# Smoking Sausage Question



## handcannon32x

I have been making sausage for awhile now but I have never smoked any of it yet.  I usually make brauts and polish for me and family members. 

My question is, do I need to do anything special for it when I am going to smoke it or not?  I usually make it and just freeze it and when I cook it, I just throw it on the grill.    What temp to cook at and what internal temp should it be?  Thanks


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## adiochiro3

If you hot smoke (225-250*), then the links will probably be done in 1-1.5 hours.  As long as you're through the danger zone (40-140*) in less than 4 hours, you should be fine.  The IT should be 165* when done.

If you wish to smoke longer, then you will have to cure your sausages.


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## handcannon32x

adiochiro3 said:


> If you hot smoke (225-250*), then the links will probably be done in 1-1.5 hours.  As long as you're through the danger zone (40-140*) in less than 4 hours, you should be fine.  The IT should be 165* when done.
> 
> If you wish to smoke longer, then you will have to cure your sausages.




What do you mean cure the sausages?  Like I said, I grind the meat, mix, and stuff all my own.  Im guessing curing after they have been stuffed???


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## boykjo

You add cure #1 or Morton's tender quick to the meat along with the seasonings and let the seasonings meld with the meat and allow it to cure the meat and then you can slow smoke the sausages safely at lower temperatures......

Fresh sausages are hot smoked and cured sausages are slow smoked. An example of a fresh sausage is a johnsonville brat and a cured sausage is a hillshire farms smoked sausage ring

Joe


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## handcannon32x

How much cure should I add to 5 pounds of meat then?  And what temp should I smoke the sausage at also?


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## shoneyboy

HandCannon32X, it depends on the type of cure you are using….It will be on the directions of the bag of which ever you purchase….


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## graystratcat

If you're going to cold smoke sausage, you have to use a cure to prevent botulism....

If you're going to use Cure #1 (not Morton's Tender Quick... the two are different things) then 1 LEVEL teaspoon is required per 5# of sausage.  I don't use Tender Quick so I can't comment on how much to use but the instructions are on the back of the bag.  Cure is one thing where more is definitely NOT better.  Use it exactly as the manufacturer specifies.

As for cold smoking sausage, (I call it cold smoking but it's really not smoking at under 100* as cold smoking really implies) here's what I usually do for smoked kielbasa and andouille

After you've stuffed your sausage, hang and dry the sausage over night in the fridge.   This lets the casings dry out and also lets the seasonings in the sausage meld....

Next day smoke the sausage.  I roll smoke the entire time:

Start out at 130* for the first 2 hours.  This helps dry the casings further.

Then ramp to 165* for ~ 2.5 hours

Don't go strictly by time, you want to smoke to a finished IT.

I smoke to an IT of 152*.  I also cook this sausage when I'm ready to eat it.  I do not eat it prior to cooking after the smoke.

Hope this helps.  Shout out if you have any more questions.

-Salt


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## BGKYSmoker

Cure amount for smoking sausage.

Cure #1 used for most typical smoked sausages and other applications. Used at 1 level tsp per every 5 lbs of meat

Cure #2 used the same tsp amount as above. Cure 2 is used for dry curing sausages and other applications where it is called for.

MTQ is used at 7.5 tsp per every 5 lbs of meat. MTQ can be found at most markets, located by the salt and normally is in a blue bag. Keep in mine that Morten makes a bacon cure also.

Use the regular MTQ in the sausage.


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## dog1234

This ia all so confising.

It seems like I need to have a cure to make and smoke fresh deer sausage?


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## alblancher

If you hot smoke the sausage and keep it refrigerated you do not need to add cure.  We add cure to allow us to cook the sausage slowly and at lower temperatures giving us more smoke flavor and not rendering so much fat.


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## dog1234

Is this the right product for adding to Smoke venison and pork sausage?


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## shoneyboy

dog1234 said:


> Is this the right product for adding to Smoke venison and pork sausage?


Yes


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## dog1234

Hi Shoneyboy, we not to far apart. Thanks for the reply. I am approaching my first time every smoking deer sausage. It is very intimidating......


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## johnyd

Keep reading using searches on here and keep asking questions, we would rather see you have success than a belly ache


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## BGKYSmoker

What Joe said.


