Smoking Sausage in a 6-rack smoker

[droach75]

So i am looking at buying a 6-rack Bradley electric smoker.

I will be using this mainly for hot smoking kielbasa and Texan hot links. I am looking forward to the control this smoker will give me. It will allow me for the first time to smoke my sausage over 7 hours, increasing the temp, every couple of hours.

i was just wondering how many llbs of sausage will I be able to hang in my smoker.

I have heard if i fill it to the max,,it may double/tripple my smoke times?

I look forward to your advice.

[piratey]

I will be using this mainly for hot smoking kielbasa and Texan hot links. I am looking forward to the control this smoker will give me. It will allow me for the first time to smoke my sausage over 7 hours, increasing the temp, every couple of hours.

Changing the temperature will be a manual process.  Also, the built-in temperature gauge is not super accurate, which really helps with sausage smoking.  You may also want to look into an auber PID.  That's another $150-200.

What are you using now to smoke sausages?  You should really be comparing the 6-rack to your current set up to see if the cost is worth it.

[droach75]

Cheers for your advice.

I am currently using a ProQ Bullet type smoker. It is best for smoking ribs and boston butt. Hanging sausage via hooks on the grill,  it is a quite a pain to take off the sausage..i am only smoking in 5 llb batches at the mo.

Weirdly,,because i am in the UK,,the cost of choice woods like hickory to smoke with ain't cheap. So if i buy enough smoking pucks,,,i think it would work out cheaper.

I am looking into other options. i am considering a cheaper smoker with no element, and buying a 2000w element.
http://www.outdoorcook.co.uk/products/food-smoker

I will also look into a Auber PID, c

[cathouse willy]

The digital smoker is more expensive and won't do what the original smoker and a pid will. If you're set on the six rack then digital it must be. Otherwise a 4 rack original  with a pid is the best way to go.Properly tuned it will control the temp within a few degrees and the auberine plug and play will let you set up to six temps and times. Just my opinion

[KyNola]

Rolling smoke for 7 hours in a Bradley is an excessive amount of smoke.  The Bradley produces a very clean concentrated smoke. Thus, less hours of smoke is sufficient.  Many members don't exceed 4 hours of smoke even on large cuts of meats. 

Less pucks=even more $$ savings. :)

[piratey]

If the 4 rack works for you, then you could do an original 4 rack, cheaper than 6 rack, then add a PID for sausage temperature control, and look into the a-maze-n smoker tubes.  They burn pellets.  You could also get a a-maze-n tray and use dust.  Either one ( I use the 12-inch tube personally), is pretty cheap compared to the briquettes required by bradley.  The tube is $30 or so, and then pellets, I spend $20 for a 20 pound bag.  I've been smoking for almost half a year and more than half a bag left.  Lot cheaper than briquettes, especially if the briquettes are expensive for you in the UK.

[RAF128]

I've got a 6 rack and I bought it because it's taller and when I make sausage I like to hang it.  You need to be careful and not make the sausages too long.   the bottoms are closer to the heat and get done quicker.  I also bought a PID from Auber.   It's essential to maintain constant temps which you need for sausage.  It also allows you to ramp up the temps during the smoke.

[GusRobin]

I have a 4 rack OBS with PID and it worked ok for hanging sausage. I lucked out and was able to get a hold of a 6 rack cabinet and now have the OBS smoke generator with the 6 rack cabinet and a PID. Best of both worlds.

[droach75]

Rolling smoke for 7 hours in a Bradley is an excessive amount of smoke.  The Bradley produces a very clean concentrated smoke. Thus, less hours of smoke is sufficient.  Many members don't exceed 4 hours of smoke even on large cuts of meats. 

Less pucks=even more $$ savings. :)

Hi KyNola...your right 7 hours of smoke is too much...i meant to add of the 7 hours i would then add the smoke in the final 3 hours.

[droach75]

look into the a-maze-n smoker tubes.  They burn pellets.  You could also get a a-maze-n tray and use dust. 

Cheers Piratey... i am gonna do a bit more research on suppliers....but think i am gonna go down the pellet route.

I have a UK version of the a-maze-n tray . great little bit of kit for cold smoking.

As for the a-maze-n smoker tubes,,,could I get away with using my old baguette pan/tray.?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Faringdon-Collection-Bakers-Non-Stick-French/dp/B0000BVFCG/ref=sr_1_1?&ie=UTF8&qid=1438559040&sr=8-1&keywords=baguette+tray

[tskeeter]

dr, I'll put about 10 pounds of sausage in my 6-rack at a time.  Since I'm an impatient type, once I've applied the smoke, I'll move the sausage to a water bath to bring the IT to about 152F because it takes less time than smoking to the finished temp.  For the water bath, I do batches of about five pounds each.

[droach75]

Cheers tskeeter. so if i gradually warm 10 pound of sausage in the smoker and then hit it for say 3 hours of smoke.  Roughly how much sawdust would i use in one smoke? in my ProQ bullet smoker i found about 400g / 0.9oz of hickory chunks gave me a great smoke flavour.

[tskeeter]

Sorry, DR, can't answer that one.  I'm exclusively a puck burner.  For sausage, I use apple and apply about 2 1/2 hours of smoke.

[piratey]

that baguette thingy looks interesting.  I would say you just need to try it out.  No one will be able to tell you how long it takes because we use different equipment.  On the amaze-n site, they tell you approximately how much time the tray will smoke with dust, but that doesn't mean yours will be the same.  Assuming dust isn't that expensive in the UK, so put some in, light it and let it go and see how much time it takes.  If you don't have the smoker yet, you could do it with a simple cardboard box over the baguette tray to give you protection from drafts that a smoker will.