Sausage & Pellet Smoker

[craig chamberlain]

I have been smoking for lots of years, but have never tried making sausage and smoking them. I have a pellet smoker and the temperature only goes down to 200 degrees, would that temperature be alright?
I know it might run hotter then 200 degrees then it's set at, and if it does, is there anything else I could do?
I had to downsize, so I got rid of all my other smokers, so the Pit Boss pellet smoker is all I have left, any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[pushok2018]

I don't think this going to work for smoking sausages.... The max temp you can go is 169F, preferably 165F. Any temp above 169 will cause "fat out" and possibly crumbled sausage. Hppened to me twice, when I started this hobby.... I am pretty sure that more experienced members of this forum will respond with more expended answer....

 

[craig chamberlain]

I don't think this going to work for smoking sausages.... The max temp you can go is 169F, preferably 165F. Any temp above 169 will cause "fat out" and possibly crumbled sausage. Hppened to me twice, when I started this hobby.... I am pretty sure that more experienced members of this forum will respond with more expended answer....

Thanks for your help pushok2018

 

[sandyut]

depends - I smoked some Italian sausages at till cooked and they were fantastic. That was raw sausage links cooked to 150-160. I think I ran the temp at 180 I think? I ran a probe in lengthwise. honestly I forget. they were nice and firm and juicy. But that was cooked like you would do on a grill...is that what you meant?

 

[tropics]

I have been smoking for lots of years, but have never tried making sausage and smoking them. I have a pellet smoker and the temperature only goes down to 200 degrees, would that temperature be alright?
I know it might run hotter then 200 degrees then it's set at, and if it does, is there anything else I could do?
I had to downsize, so I got rid of all my other smokers, so the Pit Boss pellet smoker is all I have left, any help would be appreciated, thanks.

What model do you have I have the PB 4 vertical and low setting is 150*F
Richie

 

[craig chamberlain]

depends - I smoked some Italian sausages at till cooked and they were fantastic. That was raw sausage links cooked to 150-160. I think I ran the temp at 180 I think? I ran a probe in lengthwise. honestly I forget. they were nice and firm and juicy. But that was cooked like you would do on a grill...is that what you meant?

Yes that's what I meant sandyut

 

[craig chamberlain]

What model do you have I have the PB 4 vertical and low setting is 150*F
Richie

I have Pit Boss PB1000SCI

 

[sandyut]

yeah you totally can. just gotta probe them to watch the temp. I think i ran mine at 180 and then upped it at the end...it was a few months back but I am doing it again for sure with some brats soon. I didnt have much of the fat render out - less than if I had grilled them for sure. the color was fantastic as was the flavor of the smoke.

 

[sawhorseray]

What you've got pretty much isn't going to work, period. If you are planning to smoke cured sausage (Cure#1), ideally you want to start off at about 110º and gradually raise the temp 3-5 degrees every 15-20 minutes until you reach a maximum temp of 165. If you're starting out at 200º with the potential for higher temp swings you are in for nothing but misery. I apologize for being so blunt, I'm just trying to be dead honest with you. RAY

 

[craig chamberlain]

Yes that's what I meant sandyut

yeah you totally can. just gotta probe them to watch the temp. I think i ran mine at 180 and then upped it at the end...it was a few months back but I am doing it again for sure with some brats soon. I didnt have much of the fat render out - less than if I had grilled them for sure. the color was fantastic as was the flavor of the smoke.

But I can't set my temperature any lower then 200 degrees, and it might still spike a little more. I don't know if it would do any good to set it at 200, and have the lid opened a little, or it might not make any difference.

 

[craig chamberlain]

What you've got pretty much isn't going to work, period. If you are planning to smoke cured sausage (Cure#1), ideally you want to start off at about 110º and gradually raise the temp 3-5 degrees every 15-20 minutes until you reach a maximum temp of 165. If you're starting out at 200º with the potential for higher temp swings you are in for nothing but misery. I apologize for being so blunt, I'm just trying to be dead honest with you. RAY

I know, I guess I wanted to hear it from someone else to be sure, thanks for your reply.

