Homemade Sausage Making

i am preety mad because my kielbasa turned out dry when i smoked it yesterday. i kept the temperature at 150 inside the smoker for 5 hours and then out it in the oven at 170 deg uncovered for another 4 hours. i am kind of upset that it turned out like that. and it also turned out really lean like that fat melted. it was 2 o clock in the morning and i could not wait any longer because i had work the next day and was falling asleep. so i turned the heat up to 220 deg for half an hour to get it done faster but that's probably where i made a mistake. the kielbasa also has a little too much smokey flavor. i hope you can help me out

here is a list of meat i used for my 20 pounds

5 pounds beef round

14 pounds pork shoulder

1 and half pound jowl

thats just the meat that was inside i also used spices and cure
Should i post a pic and show you how it looks???

Once you turned the heat up over 170° the fat turned to liquid and separated, just can't rush smoking sausage. If you are pressing for time in the future try the" Norcal Kid hot-water bath method", speeds things and helps retain moisture. RAY

KK,

Ray is right on. You lost the fat. I've been making sausage for over 30 years and am still guilty of trying to speed things up in the smoker and wind up with the dreaded dry sausage syndrome. Don't hurry the process if all you have is the smoker. Try to keep the thermostat at 160°F max or better yet get the sausage into a hot water bath like Ray suggested. Not only does it get the internal meat temp up to your target faster, it will help prevent the "fatting out" problem if done right.

yeah your right whats the nor cal method??? can i fill up a big pot of water and put my kielbasa in the water and put it in the oven at 170 deg?

I don't have much experience with hot smoked sausage but the little that I do have indicates that the mince "sets" at about 130 and unless you plan to eat it cold you don't need to go much hotter.

ok i have ten pounds left to go smoke and hopefully it comes and great . i will smoke my kielbasa at 130-140 deg for 3 hours and then put the sausage in a big pot full of water and in the oven at 170 until it reaches 154 deg imt right?. After its done i will shower it with a cold water bath for 5 min and let it bloom for a hour then stick it in the fridge. does that sound good? but when i smoked kielbasa recently if came out really smoky taste and how do you prevent that??? And what is this norcal poaching method can you send me some insructions on doing that?

If you are going to finish them in water why not just finish them in a big pot on the stove with simmering water?

I must ask from whence are you getting you information? What books are you using for the fine details of this most pleasurable hobby?

i thought i would be easier to put them in water and in the oven at 170 because then its always at a constant temperature rather then the temp maybe going higher at a simmer on the stove. if you put the susage on a simmer on the stove it will stay at 170??

also i have two books that stanley marianski wrote and one from rytek kutas. both great books

I was running out of time today, by that I wanted to let my sausages bloom before I went to work. I smoked my sausages and brought their internal temperature was 64 degrees (4 hrs) and then simmered them in water at 80 degrees until the sausages hit an internal temperature of 69 degrees. They only took about 10 mins to reach the desired temperature.

king kabanos wrote:i thought i would be easier to put them in water and in the oven at 170 because then its always at a constant temperature rather then the temp maybe going higher at a simmer on the stove. if you put the susage on a simmer on the stove it will stay at 170??

also i have two books that stanley marianski wrote and one from rytek kutas. both great books

Ten pounds of sausage in one pot requires a big pot. I expect that a domestic kitchen stove would struggle to get a large pot filled with meat and water above 160 on simmer settings.

I finish mine in a hot water bath all the time as well. I start out hanging the sausage in the smoker and run it for about 1 hour at 130 degrees. I ramp the temp up to 145 degrees over the next hour and start appling the 2 hours of smoke I usually use. Over the next hour I ramp my temps to 160 and continue with the sausage in the smoker until I get the nice mahogany color I'm looking for. This usually works out to about a total time of about 4 to 4.5 hours in the smoker. I'm not shooting for an exact internal temperature, I'm trying to get the color but the IT of the sausage is usually around 132 to 135 degrees. I use a 64 qt stock pot on a propane turkey burner for my water bath. I use about 8 to 10 gallons of water in it and crank the burner up until it hits 160 degrees. Then I turn it down to an idle and it will maintain the water at 160. In this setup I can poach about 20 to 25 lbs at a time without drawing the temp down. It usually takes about 15 minutes give or take to reach 152 to 155 degrees IT in the sausage.

Here's my lovely assistant (brother in law)) manning the big stock pot...




I don't bother ice water bathing any more when using this method. I simply hang it to bloom for at least 2 hours at room temperature and it turns out fantastic.







Mike

Excellent Mike! Thanks for posting.

No problem CW.

For me it's a great hobby and I love sharing to pay it forward. One thing about this hobby is your never done learning.

Mike

Hey Mike, tell your brother in law to join our ranks too! He looks like a nice guy who can make a proper pepperoni or a bodacious bratwurst.