smoker ready

riverruns wrote:

Tom, Are you stuffing your snack sticks in natural casings?

Not to me, looks like collagen casings.

No. I use 19mm smoke casings for the snack sticks. Sheep casing is too tender for me. The 19mm smoked casing stands up to the thicker meat going in and can tolerate hanging on narrower rod for smoking that sticks call for.

Thanks Tom! Really good info and a few pointers I surely would have overlooked. Waltons H is also my favorite. Horton’s in Sisseton, SD has a pretty good house seasoning that they sell in bulk bags. If you’re ever out there (not many are…), it’s surely worth making a stop to check it out.

You guys keep it the questions coming ,I am a reading.

Thank you Tom for the info gonna make up a batch of LEM Original 4lbs of 100% lean ground venison and 1 lb ground bacon ends and pieces . 19 mm collagen casings. Am going to smoke first and finish in oven ,especially being this cold . I did 90% lean ground beef ,start to finish with LEM pepper and original turned out great. Except the last batch the casing did not stick well ,ended up peeling off and eating that way. Some referenced casings may have dried out. They said when rubbed on paper towel they ought to leave a skid mark . Going to try fresh Walter,s collagen . Thanks again Tom

I have had casings come loose after the sticks have been frozen. To counter the problem I add a bit of water to the meat after the second grind and mix it in real well so the meat is less stiff going into the casings. You get far fewer split casings while filling and moister sticks in the end. I’ll add that the 19mm “smoked” casings are the standard casing for sticks for a couple reason: they are slightly tougher and stand up to the hanging while smoking ad they generally have a protein coating on the inside that helps the meat bind to the casing thru the smoking/heating process. Smoked 19mm is all I ever use for the sticks, but I like a drier finished product and will have the casings release from the meat inside occasionally. Its nothing you’ve done wrong and it certainly doesn’t affect the sausage as long as its sealed while freezing.

Most commercial prepared sticks are not smoked at all, but rather they are put in a heat cabinet to get them to the cooked stage and are sprayed with liquid smoke at specified intervals to give them the smoke smell and flavor. LEM offers a liquid smoke for those who want to add it to the meat for flavor but I’m not crazy for doing it that way….and yes I have the pint of liquid smoke in the cupboard full of my sausage making goodies. Its too strong for me.

The non-edible casing I use on my summer sausage will; loosen up too but that’s just handy so I don’t have to fight with peeling it off. My pepperoni and ring bologna both use edible collagen casing and they stick tight to the meat throughout the whole process and freezing.

Hey tom what kind of equipment do you use,

Grinder?
Mixer?
Stuffer?

What style smoker do you use.

I have a 3/4 horse Hobart grinder that will eat as much as you can feed it. But I’m looking to upgrade the mixer to electric and the stuffer. I’m hesitant of doing electric stuffer. Do to blow outs on brats and sticks.
My smoke house is a home made fully insulated shed 8 6 ft tall 4 ft wide and 4 ft deep. I also want to purchase a electric smoker for jerky and maybe a roast or pork butt.

Thanks in advance. Your knowledge does not get over looked. I enjoy taking it all in

I do a couple deer a year if I am lucky and maybe 75 pounds of pork sausage a year so I only have the Big Bite LEM #8 grinder. Plenty for what I do. I have the 5 pound LEM top crank stuffer, again plenty for what I do in a year.

Blowouts on natural casings is common but try different vendors for casings. Some are better than others. In recent years I have been using pork casings the LEM packages and are sold at Fleet Farms and Scheels. These seem to be good quality and I have had maybe two blow outs while using them over the last three years. If you want to try something tasty, make venison hot dogs using Waltons hot dog seasoning and stuff them in the pork casings you use for brats. this makes what’s called a Chicago Hotdog. Put maybe three hours of cool smoke on them then package and freeze. These are super on the grill.

If you’re blowing the sticks make sure you’re using the 19mm “smoked” casing as they are tougher than any others of similar size both larger and smaller. Also, try slowing down the stuffing rate and make sure the meat is fairly wet so it flows without developing pressure. Let them hang a couple days to help dry the moisture down a bit, then smoke to the 152 temp needed and if further hanging to help dry further is needed do so checking every day so they don’t get hard on ya.

I have a home brewed smoker made from two of the round tall smokers, stacked one atop of the other. This allows me to heat with charcoal but also is tall enough to keep longer sausages like summer sausage higher up off the heat zone so drying isn’t an issue on the bottom ends of the sticks. Nothing wrong with the commercial smokers but be sure to get one with a large enough cabinet so things aren’t jammed in together. My smoker has 4 round trays and I can do about 15 pounds of whole muscle jerky at a time on them. My summer sausage hangs on 4 stainless rods and I can get 14 sticks smoked at a time.

If I smoke fish I use apple wood. Sausages like summer get either apple/hickory blend or pear/hickory blend, both are great in that they flavor quickly and penetrate the meat well. Sticks get straight hickory.

I was going to stuff sticks this week but Ma handed me this Christmas gifts to make list and, well, you know how this story ends.

Try that Walton’s H summer sausage seasoning Bearcat. The stuff is amazing when you make it along with a 1/2 package of soy protein from LEM and a 12 container of the powdered buttermilk. The finished product has a nice tang but not sour and is a firm sausage but not tough. Very easy to make.

Thank you very much tom. I will put all of that info to good use. Hot dog seasoning in my brat casings sounds delicious. Topped with some chilli and a cheese. Mmm mmm. Thank you again

I use the Waltons Hot Dog [weiner/ bologna] seasoning and 8 pounds of pork shoulder to 17 pounds of venison to make these. You can stuff them a little longer than conventional hotdogs so you’re finishing the hotdog with meat instead of two inches of bun. They grill up really juicy.

