OBS for making smoked venison summer sausage

[Fair-chase]

 Thinking about one of the OBS's with temp mods  to keep temp variations to a minimum for making summer sausage.

My main concern is the water pan in the chamber. Since the drying process is a major part of making summer sausage is the water pan going to cause problems in sausage making?

[Gizmo]

Welcome
I have never seen a post indicating that as a problem.  The water pan is mostly to catch and extinguish the burnt pucks and to collect any grease funneled from the VTray.  It does not produce much in the way of steam or moisture.  When cold smoking, you can move the smoke generator away from the tower and use a hose to direct the smoke over.  No water would need to be in the tower.
There are a few people here that have a lot of sausage experience that I am sure will have a more experienced suggestion.

[Habanero Smoker]

Fair-chase;
Welcome to the forum.

Depending on the ambient temperature, you may have to use the cold smoke off-set generator setup so that you will be able to keep you cabinet temperatures at the 120°F-140°F range that is recommended for the drying period, and the lower temperatures for the smoking stage. So the water pan will not be in the cabinet, but I do place a pie pan in the area where the water pan should be located (no water necessary), just in case there is a problem, and the pie pan may help with the clean up. During the colder months, I have also smoked sausage with the water pan in the cabinet. As long as you leave the vent wide open during the drying period, I have never had any problems.

[Fair-chase]

 Thanks for some good info.
Let me go back and tell you a few things that I do. I mainly make a venison sausage with some pork stuffed in natural hog casings. When I smoke sasuage  I dry @ 140 till casings appear dry, then I smoke @ 150- 160  usually around 3 Hrs.. After I'm done with the smoke I'll raise the heat to 170 and leave untill sausage reaches 152 deg.. remove and spray with cold water until 110 deg..

  The 1st drying step is just to get the casings dry so the meat will take on smoke correctly.  The meat still must dry some more throughout the cooking process.

If the damper on top is left wide open will the unit maintain a temp of 170-175 loaded with meat?
 

If this water thing is a problem I guess one could only use water in the pan when actually smoking.
I just hate to open the door.

I'm looking at the bradley because it seems to be well built and reasonably priced, but would buy something else if I thought it would suit my purpose better. As said before the main task for this smoker is going to be summer sausage. I know this is a Bradley forum but if any of  you think another unit would suit me better please tell me.

[Tiny Tim]

Temp with damper wide open won't be a problem...may actually be easier to maintain temp with it wide open.

Since you're smoking at 150-160, opening the door to take the bowl out before doing the "cook" at 170 wouldn't be a problem if you bumped the temp control up before getting the bowl out, as your meat's exterior would be close to the temp you were at, and would help the heat recover.

The only possible problem I think you'd have with the Bradley is with volume, but I don't know how much sausage you make at a time, or how you like to hang it or lay it for drying/smoking/cooking.

[Fair-chase]

 Good point I was thinking about this also. How much sausage can you hang in the 4 rack ant the 6 rack models?

[Tiny Tim]

About <       > that much. :D  I dunno, the cabinet is 15" between the sidewalls, with a lip coming out to hold the racks, and 11" from inside the door to the back wall, with 19" above the drip tray/v-pan (this is located just above the heating element).  The 6 rack is only available in the digital models, has the same side to side and front to back dimensions, but is 26.5" available above the drip tray/v-pan.  Advertised rack space is 10X13 useable inches, but they measure 11X15 inches.

Hanging, you're gonna have to come up with something...some have used oak dowels, others have used "S" hooks hung from an inverted rack.

[Habanero Smoker]

You only need to leave the vent wide open during the drying stage, then turn it to 1/4 to 1/2 close when you begin to apply the smoke. Just make sure that no smoke is backing out of the generator (if it is attached to the cabinet). When I smoke sausage, there is no or very little drippings, so I use the cold smoke setup, with not water pan in the cabinet. Like I stated above, I just place a pie pan under the "V" shelf, just in case. Even with the water bowl in the cabinet, your sausage will dry perfectly well. I would not bump up the temperature, that will ruin your casings. With only sausage in the BS, at those temperatures it will recovery fast.

I only make 5-6 pounds at a time and I hang my sausage so I can't say how much each tray holds.

[Tiny Tim]

When I said to bump the temp, I meant only to the next stage for finishing, not to go higher than that.  Sorry for any confusion.

[Fair-chase]

 Thanks guys. Seems the question I had about the water pan is not an issue. Now the volume might be the only draw back. Is 5-6 lbs. all you can hang in the unit without them touching each other? Also when you hang your sausage how far from the top and bottom do you have them, and does it cook evenly from the top to the bottom?

                                    Thanks!

[Arcs_n_Sparks]

Fair-chase,

I smoke mine on the racks, rather than hanging. This way, I can rotate racks and avoid over heating the sausages that are closer to the heater. I've had no problems during the drying stage with the water bowl in place. If you are worried, you can leave the water bowl out until you are ready to load pucks and apply smoke.

Arcs_n_Sparks

[Mr Walleye]

I've never done sausage so take this for what it's worth but when I do snack sticks I do about 8 lbs at a time in my 4 rack DBS.

Mike

[Habanero Smoker]

I probably could fit a pound another pound. I rigged up a hanging rack made for 1"x4" red oak, and hardwood dowels. The 1"x4" give me 3.5" extra height, and allows me to rotate the sausage from front to back.

If you use the racks, you can double the capacity by inverting a rack on top of another. That way you can smoke 8 racks at a time.

[Fair-chase]

 Sounds like you can get more in the smoker if you place it on the racks using the inverted racks with a total of 8 racks. My concern is what is the apperance of the sausage ( I'm using natural casings) when cooked on the racks ?

Also sounds like you need to shuffle the racks top to bottom to get an even cook. is this true? If so will the circulation fan some add on to the BS solve the issue?

                                            Thanks for all the help!

[Habanero Smoker]

Other then slightly flatten, and getting grid marks on the sausage where it comes into contact with the racks, your sausage should be a nice brown color.

Rotation of racks does improve the eveness of all sausage cooking at the same rate. I now hang my sausage, and when I smoke sausage I only rotate front to back one time, and that is at the end of the smoking period. I've been meaning to install a fan, and those who have one swear by them. Also using a temperature control device helps to maintain the important temperatures your need to keep the casings form getting tough, and to prevent the fat from rendering. I have the Raptur/Guru setup.

The smoking method I use is to first start the drying at 115°F-120°F; vent wide open. Then I apply the smoke at 140°F; vent 1/4 - 1/2 open. Then finish at 170°F (adjusting the vent to keep the temperature down; if necessary), until the sausage reaches and internal temperature of 155°F. I then shock the sausage in ice water, and air dry before packaging. I use the shock method, because it is easier for me, then spraying.