Hope you're feeling better Bear!
Here's my latest masterpiece. I cut the rounds lengthwise but left them connected, plus I did one of those 3 pound (?) summer sausages just for S&G's.
The Summer sausage came out great,. as you can see, only about 1/2 of it is left. I also learned that even with the 1 hour soak to remove salt from the rounds, when you marinate meat this thin, it still ends up a bit salty, so next time I prep them this way, I'll probably reduce the TQ by 1/3.
Total time was 11 hours, it hit 156 at about 10.5, but I left it go to 158, as last time it was a bit more moist than I wanted. I think maybe my thermometer may be off a bit, as 158 is just about perfect moisture wise. Smoke was on the last 10 hours. One A-maze-n 6 x 8 with only 4 slots filled with hickory, then a second load of cherry with only 3 slots filled, and the smoke ended about 10 minutes before the meat did. Outside temps started out around 45 in the am up to about 61 at mid afternoon, then back down to 40's for the last couple hours, with 12 mph winds the whole time.
So, all is said and done and my Christmas shopping is now finished..... <G> Oh.... the day after I bought these 2 rounds, the price at Costco jumped from $3.89 per pound to $4.69 per pound. I may be done smoking rounds till prices come back down. Besides, I want to try smoking some trout as soon as Costco has some again.
Thanks again Bear!
Phil