Made some sausage today

[john_hanoski]

Hey guys
Just thought I would share what came off the smoker today. I mixed up some meat for summer sausage and farmers sausage yesterday and smoked it today.
It was 6 pounds of summer sausage mixed 50/50 beef/pork and 9 pounds of farmers sausage mixed 50/50 beef/pork. The farmers sausage had some cheddar cheese and onion mixed in with it as well. The seasoning used was Original Wild West: Home Style Farmers Sausage and Country Style Summer Sausage.
I haven't tried any yet but it smells so good, I'm not sure how I'm able to hold myself back.



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[Orion]

Looks great! You did a nice job. Had to chuckle when I saw you invert the upper rack and hang your sausage from it using short hooks to get the maximum hanging space. I do the same however I put a row of sheet metal screws along each side wall inside about 1 inch from the ceiling. This allows me to slide an inverted rack in with sausage suspended and it's about as close to the ceiling as you can get.

Thanks for sharing pictures of your great project. Interested to see a couple of slice profiles and taste report.

[john_hanoski]

That's a great idea, thanks


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[Orion]

Yes. I find when smoking sausage that every inch of hanging space helps, mine is just a 4 rack digital so I try to fill it as best as reasonable.
I used the hex head self tapping sheet metal screws and turned into side wall until flush and the flat of the hex head was sitting level. Just used 3 per side and they create a rail so to speak for inverted rack to slide in on. Screws were about 3/8 to 1/2 long. Don't strip the holes.

[Habanero Smoker]

Nice sausage. The screws are a unique idea. I've used a wooden jig I made to raise the inverted rack to maximize my space.

What is the brand of the smoker in the first photo?

[watchdog56]

I just use my racks. That way it is easy to flip from front to back and rotate the racks.

[john_hanoski]

Thanks Orion, I'll have to keep that in mind for next time.

Habanero Smoker, that smoker in the first picture is just a Master Chef propane cabinet smoker that I had picked up a couple years ago. It's a pretty cheap smoker but the price was too good to pass up, it's walls are extremely thin and probably shouldn't be used when it's cold out(makes it hard to keep it a consistent temperature), I've been tossing around the idea of making one myself and using the burner and controls. That way I can increase the width and height a bit and also make it with some well insulated walls so the temp can be more consistent in cold weather seeing that I live in Saskatchewan. My other smoker is just a 4 rack digital Bradley that I've had for about 11-12 years. The last time I made sausage was about 3-4 years ago and I just hung the sausages from wooden dowels from the rails where the top rack sits and it worked quite well.


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[john_hanoski]

I just use my racks. That way it is easy to flip from front to back and rotate the racks.

Do you mean that you just lay your sausage on the racks to make things easier.


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[watchdog56]

Yes, that way I can rotate the rack front to back and from top shelf down to bottom. I have the 6 rack digital and can make about 15lbs of summer sausage (I do the 1 1/2 x 12 fibrous casings for that) and about 8-9 lbs of sticks at a time.

[john_hanoski]

Yes, that way I can rotate the rack front to back and from top shelf down to bottom. I have the 6 rack digital and can make about 15lbs of summer sausage (I do the 1 1/2 x 12 fibrous casings for that) and about 8-9 lbs of sticks at a time.

That's a good idea, I was just thinking about what Orion had said about using the screws in the side of the cabinet to make extra rails for the racks to sit on and when smoking the thinner stuff like sausage, I could possibly turn my 4 rack smoker into an 8 rack smoker and double it's capacity for times like this.  I've only made sausage a couple times now but normally do pork butts, ribs, beef roasts and on occasion I'll do some salmon.


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[_Bear_]

I got to quit reading here lol.......Now I want some sausage!!!!!! That looks reeeeealy good   :o :P
:P

[john_hanoski]

I got to quit reading here lol.......Now I want some sausage!!!!!! That looks reeeeealy good   :o :P
:P

Hahaha, I know how that feels. I tried some last night and it came out really good.


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[Edward176]

Looking real good there john, I just made kielbasa and kabanosy last week and there is nothing like fresh homemade sausage. I have hardwood dowels and rest them on the top set of rails. It gives me plenty of space to hang sausage. 1 dowel in back, 1 in front and a third dowel in the middle on a lower set of rails. I had just over 15 pounds of sausage in my smoker.

[john_hanoski]

Looking real good there john, I just made kielbasa and kabanosy last week and there is nothing like fresh homemade sausage. I have hardwood dowels and rest them on the top set of rails. It gives me plenty of space to hang sausage. 1 dowel in back, 1 in front and a third dowel in the middle on a lower set of rails. I had just over 15 pounds of sausage in my smoker.

That's what I had done the first time I made sausage, that was quite a while ago and the dowels have been lost since then. I was kinda in a bind and didn't want to have to run out again but it work out anyway. The next time I'll come up with something better to make the most use of the space. The summer sausage came out pretty good but that farmers sausage is absolutely incredible, I can't stop eating it. I'll definitely have to make some more farmers sausage soon.


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[Edward176]

LOL, yeah once you start its hard to stop. Funny how you become very popular when family and friends tastes your homemade sausages and smoked meats. :)