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## shoneyboy

If you ever help or advice, feel free to give me a shout….I usually smoke several hundred pounds of sausage a year …..Start off small, working a recipe to your taste, then expand it from there….Do not let it intimidate you…their nothing to it…. Personally I like to cold smoke my sausage, 100-130 for 4-6 hours… I have hot smoked it too; it’s just a personal preference….. If I can help feel free to ask…ShoneyBoy


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## tom imp

i recently  smoked a 20lb batch of bratwurst, 35mm hog cased...hanging on sticks in the smokehouse. i inserted the probe of my digital read thermometer into one of the sausages,and left it there during the smoking process. i used a combination of apple and alder in the fire box...maintained the smokehouse at 165-170deg.after about eight hours...the internal read thermometer had only reached atemp. of 144deg. the sausages were murdered!!skins shriveled and tuff as hell....completely overcooked!! what happened?should i only use the probe once in awhile to check internal temp? can anyone shed some light on this problem? thanks...Tom


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## uc smoker

I have had RAVE reviews on my smoked sausages to date.  Basically I got freshly made Hot Italian Sausages from Tip Top, and while doing ribs at 250, just put these on the top grate for 2 hours.  They shrivelled slightly when cooled, skin slightly tough, but eatable, and the raves were awesome...The Beef Ribs I thought were fantastic but the Sausages got the kudos...thank you emails a week later raving about the sausages...So I say, too low, and too long.


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## sam cole

Hello, new to this sight and have been reading posts.  My husband and I are wanting to start smoking sausage. When I was little (awhile ago) my father used to make our own stuffed sausage rings.  But it doesn't seem like any of the way you are talking about was how he did it. I remember he hung the sausage and let it dry, the stove was in the smoke house, once smoked it would hang in the smoke house all winter until it started to warm up, then if it started weeping, it would go in the freezer. we did not cook it before we ate it, just with beer and crackers.  it had beef, pork, mustard seeds, and some kind of cure. Everything I am reading seems to be hot smoke or cold smoke, but neither  seems to fit the description of what we did.  I know techniques have become safer and "improved" but would really like to make it the way he did. Does any of that sound familiar?


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## mummel

Just found this thread.  Why would one smoke at lower temps vs 225F?  More smoke flavor?  What else?


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## wolfpack usmc

Shoneyboy said:


> If you ever help or advice, feel free to give me a shout….I usually smoke several hundred pounds of sausage a year …..Start off small, working a recipe to your taste, then expand it from there….Do not let it intimidate you…their nothing to it…. Personally I like to cold smoke my sausage, 100-130 for 4-6 hours… I have hot smoked it too; it’s just a personal preference….. If I can help feel free to ask…ShoneyBoy


hello ShoneyBoy. I would like to try cold smoking deer sausage. I had a taste of this years ago and am trying to replicate it. It's was extremely smokey flavored, and tougher than usual more like jerky. Wondering casing type, venison pork or beef mix ratio. And smoke times and temps. I believe I heard my buddy say it was smoked for a few days? Any advice would be appreciated.


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## tkface

I was given some deer sausage that was different then any other, it was not your typical "summer sausage", this was a VERY DARK, very smokey, almost like a dark hard salami, almost black (absolutely delicious). The person told me it was COLD smoked, and told me to smoke it for 48 - 72 hours, and no more then 100 degrees.

I am going to attempt to make this, do you know anything about how to do this,.....I'm assuming after using cure, and keeping smoke on it for that long, is why it should be bacteria free. Any advice will be helpful.

TKface


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## jlzr

mummel said:


> Just found this thread.  Why would one smoke at lower temps vs 225F?  More smoke flavor?  What else?


Temperatures that hot causes the fat to melt and leach out. You'll have dry sausage. I just started smoking and I'm learning, but even kicking up the heat to 180 was too hot.


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## tkface

I have smoked a number of meats. For sausage, I use two different methods...(but NEVER have I smoked at 225 degrees).

*Method 1* - is for a slight smoked "summer sausage". I put the sausage in the oven on as low as possible (? 100) and leave the oven door cracked open to allow moisture out. You are only trying to dry the sausage. Then I put it into an electric smoker at 140 / 1hr....150 / 1 hr...

160 / 1hr....then 175 / 1 hr.....the 175 will get the internal temp up just over 165 and keep it there. High enough temp to kill bacteria, low enough to not allow meat to dry out.

*Method 2* - start with same procedure in the oven. Then I "COLD SMOKE" with hickory in an actual smoker. NO DIRECT HEAT, and DO NOT allow temps to get over 100. ( I was told to do this for no less the 48 hours).....I smoke the meat like this for 72 - 84 hours. between the CURE and length of smoke, I am told all bacteria will be gone. Its a long sleep deprived weekend, but the end result is worth it. 

I have read that some people smoke like this for 12+, then put the sausage in the refrigerator over night, then start the process again in the morning, which will obviously take a lot longer.

Good Luck


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## dward51

Read up on cold smoking sausage.

AND MOST IMPORTANT - USE CURE!!!!!!  You need something to prevent the growth of nasty bacteria with temps below 140*.  There are ways to ferment and cold smoke sausage, but that is a whole different subject and art in it's self.  I would bet what you had was a fermented sausage (where the reduced moisture and low PH from the bacterial used in fermentation preserve the meat).

99.9% of the home made sausage needs cure unless it's hot smoked.  The rare exception is the fermented products. There are 100's of posts on this forum showing people smoking sausage with cure.  It's easy.  I would recommend you stick to sausage with cure until you are very well versed in the subject of sausage making and ready to move to the fermentation level.


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