First time making smoked sausage

[tropics]

 
IDK. A lot of commercial pre-packaged sausages (Johnsonville, etc.) are shipped to retailers frozen.They thaw them as needed to stock their display cases. I've purchased a fair amount of them over the years before I began making my own and would take them home and re-freeze them until I needed them without any problem.

I believe any thing that was frozen has to be labeled as previously frozen

 

[chewmeister]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with smoking sausage that has cure in it for a few hours and then freezing it I have make 100's of pounds of sausage this wY and have yet to have anyone get sick. If you do a little research and stop at meat markets or grocery stores and check the meat cases most sausage needs to be COOKED before eating. Maybe I just am from a different area but I've never known anyone who makes sausage or bacon for that matter who COOKS it in a smokehouse I'm sure I'll get flamed for this post but that's ok

Hmm. Most recipes for smoked sausage require some type of cure and smoking to an IT of a minimum of 140 to 152 degrees to kill off any pathogens. Additionally, many commercial sausages (hot dogs, smoked sausage, etc.) are labeled as fully cooked.

 

[chewmeister]

 
I believe any thing that was frozen has to be labeled as previously frozen

I'm not sure. I can't say that those products were labeled that way.

 

[chewmeister]

 
A lot of commercial pre-packaged sausages (Johnsonville, etc.) are fresh sausage. They have no cure in them. Totally different thing.

I understand that. What I'm saying is that a lot of them have been already frozen and are refrozen all the time.

 

[ron forst]

If you read Rytek Kutas book you will find example after example of what I'm talking about

 

[tropics]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with smoking sausage that has cure in it for a few hours and then freezing it I have make 100's of pounds of sausage this wY and have yet to have anyone get sick. If you do a little research and stop at meat markets or grocery stores and check the meat cases most sausage needs to be COOKED before eating. Maybe I just am from a different area but I've never known anyone who makes sausage or bacon for that matter who COOKS it in a smokehouse I'm sure I'll get flamed for this post but that's ok

Ron when you do the sausage what is the IT that you finish them at?

 

[ron forst]

I first of all make sure to use the required amount of cure secondly I run my smokehouse at around 200 degrees with full smoke usually about 3 hours and go totally by color and firmness Sausage is then pulled refrigerated and then within a day frozen. So no I don't check internal temp The exception would be summer sausage or beef sticks shock I cook to internal temp of 154 then ice bath to stop cooking. Bacon is triple smoked at maybe 150 in smokehouse and pulled when color is to my liking

 

[tropics]

If you read Rytek Kutas book you will find example after example of what I'm talking about

Ron I just referenced the book IT should be 152* for almost all I checked.

 

[ron forst]

That's fine I'll keep making it this way and if somebody wants to finish it in the smoker that's fine too. The original topic was about him not liking the final result bring dry and he asked if he could partially do it and then freeze. I just replied that if you have cure in it you are fine. I've found examples of people cold smoking sausage for days. It can be done it's probably not as common as what I've thought but does work for me.

 

[daveomak]

That's fine I'll keep making it this way and if somebody wants to finish it in the smoker that's fine too. The original topic was about him not liking the final result bring dry and he asked if he could partially do it and then freeze. I just replied that if you have cure in it you are fine. I've found examples of people cold smoking sausage for days. It can be done it's probably not as common as what I've thought but does work for me.

That is not true....   Cure#1 does NOT kill pathogens like salmonella...... 

 

[boykjo]

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/86649/the-final-word-on-food-safety

 

[tropics]

 
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/86649/the-final-word-on-food-safety

Joe Thank You

 

[ron forst]

http://www.meatsandsausages.com/meat-smoking/cold-smoking

 

[JckDanls 07]

Lets go back to the cooking method.. you say you can't get over 130` with the electric element.... If it buy chance is one of the hot plates, the problem is a thermal protector installed in them to keep them from overheating and catching something on fire... You will have to do some surgery on the hot plate and bypass the thermal protector... but most hot plates have plastic surroundings and that's why the protection....