New toy

[RAF128]

For a long time I've been wanting to finish my sausage in hot water.    Problem was finding something big enough or long enough to hold the sausage and then some way to control the temp of the water.   Thought long a hard for an idea and then saw Roaster Oven in a flyer.   It's a Hamilton Beach 22 qt.   Checked it in the store and it's 17!/2 inches long and deep enough.   On sale for $49, regular $69.    Brouht it home and checked the summer sausage casing and a full one will fit.   It's thermostatically controlled so should have no problem keeping the water up to temp and not getting too hot.   Only draw back I can see is monitoring the IT of the sausage.   Can't leave the probe in the meat while it's submerged so I guess I'll have to watch it close.    Summer sausage will be first, then some polish or garlic sausage.   Don't think I'll use it for snack sticks though.    Tried that once a long time ago and the cologen case shrunk as soon as I put them in the water and there was naked :-[ meat coming out the ends.

[STLstyle]

As I'm reading your thread I'm 12 hours into a 10lb batch of deer sausage.  Would be nice to be done right now.  Try that thing out and post some pics.  Let us know how you like it.

[devo]

They work great for the hot water bath and if you have a auber pid you can keep steady temps.

[beefmann]

has a pair of 22 qt rivals and there great, bad thing is i cant use them on the same circuit

[ragweed]

I have a 18 qt Hamilton Beach roaster, 17 1/4 in max length.  Super easy to control the temp.  My max is two 5lb chubs of bologna so the SS work fine.  I have a Bradley's temp probe to monitor the IT so I can leave my Auber in the smoker.

[drano]

I got a 22 qt this winter too, and used it a few weeks ago on summer sausage. 
Filled it full with hot water, set temp to 350ish, then watched the water as it came up to 165.  Then I fine tuned the adjustment to find the 165 deg setting.   
I took out water as I added the sausage. 
A long stem thermometer works well for inserting thru a lid hole. 
Sausage came off the smoker at about 135 deg. 
The 2 lb casings took about 55 minutes to hit 153 deg.
The 3 lb casings took about 1:50 since they're a larger diameter.
Two of each chubs for 10 lb total. 

After adding the sausage, I needed to reset the temp dial to about the 200 setting.  Its not a PID, so don't think its set and forget.  If it gets too hot, add some cold water to get back at 165 deg. 

Before you make sausage, do a test run for temp with the roaster full of water to find the 165 deg dial position. 

I'm not a pro, I've only done hot water bath once.  But it worked very well. 

[Keymaster]

I have the 22 quart Oster. I agree with Devo, you need a Auber to control the Temperature.

[pmmpete]

I haven't had any problem controlling the temperature of my turkey roaster using the dial on the front.  To keep my thermometer probes from getting wrecked by water, I seal the place where the wire enters the back of the probe with flexible silicone or rubber. For a reliable seal, squish the silicone into the back of the probe along the wire.  I mounted some small spring clamps on magnets to hold the probes in place, and to keep the back of the probes out of the water.

[Kevin A]

Whenever I make chubs, and I know I'm going to finish them in the water bath, I always measure out the maximum length the poacher can take, and mark the counter top (red butchers tape).  This determines the length of all the chubs as I'm stuffing.

Kevin

[RAF128]

Plan to give this new toy a try next week.   This morning took out some deer meat and picked up 3 lbs of pork.    Deer is thawing in the fridge.   Have work out a few details and will seek advice from my butcher/neighbor.

[lumpy]

I also have the same 22 quart. It sure has saved a lot of time getting the sausage to temp.

[RAF128]

Got home this afternoon from a weekend at the lake.    Meat has thawed so got it cut into small portions for the grinder.   Same with the pork butt.    Tomorrow morning will start grinding and mixing in the spices.    Then stuff and let it sit over night for the cure to work.

[CLAREGO]

nice guys will have to try this i hate the wait time id rather bathe my sausage too. never thought of doing it this way i been using a pot from a turkey fryer  ;D

[RAF128]

Yesterday got all the meat, 15 lbs ground, mixed and stuffed into casings.   Put in the fridge over night to let the cure do it's thing.   This morning took them out and allowed them to warm for a while.


Then into the smoker they went.



They spent a little over 4 hours there.   120 degrees to let them dry,   heat up to 140 and started the smoke.   Then up to 180 for about 3 hours of smoke.    Brought them out and internal temp up to 130.    Then into the water bath they went



They'll be watched and checked for the next little while and after they're at 152 or just high they come out, cooled and hung to blum.
You'll notice there's a small chub.   Was supposed to fill 5 casings with the meat I had mixed but, there was a little extra so made a small one.

[drano]

Looks great!
Be careful with a 180 deg smoker--you'll start melting the fat out.  I run 170 deg.
Don't know what kind of grinder you have, but I cut my meat into strips because it feeds thru the grinder better than cubes.  I've got a 1/2 hp Cabelas commercial. 
And I mix the spices/cure into the cut up meat, then grind--let the grinder mix it all up.  Way easier than hand mixing the spices/cure in. 
Just a couple ideas for you to consider.