19 hour smoke time?????

[NYFrank]

I just made a 5 lb batch of summer sausage. There were 3 total all wrapped in fibrous casings (3" x 12") and pricked with holes. The smoke house temp was set to 160 and the box tem held at 158-162. However it took almost 18 hours for the internal temp to reach 150. Is this normal for that size casing and is there anything I missed. The box was pre-heated to 130 for an hour to dry the casings and then turned up to the cooking temp. Also when they were finally done, I dipped them in cold water to cool down to 75 and they pulled away from the casings. Again, did I do something wrong. Any insite would be great.

[NePaSmoKer]

I just made a 5 lb batch of summer sausage. There were 3 total all wrapped in fibrous casings (3" x 12") and pricked with holes. The smoke house temp was set to 160 and the box tem held at 158-162. However it took almost 18 hours for the internal temp to reach 150. Is this normal for that size casing and is there anything I missed. The box was pre-heated to 130 for an hour to dry the casings and then turned up to the cooking temp. Also when they were finally done, I dipped them in cold water to cool down to 75 and they pulled away from the casings. Again, did I do something wrong. Any insite would be great.

Turned up to the cooking temp of?
3" SS casings should not have taken 19 hours however outside weather conditions can play a big part.

My normal temps are as follows for my sausage making.

PID times

130 for 1 hour to dry casing. No water in the pan no smoke
140 for 2 hours. water in pan with smoke
150 for 2 hours smoke opt. check IT. Stall may start here
160 for 2 hours. Check IT
170 for 2 hours, check IT again. You should be getting close to 149 to 150 here.
If not proceed to the temp below.
175 until your desired IT is reached.

NOTE
Some members just put smoke to the sausage for a few hours then hot water  for the rest until the IT is reached. Someone who does this method will be along to answer better than i on the hot water.

[NYFrank]

Thanks for the feedback. I thought the temp in the smoke box should not go above 160 so the fat dont melt. I did have some melting and fat drippings in the bottom. Also when the sausage was done I cut into it the following day and noticed it was a little mealy/dry.

Thanks

[cobra6223]

Well I do the hot water bath. I usually do my 3 of hours of smoke, mean while get your water to 160 to a max of 165 as your temp drops a little when you add the sausage as I normally put the whole bunch in i.e.  I did a 5 pound batch of ring bologna(THANKS Rick) gave me 5 rings, it will also hold 10pounds of snack sticks at a time. so the water temp drops, to hi and you can shoot grease for a long ways(fat out)!! I take a temp when I pull it out of the smoker usually the IT is about 120-130 put it in and give it about 5mins then check an IT and if it's getting to the 140's I stay right by and check IT very often, some guys leave the probe in, keep in mind though if it gets wet you may have to buy a new one. I have done 3" SS and it works well and what I use is a turkey roaster.