How to prep sausage for smoking

[poppa j]

OK. I got sausage stuffed and ran out of time. It's in frige in a pan. Will be tomorrow evening before I can start smoking. How do I prep it, been so long I can't remember. I think I hang it up and put a fan on it till the casing dries then on the smoker at around 175 and pore the smoke to it. Does this sound right?

 

[sknabnoj]

I usually hang in the fridge and the casings dry sufficiently. Then hang in the smoker and smoke away.

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[boykjo]

Did you use cure?

 

[bigwheel]

Sounds like a good plan to me Poppa. I like to get the links made up and rest at least overnight uncovered in the ice box..to give the cure time to work..giving an occasional shuffle so they all get some air and dumping off any liquid which accumulates in the bottom of whatever container they are in. I have two very handy perforated plastic laundry baskets from WW which works well. When show time comes I like to hang them up and blow a small fan to dry out the cases for a few hours...then start smoking the heck out of it. Temp of 175 sounds good go me. I pulled them at 155 for years but now they claim it needs to hit 160..so you might want to boost the heat toward the end game if you want it to break 160. Keeps us posted. Thanks. 

 

[mabrandt]

 
 Temp of 175 sounds good go me. I pulled them at 155 for years but now they claim it needs to hit 160..so you might want to boost the heat toward the end game if you want it to break 160. Keeps 

Have'nt been here in a while. When did this change and why?

 

[boykjo]

If the sausage has cure you can dry the sausage to form a pellicle then start your smoker at 130 degrees and smoke your sausage bumping the temp up 10 degrees every hr till your smoker temp reaches 170 degrees then finish the sausage at an Internal temp of 160 degrees. If your sausage is fresh (no cure) you can hot smoke it. 175 to 225 degree smoker will cook the sausage in 4 hrs following the 40 to 140 in 4 hr rule.....

 

[mabrandt]

What I was asking is why you are saying smoke until 160 instead of the 153 -155 that was the standard? What was the reasoning for raising it? When was this raised? Like I said, haven't been here in a while.

 

[boykjo]

here ya go

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal...preparation/sausages-and-food-safety/ct_index

 

[mabrandt]

Thank you very much. That was good information to know.  For me, it doesn't really make a difference I guess, as I freeze all my sausage after smoking. I also always cook them before eating. So I guess for me, it doesn't matter what temp I pull them at. Technically, I am eating fresh smoked sausage with a cure, according to the FDA. 

The funny thing was you can go back in this forum for years and see the pull at 152 to 155. Then it changes and searching again, I see it is never mentioned. If there was a big discussion, I didn't see it. 

 

[woodcutter]

 
Thank you very much. That was good information to know.  For me, it doesn't really make a difference I guess, as I freeze all my sausage after smoking. I also always cook them before eating. So I guess for me, it doesn't matter what temp I pull them at. Technically, I am eating fresh smoked sausage with a cure, according to the FDA. 

The funny thing was you can go back in this forum for years and see the pull at 152 to 155. Then it changes and searching again, I see it is never mentioned. If there was a big discussion, I didn't see it. 

I missed it too. Actually I don't even know how my sausage would turn out at 160.

 

[boykjo]

You hardly notice the difference between 152 and 160..... I go to 160 to be sure eveything has reached 152 still if the sausage has made it to 160 in more places than some. I pull it

 

[woodcutter]

You hardly notice the difference between 152 and 160..... I go to 160 to be sure eveything has reached 152 still if the sausage has made it to 160 in more places than some. I pull it

Thanks.