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Humidity in Smoker

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 02:20
by hbohnet
Hi all, new to the site and new to fermented sausage so hope someone can give some good advice. My first batch of Salami and Sujuk is in the meat chamber and drying about 2 weeks now. All is going well and averaging about 1% weight loss per day. I put the Sujuk in the smoker for about 12 hrs and had a substantial weight loss of 6-7%. My smoker is a very simple plywood box with a Proq cold smoker and temp controller which keeps it between 59 to 64 deg F. I live in Alberta and this time of year the humidity is very low so I am wondering how others keep humidity in their smokers. I do have a Auberins humidity controller but reluctant to use it as not sure what the smoke might do to the sensor. If there is another thread that deals with this topic please pass it on. Thanks, I appreciate any help.

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2018 18:20
by redzed
Hi hbohmet and welcome to our forum. I'm happy that you decided to join us.

Smoking does indeed dry sausage, even when we cold smoke. And that is what we want, just not too fast so that case hardening does not occur to the point that migration of water from the inside is severely affected. One way is to smoke for shorter periods, and allow rests between smoking times to allow for equalization of water in the sausage. Placing a container as wide as possible will also help. I use a cookie sheet. And of course since you are smoking at relatively low temps a humidifier will work. But here you have to be careful not to add excess humidity. Rapid weight loss is quite normal during the start of the process, especially if you use a high ratio of lean meat, and after 2 weeks will slow down considerably.