Smoking Sausage

[Jamie]

Hi Guys!! I just got a Smoker for Christmas so this is my maiden voyage and I want to do it right.  Can someone tell me the best way to smoke sausage....it's just store bought Johnsonville but I have no idea how long I should smoke it for.  I would greatly appreciate any tips.  Tomorrow I'm tackling ribs but I have recipe for that.  Thanks!

[Smudge]

Welcome Jamie,

This is a perfect time to underscore a point about smoking sausages, seeing that Santa seems to have brought a lot of lucky people Bradleys this year.

What you are wishing to do is unsafe. You've bought fresh Johnsonville sausages and want to smoke them. Making smoked sausages is a bit more complicated than that, in that a cure would have needed to be introduced into the meat mixture prior to stuffing them. Cure ensures that the product can be safely smoked at the low temperatures required for making such sausages over the extended period of time in the temperature danger zone.

What you want to do (which is to cook the sausages) can be done safely on a traditional grill. If smoke flavoring is desired, a handful of wet chips works well.

But your ribs...now there's something you'll enjoy by firing up the Bradley. Share the recipe if they turn out good.

Best of luck.

[Infalable]

Hey Smudge, can you describe what the cure is. Is it an extra ingrediant?

[iceman]

Hey Smudge, can you describe what the cure is. Is it an extra ingrediant?

I believe what Smudge is refering to is Prague Powder or Insta Cure #1. It is a basic cure used to to cure all meats that require slow cook smoking, canning or smoking in general. It is a combination of sodium nitrate on a salt carrier. Most times 1 ounce of sodium nitite to 1 pound of salt is how it is packaged. Most butcher supply outlets have it. 1/2 oz. will do about 10 lbs. of sausage.
As far as saying smoking fresh sausage store bought is unsafe is kind of missleading. You can cold smoke fresh sausage for an hour then grill it to a safe internal temp with fairly nice results. The Bradley will get hot enough to cook the sausage if desired. Just put it in a preheated smoker (about 200F) put the smoke to it and let it cook / smoke. Tossing it on the grill afterwards for a few minutes makes for a more paletable link. Smudge is right about the addition of cure if you are making a cured type of link that has to air dry and cold smoke for extented periods. I don't think that is what your looking for in a brat though. A good brat with kraut off the grill should explode with juice and flavor not be dry and salami like. That's just my 2 cents of input. What ever you do have fun! :)

[possumgritz]

Hello Jamie. I must admitt that I am a rookie smoker myself, but after doing research on this forum and other websites I've got the courage to make my own sausage now and it turns out pretty dang good. The bradley is awesome for sausage. There's a welth of info that is to be had just do some searching on meat grinders and sausage.

[Oldman]

I can't find how to upload pics

That option is turned off on this site.

[possumgritz]

I can't find how to upload pics

That option is turned off on this site.

10-4 thanks

[Gizmo]

You can post pictures using one of the hosting sites like Photobucket.
Post your pictures to photobucket, copy the link under the picture and paste it between the links in your post (after clicking on the Insert Image icon).

http://photobucket.com/

[possumgritz]

You can post pictures using one of the hosting sites like Photobucket.
Post your pictures to photobucket, copy the link under the picture and paste it between the links in your post (after clicking on the Insert Image icon).

http://photobucket.com/

Thanks!