is my summer sausage done?

[deerjackie]

i cooked off 20 lbs in an elec uds other night using 20% cheap sausage and 80% ground deer with powdered milk, cure, liquid smoke and spices. started out at 150 first hour 160 2nd hr then to 175 until my internal read 160 which was on 5th hr. removed, icewater bath and room temp for an hr.curiosity got the best of me so i cut a shorty 2 in dia by 4 in long leftover last casing stuffed and it is tender, slices great but how did it get to 160 internal temp in 5 hrs? the casings are 2 in x12 in and had 18-20 lbs .friends and i have been eating it and they love it but i still have my doubts. no one got sick btw.

 

[jamminjimi]

According to what I see. You started with a pretty high temp. I have read to start at 110-120 and than start working your way up. I just done 3 SS's 4" in diameter. They took 7 hours to hit 152*. I have one I am doing tonight for a buddy.

 

[deerjackie]

well i dont feel so bad now.i guess i could start it at a lower temp next time.its the first batch i have made that was nt all dried out and i discovered the difference between an instant read thermometer and a pulp thermometer. before i was getting bad internal temp readings with an old dial thermometer stuck down thru the top of a ss casing till it bottomed out. i guess as long as it read 160 internal temp it is done. but the slower the better getting to that would be wise.thanks

 

[mulepackin]

Yeah, you probably moved it along a little quickly. Not really a problem provided you don't render out fat, and the flavor is where you want it. Heres a link to my general smoke schedule: http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...schedule#post4

 

[deerjackie]

i did notice flavor was a little off but was tickled it was nt shriveled up and i could slice it.will slow it down next time.and get an oven thermometer with lower numbers than 150.lol

 

[mballi3011]

I think you should have started out alot lower temps fro sure as long as you get the sausage to 156° you'll be fine you just didn't get the most out of the spices and the flavor of the sausage. Next time read the direction in "the Bible" or on your spice packages and it will tell you how to smoke it. I personally start out at about 80° or so and work my way upto 170°-175° till the sausage hits the right internal temp.

 

[ringodad]

I like a 4-stage approach - 120 for a while with no smoke, then 140, 160, 180. I'm fooling around with shorter in-between smoking times - If I go for an hour at 120 and a couple hours at 140 and a couple at 160, it takes me 10 hours to finish a 1.5 x 12" stick. That's probably excessive time for 1 Lb sticks.

 

[deerjackie]

thanks for info folks.