 

[sawhorseray]

You are welcome Craig. Like I said, I'm not trying to pop your balloon, just being up front. As someone who's been making sausage for a couple of decades now I had to learn the hard way about smokers and sausage. What happens when the smoker temp spikes up over 170º -180º, especially 200+, is the fat in the sausage will liquify and run to the bottom of the links, in turn causing the links to burst and leaving you with not much but a bunch of meat goo to be cleaned off the bottom of the smoker. RAY

 

[smokerjim]

I know it won't be a steady temp but can you turn the smoker off when it's getting to warm, then restart it when it lowers I have the pitboss1000t2 and would be a bit of a pain in the a$% but it may work

 

[Winterrider]

Fellow N. Dakotan here, is cold smoking an option ? Just did some brats in our cold weather last weekend.
Temp remained under 40° so I smoked for 4 hrs.

 

[tx smoker]

But I can't set my temperature any lower then 200 degrees,

Ok, I've kind of glanced through the responses and have not seen something mentioned I'd recommend you check. Is that 200* temp you mention a set point on the digital controller or is it actual grate temp that you have verified with a dependable thermometer? The reason I ask is that with most pellet smokers the actual grate temp is significantly lower than your set point temp. They are different types of probes and in different places, so there could well be a good sized variable.

On a different note, I have a Rec Tec 700 Bull and have smoked sausage on it several times and it's always been perfect. Yes, it's nice to slowly raise the temp over a period of time but I can honestly say from experience it's not mandatory. I let the sausage sit out for a little while on the counter then put them on before turning on the grill and the temp rises slowly somewhat accomplishing what's been mentioned previously.

Robert

 

[sawhorseray]

Fellow N. Dakotan here, is cold smoking an option ? Just did some brats in our cold weather last weekend.
Temp remained under 40° so I smoked for 4 hrs.

I'd think that to be a great option! When you go to all the trouble and effort to make a batch of sausage do you really want to roll the dice? Get a Amaz-N- Smoke tube or pan. RAY

 

[sandyut]

I have a Rec Tec 700 Bull and have smoked sausage on it several times and it's always been perfect.

Me too Robert. In fact turned out better than I expected.

 

[craig chamberlain]

You are welcome Craig. Like I said, I'm not trying to pop your balloon, just being up front. As someone who's been making sausage for a couple of decades now I had to learn the hard way about smokers and sausage. What happens when the smoker temp spikes up over 170º -180º, especially 200+, is the fat in the sausage will liquify and run to the bottom of the links, in turn causing the links to burst and leaving you with not much but a bunch of meat goo to be cleaned off the bottom of the smoker. RAY

You are welcome Craig. Like I said, I'm not trying to pop your balloon, just being up front. As someone who's been making sausage for a couple of decades now I had to learn the hard way about smokers and sausage. What happens when the smoker temp spikes up over 170º -180º, especially 200+, is the fat in the sausage will liquify and run to the bottom of the links, in turn causing the links to burst and leaving you with not much but a bunch of meat goo to be cleaned off the bottom of the smoker. RAY

No problem RAY, I have been smoking for decades too, but not sausage. I had 4 smokers before, that's when I should of decided to learn making sausage, oh well, I can still smoke lots of meat anyway .

 

[craig chamberlain]

Ok, I've kind of glanced through the responses and have not seen something mentioned I'd recommend you check. Is that 200* temp you mention a set point on the digital controller or is it actual grate temp that you have verified with a dependable thermometer? The reason I ask is that with most pellet smokers the actual grate temp is significantly lower than your set point temp. They are different types of probes and in different places, so there could well be a good sized variable.

On a different note, I have a Rec Tec 700 Bull and have smoked sausage on it several times and it's always been perfect. Yes, it's nice to slowly raise the temp over a period of time but I can honestly say from experience it's not mandatory. I let the sausage sit out for a little while on the counter then put them on before turning on the grill and the temp rises slowly somewhat accomplishing what's been mentioned previously.

Robert

I always have a thermometer on my grates, and it's always the same as what it's set for, or a little higher.
I might play around with the smoker and see what I can come up with, or just try the oven.

 

[tx smoker]

I might play around with the smoker and see what I can come up with, or just try the oven.

There's a thought. Cold smoke the sausages for a couple hours then put them in the oven. That should work.

Robert