# MES Sausage Racks



## tjohnson (Feb 3, 2010)

I been dinging around with hanging sausage in my MES, and finally got around to making a set of racks w/hardwood dowels to hang sausage on.

Previously, I just set hardwood dowels ontop of the top rack holders, but I thought a real rack would look nicer and gain me a little space.

*1"x4"x12 1/4" Southern Yellow Pine*

*
1"x4" SYP Notched Out To Slip In The Wire Rack Holder and "V-Grooves" On Top For Dowels*


*Left Side Without New Rack*


*Left Side With Rack*


*Left Side With Rack and Hardwood Dowels*


*Right Side Without Rack*

*
Right Side With Rack*


*Right Side With Rack and Hardwood Dowels*


*Front View With Racks and Dowels Installed*


Pretty simple to do and now I can maximize space for hanging!

Total cost for my little mod is under $10.00!

Thanks For Looking!


Todd Johnson


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## smokingohiobutcher (Feb 3, 2010)

I'm not sure but I don't think the yellow pine is a good idea..???
Might give off some pine smells???maybe??
SOB


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## werdwolf (Feb 3, 2010)

I like that.  I think I'm going to copy your design if ya don't mind.


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## aeroforce100 (Feb 3, 2010)

That is a good idea!  I am also going to borrow your idea, except I think I will use some Oak.


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## kurtsara (Feb 3, 2010)

Is that an MES, what's in the corner?


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## tjohnson (Feb 3, 2010)

New model 40" MES W/Window

Light in upper left corner.

SOB....Did not think about the "Pine Smell", so I'm gonna fire it up tomorrow and give it a "Smell Test".  SYP is harder than white pine, and does not produce the sticky sap.  Cutting it does not give off any odors either.

Oak or maple would be better, but I thought I would practice on SYP first.  I would not use plywood or MDF cuz it's held together with glue.

3/4" Hardwood Dowels from Menards.


Thanks Again for Looking!


Todd


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## beer-b-q (Feb 3, 2010)

Nice Job.


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## deltadude (Feb 3, 2010)

TJohnson, excellent concept and your implementation is great! 

I added your mod to the *MES Hot Mods & related Mods or creations* thread.

_*Congratulations on your MES HOT MODS Award!*_

*




*What is the thing in the upper left corner?*
*


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## bustintires (Feb 3, 2010)

sweet deal. my dog ate my dowels. i ended up carving some out of some alder limbs at the last minute to get the job done. gonna work on your rack idea for this weekend smoke. thanks


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## tjohnson (Feb 3, 2010)

Thanks Deltadude,!!!!

All,

I made a drawing of my MES Sausage Racks and attached a PDF.

Anyone can open it with a PDF Viewer.  

Once open, go to "View", then "Rotate View" and turn the drawing "Counterclockwise" to view it.

I used 3/4" Southern Yellow Pine(SYP) for the brackets and had to run it through my table saw for the base to fit into the wire rack holders.  This shows up as diagonal hatches on the drawing.  You could use 1/2" thick material and not have to use a table saw.  

I cut the notches with a band saw, but a jig saw or hand saw would work also.

You can use SYP, Oak, Maple, Alder or any wood that does not give off nasty odors when heated.  Cedar, white pine and some other wood my set kinda stinky.  I would not use plywood or MDF because these products are mfg. with glue.  I just ran my MES for 2 hrs and all "OK" with my SYP racks.   I can only assume that these racks will take on a smoke smell once smoke is used in the MES.

Hardwood Dowels were cut to 20"



TJ


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## palladini (Aug 14, 2013)

Hey Todd, where is the PDF you speak of?  I would like to get it and see what I can acquire to make these racks.


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## thoseguys26 (Aug 14, 2013)

Interesting. I might agree with the pine being a bad idea. Play it safe with oak.  I made a similar mod but just used wood dowels and cut a notch in each end so they'd rest on the rack frames. the advantage of yours is it would raise the sausage a few inches more, giving you more real estate.

Boykjo had some good info for me once (well he always has great advice), saying he prefers metal holders vs wood because the metal will get up to temp and cook the folds of the links, while the wood takes too long to come up to temp so your sausage folds on the wood will be at a lower IT.  A dowel with a lesser diameter would help and I've found a 1/2 diameter has plenty of strength to hold a row of sausage in my MES 40. Just some things to consider.













Screen Shot 2012-12-31 at 3.48.25 PM.jpg



__ thoseguys26
__ Dec 31, 2012


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