Andouille time!!

[indaswamp]

Pork butts went on sale for $1.17 so I bought 2 double packs; about 45lbs. of meat. With cooler weather coming, it's time to make andouille for the gumbos! I'm sitting outside enjoying this first good cold snap of the year here in south Louisiana tending the smoker. Made a 30# batch of Andouille to use up the 2" casing I had on hand. And 15# of smoked sausage.

This pic. is one hour in when I added more wood for smoke...new smoker walls are getting nice and dark!

I'm using Hickory pellets, Pecan saw dust, and Brown sugar for the smoke...

 

[gearloose]

Which recipe are you using?

 

[indaswamp]

Which recipe are you using?

Both the andouille and smoke sausage recipe are family recipes. The andouille recipe is over 100 years old and 120lbs. of it was made weekly at a little restaurant along the river road in St. James Parish Louisiana. The smoke sausage recipe is 20 years old and one I have been making for a long time. It's a simple country cajun smoke sausage used in everything from redbeans to jambalaya.

 

[indaswamp]

3 hours in...

 

[indaswamp]

Smoking these links @ night for 2 reasons. 1. The temp is on the cool side with a low tonight of 54*. Which makes it eaiser to control the temp at a low setting in my propane smoker because I can run the flame a little higher and that helps prevent flame out. 2. The humidity is high @ 87% so no need for a water pan.
FWIW, Always a higher relative humidity @ night. As the temp. falls, the moisture in the air gets concentrated because cold air is less dense than warm air. So the moisture per volume of air spikes, and some of it condenses out-that is why we have dew in the morning.

 

[SmokinAl]

They look fantastic!
I think every family has their own Andouille recipe!
Al

 

[indaswamp]

They look fantastic!
I think every family has their own Andouille recipe!
Al

Thanks Al.
That may be true, but the Cajuns were simple people and used what they had available from the swamp floor. They did not use exotic spices when the recipe was developed long ago. No mace, no nutmeg, no cloves. As you get into New Orleans which was heavily influenced by French cooking, you will find old Andouille recipes that used thyme.

Now, I'm not claiming Andouille made with exotic spices are not good, I'm just stating for clarity what is considered 'authentic' by the locals that developed cajun andouille.

Pic. just before pulling the sausage links to put in water bath....

Andouille links have about another hour and a half to go.

This is the first batch of andouille in my new smoker. The links look a little light in color. Might need to use more sugar on the next batch but I'll reserve judgement until they are done.

 

[ab canuck]

They look wonderful. I am so looking forward to going back down there and eat more that cajun food and sausages....... Point.....

 

[isitdoneyet]

Those look great.
I have not seen adding brown sugar to smoking wood before. What does it do for smoking process?

 

[indaswamp]

Finally got the temp up to 154* and held it there for 12 minutes. Pic. right before I pulled them off the smoker:

They're done, but not quite as dark as I would have liked. I think the ambient temp. had something to do with it. My extended family never smoked andouille unless the temp outside was at least 30*. This allows for a higher flame which smokes off the sugar more readily; and it's the sugar that coats the links and makes them look darker. The links smell awesome though-just like andouille should!

 

[indaswamp]

Those look great.
I have not seen adding brown sugar to smoking wood before. What does it do for smoking process?

Traditionally, pecan and sugar cane stalks were used to smoke andouille. As the above post describes-it's the sugar syrup that when it burns off, coats the links and makes them dark-almost black. That sweet smoke is the hallmark of what andouille should smell like.
Since most people do not have access to sugar cane stalks, dark brown sugar is an excellent substitute and readily available to most everyone. Be liberal with the sugar on top of your smoking wood. Though I do have access to sugar cane stalks, the brown sugar is just too convenient to pick up while out buying the pork for the sausages...

And thanks for the points fellas.

 

[indaswamp]

BTW, I used 4" zip ties on the links. Worked excellent-fast, easy, and did not slip. I used kitchen twine for the hanging loops, then added another zip tie around both the twine and tag end of the casing for insurance. Some of those links were almost 4' long and they held.

I'm definitely sold on the zip ties for andouille! Just need to use needle nose pliers to pull them tight tight tight!

 

[isitdoneyet]

Great info. I will have to try that next time. Do you use a certain amount? Have you done it with pellets on an A-MAZE-N pellet smoker tube or tray? I have some Pecan pellets and would like to try this next time I make andouille.

 

[indaswamp]

Have not tried it on an A-MAZE-N pellet tray, I use an 18" cast iron skillet on top of my propane burner in my smoker as a diffuser and wood tray. You could try and fill the tray with pellets, then top with about 1/8" of brown sugar. Report back how it goes.

 

[indaswamp]

Here ya go Gearloose:
http://www.gumbopages.com/food/andouille.html

That one is REAL close to the recipe I use. Simple ingredients and heavy sweet smoke. Though if you use the full amount of Black Pepper, it will be hot. I suggest backing off and using half the stated amount.

I also suggest subtracting 1tsp. of salt and adding 1tsp. of cure #1 to the recipe.

 

[indaswamp]

A word on Black pepper vs. white pepper-
Tastes have changed over the years. 100+ years ago, white pepper was more prevalent and people preferred the taste of it to black pepper. It's the same fruit, only white pepper is the mature seed with the skin removed while black pepper is the immature fruit. Slight difference in taste. It is better for the grower to sell black pepper than white because they do not need to wait for the fruit to ripen. Faster to market, thus faster to profit. Just like with most everything nowadays. It's also less processing to sell black pepper....

From wiki:

White pepper consists solely of the seed of the pepper plant, with the darker-coloured skin of the pepper fruit removed. This is usually accomplished by a process known as retting, where fully ripe red pepper berries are soaked in water for about a week, during which the flesh of the pepper softens and decomposes. Rubbing then removes what remains of the fruit, and the naked seed is dried. Sometimes alternative processes are used for removing the outer pepper from the seed, including removing the outer layer through mechanical, chemical, or biological methods.[6]

I use white pepper because it is traditional....YMMV.

 

[ab canuck]

indaswamp. Thx for posting that link. I went to check it out and have bookmarked that page, There are a few fav's in there I am going to try again. I have only been down there once and it has hooked me. We plan on going back again this spring for awhile, but we will have to see how the economy and future looks like for us this spring.

 

[gearloose]

Here ya go Gearloose:
http://www.gumbopages.com/food/andouille.html

That one is REAL close to the recipe I use. Simple ingredients and heavy sweet smoke. Though if you use the full amount of Black Pepper, it will be hot. I suggest backing off and using half the stated amount.

I also suggest subtracting 1tsp. of salt and adding 1tsp. of cure #1 to the recipe.

Thanks!

 

[indaswamp]

On the zip ties-
I grip the tab of the zip tie right above the zipper and twist/rotate the needle nose pliers to leverage against the zipper in order to snug the sip tie tab down as tight as possible to prevent slippage. I repeat this 2~3 times to cinch it down all the way.

IMPORTANT- I leave the zip tie long for when putting them on ice over night. I trim the tab right before putting them on the smoker. This helps keep the sharp cut edge from tearing the casings when rubbing against each other piled in the ice chest.

 

[gearloose]

This idea of using zip ties really appeals to me. I use a lot of collagen casings, and they just will not stay twisted. Tying with kitchen string is a time consuming PITA. I'm going to try the zip ties on my next batch of sausage.