Gonna fire up the smoker, grinder and stuffer this weekend....

Tipmoose

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Well...if all goes to plan...at this time on Saturday I will be without any raw venison in my freezer for the first time in almost 15 years. Cleaning it all out and making three different kinds of sausage.

30 lbs smoked summer sausage
7 lbs kielbasa
7 lbs polish sausage

Will be posting pics as we go. The kielbasa and polish sausage are firsts for me. Won't be smoking those...but the summer sausage will be for sure.
 

Putt

Old Mossy Horns
That sounds great, we are going to do that next weekend, but it will be with black bear..
 

beard&bow

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
If you wouldn't mind posting temps and lengths of time, I'd surely appreciate it. I'm handy with a smoker, but have never smoked venison or made summer sausage. Or the other two.
 

Tipmoose

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If you wouldn't mind posting temps and lengths of time, I'd surely appreciate it. I'm handy with a smoker, but have never smoked venison or made summer sausage. Or the other two.

Sure...I'll be happy to. Unless it sucks. :)
 

woodmoose

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I've made a lot of summer sausage in years past

No deer left this year to do such

So let me know when to make the 8 hr drive for the taste test!
 

92xj

Eight Pointer
The one mistake that happens the most is the smoker gets too hot. Do not get your smoker over 180, even for a minute. People deny all the time and say they never crossed 180, but their product is crumbly and sucks. You do not render the fat and produce a good product. I do around 250 pounds a year of those three sausages and smoke them all. I start at 125 and bump up 10 degrees ever hour til I hit 170. Then hold at 170 for hours and hours and hours ( depending on diameter) till it gets to my ideal internal temp. Then into a large cooler with ice water for 20 minutes. Another step people don't do and have a crap product. Good luck! Here are some mouth watering pictures of the last 60 pound batch I did until you get your batch done and posted...

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Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
If you wouldn't mind posting temps and lengths of time, I'd surely appreciate it. I'm handy with a smoker, but have never smoked venison or made summer sausage. Or the other two.

I agree with what 92xj wrote. I smoke my summer sausage the same way except I don't do the 10F temperature bumps. I may need to try that in the future. At 170F, it will take hours and hours and hours as he says. I've had mine in the smoker for 12-14 hours.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
Here some mouth watering pictures of the last 60 pound batch I did until you get your batch done and posted...

I won't repost your yummy looking photos. I have two questions for you. Are you using high temperature cheese? I have used regular cheese in the past and it turns out okay. How do you keep your summer sausage from drying out too much before hitting the internal temperature you want? My sausages look like your fingers after swimming all day - wrinkles on the outside.
 

92xj

Eight Pointer
I won't repost your yummy looking photos. I have two questions for you. Are you using high temperature cheese? I have used regular cheese in the past and it turns out okay. How do you keep your summer sausage from drying out too much before hitting the internal temperature you want? My sausages look like your fingers after swimming all day - wrinkles on the outside.

I do use high temp cheese. That is cheddar in the pictures. They make pepperjack that is some good eating stuff as well. Expensive, but well worth it.

I'd bet my truck on your smoker got over 180 degrees for a short period of time, rendering the fat on the outside of the log which creates gaps for the casing to pull tight into creating the wrinkle and the dryness. Those in the pictures were in the smoker for 12 hours and don't have the slightest hint of being dry and came out super moist. I also run 4 temp probes in the smoke to make sure not a single area gets hotter than the others. My lowest probe, which sits below the bottom of the sausage and the top probe above the sausage stays within 3 degrees of each other through the whole smoke, as long as I do my part and not crack the door to peek inside.
 

Homebrewale

Old Mossy Horns
I do use high temp cheese. That is cheddar in the pictures. They make pepperjack that is some good eating stuff as well. Expensive, but well worth it.

I'd bet my truck on your smoker got over 180 degrees for a short period of time, rendering the fat on the outside of the log which creates gaps for the casing to pull tight into creating the wrinkle and the dryness. Those in the pictures were in the smoker for 12 hours and don't have the slightest hint of being dry and came out super moist. I also run 4 temp probes in the smoke to make sure not a single area gets hotter than the others. My lowest probe, which sits below the bottom of the sausage and the top probe above the sausage stays within 3 degrees of each other through the whole smoke, as long as I do my part and not crack the door to peek inside.

