2023 CONDENSATION THREAD

[agcrock2005]

Looks like this has been a persistent issue for years based off the threads below, but I had a not when I was posting my last comment that I "might consider starting a new thread" so here we are.

I bought my 5D about 6 months ago for the sole purpose of making sausages and snack sticks.  I go through the drying process to completely dry them out then put them in the smokin it to start cooking at very low temps and then gradually get up to where they're supposed to be, but even with the Jame's Jerky dryer going the whole time, they get very wet during the cook process.  There must be a solution to this right?  Otherwise I made a big mistake.  Thanks.

 

[old sarge]

See if this helps:  https://www.smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=5662.msg52759#msg52759

 

[agcrock2005]

Thanks for the reply but no it doesn't help.  I use binders and I dry my sausages out overnight.  It's completely dry when I put them back on the smoker the next day.  When I open the door after a few hours at low temp it's very wet.  Doesn't make sense.  Jerky dryer that I bought additionally is running the whole time as well.  Very confusing. 

 

[old sarge]

Sorry you are having a problem.  Here are a couple more links.  Regarding the jerky dryer, you might drop the drip tray to the grund to aid in a little more air flow to help removing the moisture. Keep trying, you'll get there. I found these with the search feature 'making sausage'.

https://www.smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=1786.0

https://www.smokinitforums.com/index.php?topic=8263.msg71821#msg71821

 

[agcrock2005]

As always, thanks for your feedback.  Wish there was more interaction around here with people using these (or similar) smokers.  Maybe I'll reach out to the Two Guys & a Cooler guy and see if he will share some details.  He makes it look easy.

 

[PittMaster Z]

If I remember correctly, Two Guys and a Cooler starts off at low temp (maybe 120 degrees F), but he leaves the door slightly open for an hour or two before he starts smoking to help more of the moisture evaporate. Don't know if you've tried that already - if not, it might be worth a shot. I will be smoking about 30 lbs of summer sausage this week in my new 3.5D - I'll give it a try and let you know how it turns out.

 

[agcrock2005]

Yes that's what I have been doing after watching lot of his videos, but I've had a ton of condensation.  I joined another FB group that's only about sausage making a few weeks ago and someone posted about how if you put really cold sausage (like it's been in the fridge overnight which is what I do) onto the pit then it's going to have a ton of moisture.  So, my next batch I'm going to bring it back closer to room temp before throwing onto the pit at 120 or so.  Please let us know how yours goes.  Good thing about summer sausage is it's a lot more forgiving due to the casing.

 

[PittMaster Z]

Good point about putting cold sausage into the smoker - I've been taking my sausage right out of the fridge and putting it into the smoker, and always end up fighting condensation, as well.

I started rewatching some of the Two Guys and a Cooler videos, and this one specifically talks about condensation, both how to dry sausages before starting up the smoker, and also how to deal with condensation that forms during the smoking process. Relevant info starts at about 19mins: https://youtu.be/WAp6k8G43GQ.

Will definitely be trying this during my upcoming smoke.

 

[PittMaster Z]

OK... So here's what I did during the 3 smokes that I've done so far:

Started by setting the smoker to 100F and left door cracked for 60 - 120 minutes until the outside of the casings were dry and internal temp was the same as ambience temp outside.

After that, closed the door, started the cold smoker, and stepped up temp to 135F for 2 hrs.

After 2 hrs, I stepped up the temp to 155F for 2hrs 15 mins. I cracked open the door for the first 15 mins to allow any moisture to escape, then closed the door for the remaining 2 hrs.

After that, stepped up the temp to 185F until sausage hit final temp (152 for summer sausage, 155 for snack sticks) . As before, I cracked the door open for the first 15 mins to allow moisture to escape.

My first smoke was with ~30 lbs of summer sausage. My next two smokes were with about 15 lbs of beef snack sticks each.

Everything turned out great! Definitely planning to follow this routine in the future!

Hope this is helpful to anyone having condensation issues!

 

[old sarge]

Sausages look great!

 

[agcrock2005]

Reporting back after doing another round of pepperoni sticks.  Morning of the cook I took them out of the refrigerator for several hours to further dry out/warm up.  I then added to smoker and started the cook process which included an hour or so at 100 degrees to dry them out.  They came out much better and had little condensation.  Great news!

 

[old sarge]