# Encapsulated citric acid in summer sausage



## mbarnes122578 (Nov 18, 2021)

I finished my first batch of summer sausage sous vide at 143.5 last weekend and it turned out good.  I would like to try again with the addition of ECA.  I will smoke sausage first at 135ish for about four hours before moving to sous vide set in the low 140's.  With my diameter casings (2.5 in) I figure on about 4 hrs according to Baldwin's chart.  The ECA is from Walton's and is supposed to breakdown at temps over 135 so I believe I will be good with my Sous Vide machine set in the low 140's.  Does anyone have any experience finishing summer sausage with ECA in it Sous Vide?  Thanks


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## mossymo (Nov 18, 2021)

Smoking and finishing sous vide should have zero effect with ECA in the mix, as long as the ECA is mixed, stuffed, smoked and SV'd in one shot with no fridge breaks.
Your finish temp is low to my personal preference, like seeing it much closer to 155º.
When I have done this I smoked 3 hours with a cook chamber temp of 130º , SV for 3 hours at 155º followed by cold water bath to stall the cook. I never monitored the internal meat temp though. They were pound a half chubs in a 2.5" casing.


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## mbarnes122578 (Nov 19, 2021)

mossymo said:


> Smoking and finishing sous vide should have zero effect with ECA in the mix, as long as the ECA is mixed, stuffed, smoked and SV'd in one shot with no fridge breaks.
> Your finish temp is low to my personal preference, like seeing it much closer to 155º.
> When I have done this I smoked 3 hours with a cook chamber temp of 130º , SV for 3 hours at 155º followed by cold water bath to stall the cook. I never monitored the internal meat temp though. They were pound a half chubs in a 2.5" casing.


Thanks for info mossymo.  Do you get any fat out running 155 for 3 hr?


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## mossymo (Nov 20, 2021)

No, there was no fat rendering.
Here is a post where I show sliced pics of the finished product. www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/smoked-n-sous-vide-venison-summer-sausage.243766


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## chopsaw (Nov 20, 2021)

mossymo said:


> Here is a post where I show sliced pics of the finished product.


That's some great looking SS . The venison really adds to it .
I ran some of the Garlic SS last week . I have half the chub drying in the fridge , wrapped in pink paper . Really good . I used T-SPX on this batch .



mbarnes122578 said:


> I believe I will be good with my Sous Vide machine set in the low 140's


I don't use ECA , but if I finish SV I use 140 as the temp and go by the chart . I do this for smoked sausage ( 32 mm casing stuff ) because it cuts down on a long hang time in the smoker . It's just a matter of how you like it .
IF , you're using 140 as a cook temp it's important to get it cooled down as fast as possible . I use ice in a cooler or the sink .
Texas hot links smoked to desired color , then SV'd at 140 . Fast cool down with a bag of ice .
SV time is what ever the chart says , I'm guessing 1 1/2 hours .











Edit :
given the active temp for the ECA , if it were me I think I would bump the temp up to 145 / 150 and adjust the time according to the chart . Like I said , I've never used it though . Just making sure it releases .


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## Steve H (Nov 21, 2021)

With ECA. I would bump the IT to 150 to be sure it activated/released.


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## mbarnes122578 (Nov 21, 2021)

I set sv at 145 thinking this is 10 degrees over what the eca should breakdown at.  Chart say 3.25 hours for 2.5 in casings.  I plan on giving it an extra hour.  Then ice bath for an hour and in the fridge for a couple day before freezing if it doesn't all get eaten on Thanksgiving!


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