If my smoker gets over 180F, there is something wrong with the thermostat. I have an electric smoker that I set at 170F. It could be that inside my smoker, the humidity is very low with the only moisture coming from the meat. In a smoker where wood is used, water is a byproduct of combustion so there would be more moisture inside the smoker. There is one way to test this theory. I could place a water filled metal dish inside my smoker next time. I'll also place a thermometer in there to see if the thermostat on my smoker is faulty.
 

92xj

Eight Pointer
Or Homebrewale, I guess it could be when stuffing you didn't get it tight enough. Those are the only two things I can think of. Though I have never seen one not stuffed tightly enough to cause that, I'm sure it could. 99.999% of the time it's going to be temperature related and rendering fat, even for just a minute or two during the 12 hour process. If you see any drips below your sausage, it's too hot. I have zero drips during the process.
 

92xj

Eight Pointer
If my smoker gets over 180F, there is something wrong with the thermostat. I have an electric smoker that I set at 170F. It could be that inside my smoker, the humidity is very low with the only moisture coming from the meat. In a smoker where wood is used, water is a byproduct of combustion so there would be more moisture inside the smoker. There is one way to test this theory. I could place a water filled metal dish inside my smoker next time. I'll also place a thermometer in there to see if the thermostat on my smoker is faulty.

I bet it's your smokers thermostat. I ran a Bradley smoker for years and also place my remote probes in it. The smokers read out would read perfect at what I set it to, though the internal smoker temps on my probes would be different by as much as 30 degrees.
 
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Tipmoose

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Yea, I'm using a Bradley too. I tested it out using an empty smoker and found that the temp on my probe and the smoker agreed until the smoker turned off. Then they diverged. The probe temp kept going up to about 5 over. Then came back down. Then undershot by 5 degrees or so. The smoker temp always seemed to lag the probe temp.
 

92xj

Eight Pointer
Yea, I'm using a Bradley too. I tested it out using an empty smoker and found that the temp on my probe and the smoker agreed until the smoker turned off. Then they diverged. The probe temp kept going up to about 5 over. Then came back down. Then undershot by 5 degrees or so. The smoker temp always seemed to lag the probe temp.

Another thing on those Bradleys, or any small volume smoker, keep in mind your cold meat will cool the smoker near the smoker's temp sensor causing the heating element to get hotter trying to make up the temp to what you set it. That creates hot pockets. Just get your independent probes in the Bradley and go off of those instead of the Bradley display. It really messes with your mind when you set your Bradley to 240 degrees, let it run for a bit and check your probes and they are reading, 190 or 300. It will make you think your probes are the issue instead of the Bradley being off. Trust your probes 100% of the time and you will do just fine. If you set your Bradley at 175 and your probes are reading 150, bump up the Bradley settings, or vice versa.
 

92xj

Eight Pointer
Very happy! I run Mavericks for my remote probes. I believe their part numbers are et732 or et733, around the $70 range on amazon and then I run thermapens instant reads, around the $100 range.
I also run a nonremote probe that I picked up just to have another one in the smoke house, but I have no idea what brand or model. It's the white on at the top of the smoker, in the smoker picture. The black is the maverick. You can see one of the probes hanging below the sausage for one of the locations.
 
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beard&bow

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
Thanks for the tips 92xj and Homebrew. I too have a maverick probe. Its not a remote unit, but it gets the job done. I used to use a firebox attachment on my charcoal grill to smoke, but a few months ago I got a Dynaglo vertical offset smoker and love it. It holds temps well and jumps a touch when I add coal and wood, but the dampener on the box and chimney really help to control it. It's also nice to control the amount of smoke that stays in. If what we're under contract for percs, it'd be nice to know your dimensions and somewhat of a material list, xj, as what you have is my end goal for a smoker. Thanks again!
 

specialk

Twelve Pointer
I've cooked summer sausage in the oven at home before...turned out good.....stuck a wooden spoon in the door to keep the heat down....I made the polish one time and didn't like it....doubt if I make anymore......
 

624c

Six Pointer
anyone ever use a Weber Smokey Mountain to smoke sausage? How did you set up your coals? I cant seem to keep my temp cool enough
 

beard&bow

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
anyone ever use a Weber Smokey Mountain to smoke sausage? How did you set up your coals? I cant seem to keep my temp cool enough

I've heard of people stacking the coals and starting the top layer in a chimney. Don't soak any layers in lighter fluid. The each successive layer should be fully lit by the time the layer above it burns out.
 
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