Smoked country style

Roostershooter

New member
I am planning on making some smoked country style sausage.  I was thinking on 50/50 pork and beef and stuffing it.  I am new to to smoking meats so any help is much appreciated.  What temp should i smoke at?  Should i set the probe to 160 degrees?  I plan on using the racks and thinking it will take about 2 hours.  Comments?
 
Yes I am. 10 pounds of beef and pork mixed 50/50 and seasoned and then stuffed in casings. I have seen smoking temps range anywhere from 130 to 250. Looking for a little advice.
 
This is what i have learned using google.  Seems to be about two methods most commonly used.  First,never smoke over 170 degrees and smoke to an internal temperature of 152 degrees.  The second method was to smoke at 120 degrees for an hour then ramp up to 170 degrees until 152 is reached.  Seems this. Requires about 4 hours to complete. 
 
You left a lot of information unstated so it is difficult to give you an opinion.

Are you making a fresh sausage? You mention "Country" and "Smoked" are you using cure?

Have you read all the postings on Sausage, I know there are a lot but do it. Your questions about probe, temp and so much other stuff has already been written. If you have specific questions after reading all we have already written all of us would be glad to help.
 
Sorry pork belly, i thought it was clear but obviously not.  I want to make a country sausage that is smoked.  To eat it I will boil and brown it after freezing.  Yep, fresh sausage.  I will grind 5 pounds of pork, 5 pounds of beef, mix and season with the spice and cure.  I was confused on temperature, both box temp and finish temp.  I spent about 6 hours on this forum and google, learning nothing really consistent.  And maybe thats normal.  Now i understand that if you use cure, final internal temp does not matter since you cook it later anyway.  It sounds like smoking at 170 degrees for a couple of hours is ok..  or at least i hope so! 
 
Ok...
You mention using "spice & cure" Typically when sausage is cured the meat is taken up to an internal temp of 150. I don't think you will hit 150 if it goes two hours at 170.

170 might be OK, I usually go 200 until an internal temp of 150. Sausage is then shocked in an ice water nbath to stop the cooking and stop case slippage and  overall wrinkling.

If you do that the dry, pack and freeze your links you can later sear them to the color you like. Since you used curing salt and they already hit an IT of 150 they are safe to eat at any temp.

If you do it that way you don't need to boil it. I feel boiling would wash away a good bit of flavor.
 
Thanks pork belly.  Appreciate the advice.  I do have one more question.  When using sodium nitrite, is it neccesary to bring th internal temp to 150?  Thanks.
 
I would guess yes it is necessary because that is what I have always seen and done. Pan searing will take them up past that, I don't think your hurting anything taking it to 150 in the smoker.

All the smoked sausage I make goes to 150, typically we eat it cold sliced with cheese and crackers.
 
I ended up smoking the sausage at 175 for about 3 hours using 3 ounces of chery wood.  Cooked it with water in a pan and browned it.  Delicious.  One i did learn was the racks should be rotated up-down and front-back.  The bottom rack was a little more done.
 
Hey Rooster, did you use hog casing? Anyone tried summer sausage with cellulose casings and then smoke or won't it penetrate the cellulose?
 
Bob, I use hog casings for my Country Style (ring) sausage, but I always use cellulose casings for my summer sausage and do not have any issues with smoke penetration.



I mistyped my initial response here. I am not sure what I was thinking. :P

For summer sausage, I use the non-edible fibrous casings like these:
https://www.waltonsinc.com/camo-mahogany-fibrous-summer-sausage-casings

Cellulose casings are more for things like skinless sausage, frankfurters, wieners, hot dogs, and more. Cellulose casings are inedible and must be removed after cooking.
 
Thanks for the clarification Greg. I assume that smoke will permeate and flavor a summer sausage? I have been looking at these types of casings from LEM. I think they are the same thing.
 
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