Homemade Sausage Making

A coworker and I made some sausage last Sunday. About 20 lbs of kabanosy, 30 lbs of hot smoked kielbasa (marianski recipe), and 7lb of hot links. The kabanosy were all beef, hot links were 2 lbs of brisket (most fat removed) and 5 lbs of pork, kielbasa was about 6 or 7 lbs brisket (most fat removed) and the rest pork.

The pork we used was from the pigs we raised and had slaughtered. I can definitly tell there is a difference in our pork compared to store bought. Its much more tender. We had bags of "scraps" that we had the butcher save us for sausage, we used that and a few pork roast (shoulders). I could tell when the sausage was going into the casing that the fat content was higher than you would normally see on sausage made from a store bought pork shoulder.

I smoked the sausage in my smokehouse on Monday. I first smoked the kabanosy using hickory wood, then in the evening the hot links and kielbasa using pecan wood. I smoked them as I have in the past with this smokehouse and my other one (the cinder block smokehouse) started about 120-130F for an hour than raised the temp up to about 180-190F. A few times it got a little over 200F.

Anyways, all of the sausage rendered out a lot of fat. While smoking i had grease dripping constantly. This is the first time this has ever happened. I was smoking at the usual temperatures, and I had two separate thermometers as a fail safe. The only difference I can think of is 1. home raised pig, 2. higher fat content in the sausage than usual.

Do you guys have any idea why the sausage was rendering out fat? Is the melting point on different breads, or raised pigs different from commercial pigs? Would the higher fat content cause the fat to melt at a lower temp?

The sausage tasted VERY good and juicy out of the smokehouse. But after cooling them off in ice water and letting them sit in the fridge I cooked a couple up, (grill and simmering water). The flavor is good but the meat is now on the dry side and slightly crumbly looking.

The kabanosy are hanging i my curing chamber to dry for a few more days, but the casings are greasy.

Here are some pictures I took. I would appreciate you guys' expertise, Im at a loss.




hot links





kabanosy




kielbasa and hot links




fresh out of smokehouse



out of smokehouse and still hot, kielbasa on left, hot link on right.

Smeared fat and too high of a temperature.
Heat should be increased very slowly to proper temperature.

I think over 170° the fat begins to separate and melt. If I start with a smoker temp of 130° for smoking sausage I raise the temp 2-3 degrees every 20 minutes until I reach 165°, and that's as high as it goes for sausage. In my first two attempts at smoking sausage I raised the temp from 130° directly up to 165°, quite a mess. Others will know better than I, but I'm fairly sure that's the correct method to follow. RAY

Hi Nick,

Same thing has happend to me before, and yes as everyone above my reply said, it's a temperature issue.
In fact mine was a carbon copy of how you described, next time round I increased temp slowly and was meticulous to not let it go over 170F.
Then the other difference is I have started using a 170 F hot water bath to finish (I learnt that from this site )

Ron

Bubba wrote:Hi Nick,

Same thing has happend to me before, and yes as everyone above my reply said, it's a temperature issue.
In fact mine was a carbon copy of how you described, next time round I increased temp slowly and was meticulous to not let it go over 170F.
Then the other difference is I have started using a 170 F hot water bath to finish (I learnt that from this site )

Ron

Thanks guys. Ron, when you do the water bath do you first smoke to a specific internal temp or for a specific length of time?

Ron is right on. Smoke at a temp below 160 - 170 and then do the water bath, keeping the water temp below 170. It doesn't matter what the IM temp is when the smoking is done. When the smoking time is up, into the water bath it goes until you hit your target IM temp.

IdaKraut wrote:Smoke at a temp below 160 - 170 and then do the water bath, keeping the water temp below 170. It doesn't matter what the IM temp is when the smoking is done. When the smoking time is up, into the water bath it goes until you hit your target IM temp.

Yes usually around 130 IMT it's ready for the warm bath (but it is not crucial), then I leave the water temp lower and increase that slowly to 170. Once they are in the bath watch the IMT because the temp transfer in water (compared to air) is a lot quicker.

And also, my last hurdle with the water bath was different, I had a thread where I showed the lack of smoke color because I used Beech Wood, and should have rather used Hickory. The sausage does lose some smoke color when in the water.

If you have a chance, have a look at Norcalkid's turkey fryer setup, he has an awesome one. I just use a stock pot at a specific stove setting.

Ron

Because my smoker does not heat evenly, most of the time I also finish by poaching. I smoke the sausage between 130 and 150. I apply smoke for two to three hours for most sausages. Usually have perfect results that way.

I agree. Anything over 170 and you will be rendering fat.

My 2 cents: I don't have a temperature controlled hot smoker. I cold smoke first, then finish cooking in the oven (kabanosy and bacon) or a water bath on the stove (sausages).

I really like the cold smoke method because I can't make any mistakes with that. If I use a really big pot of water (which is less susceptible to temp spikes), chances of screwing up the poaching are minimized. For oven cooking, I use a Maverick remote temperature sensor and run the oven at <200F. Can't go wrong with that, so long as I set the alarm.

At night I lie in bed envying NorCal's turkey roaster for the water bath, because sometimes I don't pay attention and the water bath gets too hot on the stove while I'm lying on the couch congratulating myself on another great batch. I need failsafe methods. If I can make a mistake, I will.

Hi Nick,
Dig out your copy of Rytek`s third edition of "Great Sausage Recipes And Meat Curing". Your problem is outlined perfectly on pages 69 and 71. Sorry pal, you "broke the fat" with too much heat. Back up and hit it again!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

I have to agree nick, to high of heat, when I do the smoke sausage, I never set it higher than 160, I stopped using the masterbuilt for sausages, I usea large freezer witha hot plate and a johnson controller on it, this keeps perfect temps, for smoke I put a handful of pellets into a foil pack and put it on a burner of the hot plate, I start at 110 for an hour, then 120 for and hour.etc...at 140 i put the pellets on, this freezer is sealed so it holds the smoke in and does not require too many pellets, Yesterday i did a 30 lb batch of summer sausage, and it went into the smoker at 7 am and did not reach 155 IT until 900 pm last night, I use the poaching on the smalle sausages, but not the large, On another note, I have never made an all beef Kabonosey, Just all Pork, let me know how it turns out,Tim

TSMODIE wrote:I usea large freezer witha hot plate and a johnson controller on it

Tim - can you share what model of Johnson controller you use with your hot plate?

Thanks!
Jeff

I use the johnson A419 series, I have 2 of them, one for the sausage smoker and one for my dry age/fermentation cabimet cabinet



here is the smoker




here is the fermentation cabinet




here is the johnson controller

Thanks Tim! Appreciate the pictures too.

Jeff