SS help

[UnlimitedPowers]

I can not figure what I have done wrong. Bought the Backwoods SS mix. Followed all directions to a t. 75/25% venison and pork. Stuffed 25 lbs into 9 3" non edible casings. I made a bracket that slides into top tray in my 4 rack digital Bradley. Hard to explain but the sausage hangs perfectly right above the heat deflecting drip pan. Anyways I dried the summer sausage at 120° for 1 hour then bumped the temperature up to 150 degrees with smoke for 4 hours I then bump 2 180 just like the mix says to do. So anyway my problem is, it literally took all weekend to reach 150 degrees. I started at 9 AM Friday morning Sunday night at 11 p.m. it was at 155 degrees. Only thing I can think of is there was way too much meat in that Bradley but it had no problem maintaining the 180 degrees. Sausage turned out good other than a tough skin to it.  I am scared of hearing all this dangerous temperature zone stuff but I know it had the pink cure so from what I read it should be ok.

[Orion]

Was your vent wide open? If not, that will prevent moisture escaping which limits temp.

25 lbs is a lot, especially in 3" dia casings. Long time for those to come up to temp.

What were weather conditions? Cold, cool, windy, damp? all these factors will effect temps, Shield your smoker. I often do all the preheat and drying phase in my garage and then wheel it out the door for smoke and then back in to finish. Takes a huge load off the elements.

Check all your plugs and receptacles. They must be firmly connected.

Install a second element, heat rise and level will be much improved.

Here is a link to element installation:

http://forum.bradleysmoker.com/index.php?topic=36796.0

[UnlimitedPowers]

Vent was 1/4 open. Shielded from wind. Temps were humid but mid 50's. I checked all receptacles before starting. Thanks for the reply and yes I think I need to do the second element installation. Oven temp did fluctuate alot tho.

[Grouperman941]

It was a combination of the huge load and the condensation from keeping the vent too far closed. Cold meat plus the huge surface area of the casings = lots of moisture in the cabinet which needs to get out.

I would probably break that into two or three batches. The 4-rack starts to struggle with much more than 10 pounds of load, IME.

Also, jumping to 180 degrees, I would be afraid of a fat out.

[UnlimitedPowers]

Ok thanks for the replies. I had pepperjack cheese in it and the pieces that I've got into the cheeses stayed together so I don't think it got too hot and has good consistency but just the very outside is a little chewy. Nothing to throw away still washes
down pretty well with a cold one :-)

[watchdog56]

I have the 6 rack and usually make 12-15 pounds and that takes 8-12 hours. Most times when I am doing ss I run at 130 for 1 hour the 140 for 2 hours of smoke then 150 for 1 hour, 160 for 1 hour then 170 max temp. I also use a PID to control temps because the Bradley has to big of temp swing. I did the extra element and it still takes me that long. Most times after the 150 cycle I will water bath so it gets done from start to finish usually 7-8 hours.

[UnlimitedPowers]

Here is another question for you guys. I have a batch of summer sausage same backwards cure that I pulled off too early. It got to an internal temp of 130 degrees. It is now vacuum packed and in the frigerator. Do you guys think taking the internal temperature in a water boil to 155 degrees it would be okay to eat?

[Orion]

Do you feel lucky?

[pmmpete]

The USDA and the Food Safety Inspection Service have published schedules of the temperatures and times required to kill the microbes which can cause food poisoning in ground meat products such as sausage.  These schedules are available at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/oa/fr/95033f-a.htm and http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/frame-redirect?url=http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OPPDE/rdad/FRPubs/95-033F/95-033F_Appendix_A.htm .  For example, these schedules show that bringing sausages to 145 degrees for 4 minutes will kill microbes just as effectively as bringing them to 155 degrees for 23 seconds.  The schedule indicates that if you brought your sausages to an internal temperature of 130 degrees for more than two hours, they should be safe. Because a water bath or a smoker will have hotter and cooler areas, you should hold sausages at the temperatures specified in these schedules for a healthy amount longer than the times specified in these schedules, to be safe.   

However, these schedules don't answer the question of whether sausage brought to an internal temperature of 130 degrees for a short time in a smoker, refrigerated, and then brought to an internal temperature of 150 degrees in a water bath will be safe.

I smoke my sausages for 3-4 hours to produce the flavor I want, and then immediately bring them to an internal temperature of 155 for about 10 minutes in a water bath.  A water bath will bring sausages to a desired internal temperature way faster than a smoker, and because you can control the temperature of a water bath pretty precisely, using a water bath minimizes the chances of cooking the fat out of your sausages.

A big turkey roaster provides a pretty inexpensive way to heat up sausages in a water bath. Or you can use a large stock pot.  Put one temperature probe in the water, and another temperature probe in the center of a sausage. So you won't cook the fat out of your sausages, don't let their internal temperature get higher than 160 degrees, and don't let the water temperature get much higher than 165 degrees.

[UnlimitedPowers]

I am gonna try it!!!!  Wish me luck :-[