Less than ideal smoking of pork sausage w/Qview

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

4t64rd

Fire Starter
Original poster
Jun 24, 2008
45
10
Largo, FL
I started using the cast iron smoker box I got from my ugly drum smoker in my cheapo gas grill... kinda works, but it's less than ideal.

This morning, I'm off work (4 day work weeks in the summer) I ground up some more of pork steaks (they call them sirloin) in the food processor,
Qview1-2.jpg

and seasoned the mixture with fennel seeds, garlic, sea salt, black pepper and some red pepper flakes and some sage and a little Cajun seasoning.
Qview1-1.jpg


Threw some maple chunks in the smoke box and cooked them until the were 160 inside... about an hour.
Qview1-3.jpg


Not enough fat in the pork steaks, so they came out dry, but they had a lot of flavor, so I put on some Sweet Baby Rays and they came out, flavor-wise, sweet, mapley with a little heat on the end, but dry.
Qview1-4.jpg


Lessons learned: need more fat, leave out the fennel (makes it smell like italian sausage) need to get the UDS up and running... this would make an excellent fattie stuffed with some bananas or apples and raisins for breakfast.

So goes my first week of smoke experimenting with a gas grill.

Next up: War Dogs in a parking lot.
 
I'd perhaps look into a grinder...even a cheapie hand crank for small batches. Puree'd meat makes for a poor texture. And may have accounted for SOME of the dryness, as you smash the meat cells to bits, they lose ALOT of ability to hold any moisture.

Interesting flavor combo tho!
 
Sirloin is a bit of a lean cut to use by itself too. Add some pork fat the next time to achieve about a 20% fat to meat ratio. Emulsifying it too may be a bit extreme, but i don't see why you can't still use a food processor to make the sausage. Just don't pulverize the bejesus out of the meat. Do small amounts at a time and pulse it till its chopped enough for you. Then mix in the spices by hand for a few minutes to get the bind.

Most grocery stores might also grind the meat for you before you buy it. Oh and you could also add something like crackers or milk powder and that can help retain some moisture.
 
Spam reported go away qrst353
 
Thanks for the tips, next time I'm going to add some more fat, and some binder... In my meatloaf, I sometime use oatmeal or rice too, might make them crumble a little easier too.
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky