I have a few questions concerning prep. cooking and food safety.
First the instructions. I took these from Redzed’s great Kielbasa Grillowa:
-Made in the traditional Polish way, it is only partially cooked and needs to be fully cooked on the grill. Sausage prepared this way is moist and better tasting.
-Sausage is now prep cooked but not safe to consume.
I only make sausages for my family and good friends. When I give away sausages I always make sure they are fully cooked for fear of them not being heated enough later. They are so to say “safe to consume”.
If there is a better way I would love to know.
7. Preheat your smoker to 70C, let it cool, and load your sausage into it. Open top and bottom dampers wide and warm sausage at 42C for one hour. Smoke at 55-58C until you achieve a good colour, 2 to 3 hours. Rearrange the sticks mid way through the smoke.
8. Cool with water and hang the sausage to dry.
Following the above process would leave the sausages with an internal temperature in the range of 35 – 45 C. At least in my smoker.
What are your thoughts on holding this temperature for several hours without raising to a safe level at the end of the cooking time?
What does this temperature do to the farce for the outcome of the sausage to be more moist and better tasting?
Thanks
prep cooking
Re: prep cooking
If you have nitrite in the farce, the meat will be safe even though it spent a few hours in the danger zone.
Re: prep cooking
Thanks Michi
I still don't understand the prep cooking to 58 c instead of for example the safe 70 c.
I still don't understand the prep cooking to 58 c instead of for example the safe 70 c.
Re: prep cooking
First you dry the sausage, so it can absorb the smoke, then you slowly bring it up to temp. During that time, the meat is in the danger zone.
If the sausage weren't smoked, you could either fry it immediately, or freeze it straight after making it. It would be safe either way. But not without nitrite if kept in the danger zone for several hours.