First Summer Sausage and Salami in Smoker

[mikerags]

Made up my first batch of Summer Sausage last night. Went into the smoker this morning at 8am. Some pictures below.
Made 20lbs total. 10 lbs of beef salami and 10lbs of cheddar jalapeno venison summer sausage. Used regular cheese, will have to see how much it melts. No pics of the prep only of the stuffed casings in the smoker.

 

[mulepackin]

Looking great so far. Keep us posted. It's work, but it's fun.

 

[solaryellow]

Looks good. Both of those are on my list of things to attempt in the near future.

 

[jjmrascal]

That is going to be wonderful! People who don't think they can make sausage or that there is some kind of magic to it would be surprised at how easy it is to do! Good job!

 

[mikerags]

Do you normally put water in the water pan while smoking summer sausage? I did, but am wondering if this will cause them to not dry out as much as they should?

 

[beer-b-q]

Looks Great...

 

[nickelmore]

Can you post your recipe for this sausage? I am always looking for additions to the my cooking files

 

[hog warden]

Normally, NO water for smoking sausage. The casing needs to be dry for it to take up the smoke. The pan is OK to leave in in case you get it too hot and the grease renders out. Don't do that BTW. Max temp of around 170* and hang in there.

Looks real good so far. In lieu of sending us all some, we expect pictures when it's done!

 

[mikerags]

Great thanks for the info. Just took out the pan of water. Your right, the casings were looking a little moist. Should dry out over the next few hours. Did 2 hours at 130F, 4 hours at 150F and now just kicked the temperature up to 165F. Internal temperature is 125F.

I see you said 170F, do you mean smoker temperature or sausage temperature? I was planning on taking the sausage to 152F.

Will post pictures and the recipes in a bit, need to get out my notebook.

 

[chola]

I am sure he meant smoker temp...... take out and then shower with cold water at 152 til internal temp comes down to 110..then hang to bloom

PS...I would love a recipe for the beef as well...I haven't found one I really like yet

 

[mballi3011]

Man they look so good and I cann't wait till the finishing Qview. I will be back cause summer sausage is really close to the top of my wifes to do list for me.

 

[chola]

Well...am waiting for more pics......LOL
I am excited to see how these critters truned out...suspense is killin' me

 

[uncle_lar]

nice looking summer sausage!
I just posted a thread of mine also in the smoker now.
I use regular course shredded sharp cheddar in mine also and it doesnt melt too bad as long as you dont get the smoker too hot.
I try and keep mine @160* max
cant wait to see your finished product.!

 

[nickelmore]

been watching both threads, they look great, Please post the recipes. I am about to try my hand at it and find some of the receipes in the sausage book are sometimes a little dry and bland. I don't want to waste venison.

Thanks

 

[meat hunter]

Sausages look great. Feel free to send me some samples

.
If your interested, you mentioned that you hope your cheese does not melt to much on you. A number of the sausage supply stores sell cheese that is already cubed and has a high melting point, made just for sausage makers.

 

[mikerags]

Ok well the smoke is complete. Took almost 20 hours, although 6 were "interrupted" by Thanksgiving and had to turn the smoker down.

So here's the deal. It is ok, but not the best salami and summer sausage. It was my first batch and a bit bland. Reminds me of the first fresh sausage I made tasted bland and about the same before I got a feel for it. Never had a complaint after my first batch.

So pictures are below. Used the MES and the temperatures were unevnen. Rights side finised much quicker than the left side. Had some fat render out I believe due the the bottom of the sausage finishing before the top. Next time I would make sure case them will all the same size casing and the same length. This time I mixed up 4 diameter and length casings which lead to uneven heating.

Cheddar did not melt and run. It was fine without the high temp cheese. Ok so here are the pictures.





Cooling off in ice water


Blooming.


Cut of venison. Turned out ok. Nice cheddar and jalapeno flavor but a little dry.



Salami, good but got a layer of fat around due to high uneven temperatures?


Breakfast, the best...

 

[chola]

Thanks for the pics and the update....they look pretty darn good to me

 

[mikerags]

Ha ha, yeah don't get me wrong by my post, they are all good. I will post the recipies in a bit an let everyone know what I would do differently next time.

 

[DanMcG]

That looks darn good for a first try. I'd like to see the recipes that you used. the couple problems ya had with the dryness and the rendered fat are easy fixes, so your next batch will be great I'm sure.
And thanks for the Q-view with the regular cheese. I've been wondering what would happen if I used regular cheese as opposed to the hi temp cheese that I normally use. it looks like it held up fine.