# Sausage final cooking method----- Question



## daveomak (Feb 16, 2011)

I'm re-reading Rytek Kutas Book. It has been about 15 yrs since I last made sausage.

My last batch was started and completed in the smoker I built on the coast. Now with the  MES on my porch I'm ready to stuff again.

Rytek talks about drying the sausage at a low temp in the smoker and then adding smoke keeping the temp low. After the smoke, raising the temp in the smoker to finish the cooking process.

He says the temp can also be raised using steam. Alternately, a hot water bath can be used to finish the cooking process by submerging the saussage in hot water until an internal temp of  ~ (165 I assume for pork) is achieved.

Then submerge in ice water to cool.

I would assume the water bath should be 165 or so, and the sausage could stay in it for 1-2 hrs. Similar to "sous vide" until internally the sausage was up to temp.  The water/steam cooking method is used to "speed up" the process.

Does anyone here try to speed up the process using water/steam?

If so, does it have any drawbacks? Quality etc?

Being retired I have wwwaaayyy to much time on my hands, so speeding up the process is not a big deal. I'm just an old f**t tryin to learn a little more.

Dave


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## down lowe (Feb 16, 2011)

I have never used water, but I remember reading, and it may have been in his book, that you don't use want to use a high heat with water, same as if you smoke.  this prevents the fat from rendering.


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## DanMcG (Feb 16, 2011)

Hey Dave, I use the water bath often, ususally with products that don't get smoked. I run water temp's of 165°  -175°F and a hot dog will be done in 15-20 minutes. water will cook much faster then hot air.


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## dnovotny (Feb 16, 2011)

I SMOKE MY DOGS  FOR 2 HRS. IN SMOKE THEN PUT THEM IN WATER TEMP.  BETWEEN 165-180 FOR 15-20 MIN  UNTIL INTERNAL  READS 155-165. WORKS EVERY TIME..SOMETIME I ADD  1/2 -1  CUP OF  LIQUID SMOKE TO THE WATER, OR  SOME CHICKEN OR  BEEF  BROTH  AND LET  THEM COOK IN THAT FOR  FAVOR......


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## daveomak (Feb 17, 2011)

Interesting replies. Originally I thought this was a commercial thing only to speed up the process. Glad to see home smokers are using it also.

Years back, I did some welding for Hempler in their old building. I was fortunate enough to have the Owner give me a tour of their processes. They had smoke generators, steam generators, cold water sprays etc. Very impressive operation and a very very impressive product.

After all is said and done, I am going to try this "finish" cooking on some of my andouille in about a week. Quallity test w/without thing. It should be interesting to taste the 2 products.


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## down lowe (Feb 17, 2011)

sounds good.  will be interesting to see if there is a difference of taste, texture, appearance, and cook times.
 


DaveOmak said:


> Interesting replies. Originally I thought this was a commercial thing only to speed up the process. Glad to see home smokers are using it also.
> 
> Years back, I did some welding for Hempler in their old building. I was fortunate enough to have the Owner give me a tour of their processes. They had smoke generators, steam generators, cold water sprays etc. Very impressive operation and a very very impressive product.
> 
> After all is said and done, I am going to try this "finish" cooking on some of my andouille in about a week. Quallity test w/without thing. It should be interesting to taste the 2 products.


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## rstr hunter (Feb 18, 2011)

dnovotny said:


> I SMOKE MY DOGS  FOR 2 HRS. IN SMOKE THEN PUT THEM IN WATER TEMP.  BETWEEN 165-180 FOR 15-20 MIN  UNTIL INTERNAL  READS 155-165. WORKS EVERY TIME..SOMETIME I ADD  1/2 -1  CUP OF  LIQUID SMOKE TO THE WATER, OR  SOME CHICKEN OR  BEEF  BROTH  AND LET  THEM COOK IN THAT FOR  FAVOR......


We do our hotdogs like this as well. After they reach temp in the water bath, we put them into an ice water rinse until cold.  This keeps the smoke flavor without drying them out.  We just use regular water though no other flavors, but that would be a good idea.


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## ringodad (Feb 18, 2011)

I've been fooling around with this after getting tired of ten hour smokes to hit my temp for smoked sausage. What has worked for me  is to follow Rytek's instructions - an hour at 100-120 with no smoke to thoroughly dry the casings. Then I start smoke and let 'er rip, raising temps 20 degrees each 2 hours until I can get a fairly stable temp of 160-165. Let that go and continue smoke until your sausages read at least 130-135 on the temp probe, then bring in and finish on a rack above some water in a Nesco roaster at 180. Pull them out at 153 for beef and pork. It works great, because as most of us know, it seems the last 15-20 degrees take forever! I've found that the hot water cooking (no water on the sausages of course) helps to keep the smoke from being too intense for some folks.


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## boykjo (Feb 19, 2011)

I dont use steam or water to increase speed but sometimes I do have to crank the heat up when I reach the 125- 135 degree mark and I hit a wall. smoking  (1-30 lbs) of sausage should not go over 4hrs. cooking time unless you get to larger batches (40 - 80lbs).  Time will increase. This is what I have found..........


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## ringodad (Feb 21, 2011)

I am guilty again of not being specific enough - My comments regarding smoker time were related to making sticks, usually 1.5" x 12" or 2.5" x 20". However, even with ring sausage I don't think I've hit the 153 degree mark in less that 6 hours. What do you like to do regarding your temp settings? Maybe I'm being too poky at the lower temp ranges. As I had mentioned, I usually run an hour without smoke at anywhere between 100-120 to dry the casings well, then 1-2 hours at 140, then to 160 and finally I push it as close to 180 as I can without causing the fat to turn to liquid and run out of the casings. By close, I'm referring to the fact that with the MES you've always got a 10-20 degree swing (10 if you're lucky!) above and below your target temp...


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## jerseyhunter (Feb 21, 2011)

I do mine like ringo

but never go over175


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## jeffesonm (Feb 28, 2011)

I've finished hot dogs and some other sausages in a ~160 degree bath after smoking for a few hours... they come out just fine and the last 10 or 20 degrees takes maybe 15 minutes in water vs hours on the smoker.  When they first come out of the bath the casings can look a little pale, but the color returns when they dry off.


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