- Feb 6, 2015
- 4
- 10
This is my first post on this site and I'm hoping for some input from people knowledgeable on cold smoking sausage. For at least 40 years now, I've been making various sausages and learned it from my parents and grandparents as a kid. However, I think my family may have used some less than safe practices when cold smoking, so I'd like to get a discussion going with some people who know a lot about this so I can increase my understanding.
I have cold smoked sausage, both with and without cure in the past. I now know that it is not safe to do so without the cure, so all future cold smoked sausages will contain cure. I've spent some time reading about it and I've talked to several sausage makers, including some professional butchers during my yearly visits to Germany. There seems to be a lot of variation in different people's practices, so I'm really looking to find out all I can about what others recommend.
I have recently built a new smokehouse that is about 320 cubic feet. I've decided to install a smoke daddy smoke generator in it. I've not yet put any meat in my smoke house, but intend to do so soon. So far, I've just been experimenting with the smoke daddy to get the smoke correct. It took much trial and error, but I think I have it figured out.
I guess one of the main concerns I have is temperature. My smokehouse seems to maintain a temp that is only slightly above ambient temperature and so I'm wondering how much of the year I'll be able to use it. Where I live, we get frequent freezing temps in the winter, but by mid February, the temp is typically in the upper 30s to mid 40's at night and then might get up as high as 75 or even 80 during the day. Are these daytime temps too high for cold smoking? I'm thinking that I probably want to hang my sausages in the smokehouse and let them dry for a few hours and then put cold smoke to them for 6-8 hours. This could mean, even if I do it at night, that the temp inside the smoker could range between 40 and 80 degrees while the sausages are in there. Is there a problem with allowing them to reach 80?
I have more questions, but have to go back to work right now, so I'll check back on this thread later. I would appreciate any input from those of you who cold smoke sausage. I intend to freeze them after cold smoking and cook later
I have cold smoked sausage, both with and without cure in the past. I now know that it is not safe to do so without the cure, so all future cold smoked sausages will contain cure. I've spent some time reading about it and I've talked to several sausage makers, including some professional butchers during my yearly visits to Germany. There seems to be a lot of variation in different people's practices, so I'm really looking to find out all I can about what others recommend.
I have recently built a new smokehouse that is about 320 cubic feet. I've decided to install a smoke daddy smoke generator in it. I've not yet put any meat in my smoke house, but intend to do so soon. So far, I've just been experimenting with the smoke daddy to get the smoke correct. It took much trial and error, but I think I have it figured out.
I guess one of the main concerns I have is temperature. My smokehouse seems to maintain a temp that is only slightly above ambient temperature and so I'm wondering how much of the year I'll be able to use it. Where I live, we get frequent freezing temps in the winter, but by mid February, the temp is typically in the upper 30s to mid 40's at night and then might get up as high as 75 or even 80 during the day. Are these daytime temps too high for cold smoking? I'm thinking that I probably want to hang my sausages in the smokehouse and let them dry for a few hours and then put cold smoke to them for 6-8 hours. This could mean, even if I do it at night, that the temp inside the smoker could range between 40 and 80 degrees while the sausages are in there. Is there a problem with allowing them to reach 80?
I have more questions, but have to go back to work right now, so I'll check back on this thread later. I would appreciate any input from those of you who cold smoke sausage. I intend to freeze them after cold smoking and cook later