My order from LEM showed up about a week ago. I put my order in to Waltons for the hot dog seasoning and the Blue ribbon brats earlier this week and it is on the way. Tomorrow, I am going to pick up seasonings and casings, with a friend who has been making fresh brats for years, and is giving me his own recipe. We are going to start with his recipe and add some Swiss cheese to those. Then go from there. Hopefully by the end of next week we will be filling casings!

I had to edit my pork to venison ratio in my last post. It is 8 pounds of pork shoulder, or butt, to 17 pound of venison. Sorry. Somehow I hot 18 pounds in the other post and its only 8.

Speaking of,,,,,

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Then here is how I keep track.

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Tom, I keep hearing you say to only take summer sausage to 152F for an interior finished temp. USDA and my mixes in the past many years calls for an internal temp of 160F. All ground meats require that for food safety.

I will even cheat it a little to just over 156F but not to exceed 160F. All of my SS gets a cold water bath after achieving the finished temp. DO you get a 5F to 8F carryover from 152F by hanging them in the cool garage??

Looks awesome Tom!

Thanks Belletaine.

Denny, meats treated with pink cure need only get to 152 degrees to kill the last of the bacteria that can cause issues, whether in an oven or smoker or whatever. When they hit 152 degrees they’re done. Whether they continue to heat a bit I haven’t a clue, never checked for that.

I have tried the water bath to finish summer sausage and wasn’t happy doing it that way and found it too hard to control the finish heat. I have done the cold water dunk too, but not any more. The only sausages that I hot water finish and use a cold water bath to stop the cooking process on is some of the hot dog and the ring bologna.

I guess everyone has a different method of getting it done. I have never had an issue at 152 degrees and I’ve done a lot of sausage using that threshold temperature when the meat has cure in it. Meat without cure requires different temps for safe eating I know.

Started a new thread instead.

Tom , great info in this thread , thanks . I’ve used Walton’s h seasoning for a few years and really like it . I’ve never added powdered milk or a binder , and was wondering how that changes the taste ? Also , do you know how long after stuffing into casings it can sit before being smoked ? Gonna make 75# this year and Would like to stuff all at once , but some might not be able to hit the smoker for 2 days. Thanks

Mike, the soy protein is a binder and helps that fat bind to the meat and doesn’t have any taste. It will require a little water to help get the stiffness out of the meat. The powdered buttermilk does the same thing as encapsulated citric acid only is easier to work with. The buttermilk adds the tart or slight sour taste to the sausage that one will taste in a fermented sausage. Again a little water will help in mixing it in and helps keep the sausage manageable in texture and adds no noticeable taste.

With the pink cure Mike your sausage can sit in a cold area or refer for maybe four days before smoking. 2 days won’t set you back any as long as its kept cold….preferably at or under 40 degrees

Thanks tom

Corn starch works as an excellent binder.

I know we’ve mentioned this before but I make several references to adding water to the meat/seasoning mixture. I am adding bottled water, not from a faucet. I drink tons of water and have cases of bottled water in the garage and in the tv room so I can grab one at will without having to haul my butt into another part of the house to get it. The bottled water is purified and has no chlorine or other chemical in it that can mess with the finished color of the sausage. Depending on where you live, a city’s water can have enough chemical treatment to make the finishes sausage appear grey in color. Doesn’t hurt the product but looks like he//.

I sliced up a stick of this sausage from this year’s batch along with a block of jalapeno cheese and set it out for snacks at last night’s Christmas Eve family gathering. There was a lot of snack stuff laid out but the sausage and cheese was gone first. Makes a guy feel good to now that what he’s made from an animal he’s harvested is so well enjoyed. Even the “I’m not fond of venison” people snarfed it up.

Tom Sawvell wrote:

I know we’ve mentioned this before but I make several references to adding water to the meat/seasoning mixture. I am adding bottled water, not from a faucet. I drink tons of water and have cases of bottled water in the garage and in the tv room so I can grab one at will without having to haul my butt into another part of the house to get it. The bottled water is purified and has no chlorine or other chemical in it that can mess with the finished color of the sausage. Depending on where you live, a city’s water can have enough chemical treatment to make the finishes sausage appear grey in color. Doesn’t hurt the product but looks like he//.

Good info Tom. I’ve never heard of this. Anyone that I’ve ever done any further processed meats with has never done this using bottled water. The water in Mn in the bigger municipalities must really be bad.

Ours here is treated and all of ours turns out great.

We have a chlorination station just up the street a block and a half and there are times when our tap water smells like bleach. A buddy who lives in the cities makes a lot of sausage and always used city water. He had an entire batch of venison summer sausage go grey on him after using tap water to loosen the batch up before stuffing. Ever since his episode I have used bottled water to add to my sausage when needed.

For those adding the encapsulated citric acid one must take care as too much will turn the meat too and if the meat is allowed to rest overnight after adding the citric acid it can turn grey too. Adding the acid and re-grinding will make the meat turn color. Its more of a visual thing than it is a taste or texture thing. The sausage is fine to eat but probably not the most appetizing to look at while getting ready to take a bite.

Made 75# of summer sausage this weekend . Used Walton’s H seasoning , and added cheddar cheese to some , and pepper jack to one batch . Also used Toms suggestion and added powdered milk , just had a tastes test and love it . Thanks Tom .

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Mike Martine wrote:

Also used Toms suggestion and added powdered milk , just had a tastes test and love it . Thanks Tom .

Cheap and works great to get some tang. Happy it worked out for you Mike! The sausage with cheese looks great too!