Preventing fat rendering

[Shuswap]

I made my first Cervelat where the recipe called for starting the smoke at 100F and gradually increasing the temp every 20 minutes until the IT reached 150F.  At this point I removed the Cervelat and plunged in cold water to reduce the IT to 90F.  After drying for 4 days at 60F and RH of 70 I removed the casing to find much of the fat had rendered and the meat had not bound well.  Aside from ensuring the pid temperature is correct any suggestions on how to prevent this?

[Grouperman941]

The box was likely hotter than your PID was indicating. If the probe was too close to (or above) the load, the meat cooled the air near it, providing a low reading. I had this problem when I first did jerky. Fat out happens pretty quickly when you get near 170F.

The best place for the probe is just below the meat. If that's where you had it, I am not sure what could have caused a fat out at those temps.

[Habanero Smoker]

What was your final cabinet temperature?

[Shuswap]

The pid probe is mounted just above the drip tray.  Final cabinet temperature by a seperate thermometer was 170F

[Habanero Smoker]

I looked at a few cervelat recipes, and they are calling for an internal temperature from anywhere from 140°F - 145°F. Kutas states 145°F, and Marianski states 140°F; both recipes had beef and pork.

The fat rendering will make the sausage crumbly. But to cover all bases, did you mix your sausage until it became sticky (forming the "primary bind")? I find this is a crucial step in making sausage.

[Shuswap]

Hab I mixed until sticky and held in the fridge overnight before stuffing.  I appreciate the input.  My old head is trying to get around a desired IT of 140 - 150 without rendering the fat yet fat starts rendering at about 130F. A puzzlement!  Have a great Christmas
Phil

[oldsmoker]

What is your meat ratio fat and lean.  You should not fat out at 130

[tskeeter]

I don't know that you can completely avoid fat rendering, but I think you can minimize it.

I don't have any science behind what I do.  But here's the logic I follow.  I use a hot water bath after smoking, to finish cooking my summer sausage.  Water is a more effective heat transfer medium than air, so a water bath reduces the cooking time.  As a result, the water bath reduces the time that the sausage is exposed to heat.  And, since it transfers heat better, I run my water bath at 160, to bring my sausage IT to 152 degrees.  I always find fat residue on my turkey roaster insert after a water bath session.  And there is the slightest film of grease on the casing.  But, when you look at the sausage, there is no indication of a fat out problem.  If you are cooking to a lower temp, I would think that you could use a lower water bath temp and reduce the risk of fat out.

[Habanero Smoker]

When fat reaches the rendering point, all fat doesn't liquefy immediately. It is a long and slow process that takes awhile at low temperatures for all the fat to liquefy.

If you ever rendered pork fat into lard using high temperatures, you will notice that even that takes awhile for all the fat to render down.

[tskeeter]

When fat reaches the rendering point, all fat doesn't liquefy immediately. It is a long and slow process that takes awhile at low temperatures for all the fat to liquefy.

If you ever rendered pork fat into lard using high temperatures, you will notice that even that takes awhile for all the fat to render down.

Thanks for the insight.  Your observations helps to explain what I thought I was seeing using a water bath to finish the cooking.  Truth be told, my primary reason for wanting to use a water bath was that it shortened the cooking time significantly.  And it provides the additional benefit of minimizing the risk of fat out because you can cook in a short time using a temp that is only a few degrees higher  than your target IT.  I was afraid that cooking in the smoker using a temp close to the target IT would take so long that I would cook a lot of the moisture out of the sausage.

[Shuswap]

tskeeter - you have me thinking, thanks