork, and chicken products the dangers are even higher. Don't skimp on the cure!

Off my soap box now ;)