- Mar 16, 2015
- 252
- 81
Whenever I smoke sausage or make snacksticks in my MES my casings get very tough. I don't think the issue is the casings because when I hot smoke or grill the sausages on my Big Green Egg they are very tender. My casings are cleaned and flushed at least 3 times. They then are soaked in cool water with a bit of vinegar to clear them up. I'm thinking that when I smoke sausage in my MES I'm drying out my casings to much. I usually start the smoking process by starting out with a 120 deg. temp for 1 hr. without smoke to dry the sausage. I then apply smoke and gradually bump the temp up until I get to the internal temp I want. The question is should I be using a water pan to add moisture to the smoking process. If I am supposed to use a water pan do I place it into the MES after the initial 120 deg. drying time or use it right from the start? Thanks in advance for any help.