[Question About] Smoked Fresh Pork Sausage

[widetrackman]

I am getting ready to make a cured and smoked southern style USA breakfast sausage. I have FINALLY procured 2# cloth sausage bags . I have several questions; what can I do to keep the sausage from sticking to cloth when pealing back cloth to slice patties? Also what would be a reasonable time and temp to get a med. smoke on the suasage? It appears smoking uncured fresh sausage is not reccommended, however there are parties on the internet doing it while keeping temps under 40 deg. F or a Max of ?. If you can stay under 40 deg in a refrigerated smoker with remote smoke generator what will the risk be if it was later fully cooked (fried). Not trying to kill myself, just interested in cold smoking.

[Dave Zac]

I'm certainly no expert on cold smoking, and have no experience with a refrigerated smoker, but I gotta wonder...why wouldn't you simply add the cure to your sausage and be safe, rather than try to keep a refrigerated smoker under 40* and worry?

[ssorllih]

If you pick your day you won't need refrigeration or you could just move a few hundred miles north. It unusually warm today 59 degrees. Not expected to get cold again before Christmas.

[snagman]

simply add the cure to your sausage and be safe

Widetrackman,

I do a lot of cold smoking, never without cure, DaveZac is on the money here.

Be well and safe !

[crustyo44]

Widetrackman,
Please use cure, Just to be on the safe side.
After looking back at my sausagemaking and smoking for many years, I have really been playing Russian Roulette. Luckily I am still about. Some poor devils in Adelaide, South Australia are no longer with us because of cure mix up.
Regards,
Jan,]
Brisbane.

[Chuckwagon]

Each year in the United States food borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses and 325,000 hospitalizations. These are statistics from Center For Disease Control. Of this number, more than 5,000 Americans painfully suffer the clearly evident indications and symptoms of preventable food contamination, breathe their last breath, and agonizingly die!

Three pathogens in particular - Salmonella, Listeria, and Toxoplasma - are responsible for 1,500 deaths annually. Many of the pathogens of greatest concern today, were not even recognized as causes of food borne illness merely twenty years ago! They include Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Cyclospora cayetanensis, and others.

Other pathogenic bacteria of concern to sausage makers include Clostridium botulinum whose spores produce the deadliest toxin known to man, and Clostridium perfringens - both of which grow without oxygen present. Staphylococcus aureus is present in the mouth, nose, and throat as well as on the skin and hair of many healthy people who never suspect it. One cough or sneeze may be accountable for the sickness of countless individuals. Shigella, also a rod-shaped pathogenic bacterium, is closely related to E.coli and salmonella. Usually ingested, it is the cause of severe dysentery. Also rod-shaped pathogens of bacteria genus bacillus include Bacillus cereus, which causes a foodborne illness similar to that of staphyloccus.

We live in a microbial world in which there are limitless opportunities for pathogenic or spoilage microorganisms to contaminate food whether it is produced in huge commercial kitchens or prepared "from scratch" at home. Food borne microbes are present (usually in the intestines) in healthy animals raised for food and the slightest contact with even small amounts of intestinal contents may contaminate meat or poultry carcasses during slaughter. Others are passed along by any number of means. As a result, worldwide each year, over two million people die from diseases attributed to contamination of food and drinking water, many being painful diarrhoeal diseases. Even in industrialized countries, up to 30% of the population have reported suffering from foodborne diseases annually.

Recently in Europe, two and a half million pounds of beef were recalled due to salmonella contamination. In the United States, a single ice cream producer affected 224,000 persons when salmonella contaminated products were placed on the market. Earlier, an outbreak of hepatitis A, resulting from the consumption of contaminated clams, affected some 300,000 individuals in China. In the United Kingdom, two million cases, (about 3,400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), of food contamination are reported each year. In France, three quarters of a million people (1,210 cases for 100,000 inhabitants), report food contamination sicknesses annually. Australia reports an estimated five and a half million cases of food-borne illness every year, causing 18,000 hospitalizations and 120 deaths. The problem creates an enormous social and economic strain on people in every country. In the United States alone, diseases caused by the major pathogens are estimated to cost over $35 billion dollars annually in medical costs and lost productivity.

Make no mistake. Clostridium botulinum is a killer! Clostridium botulinum is a common obligate anaerobic bacterium microorganism found in soil and sea sediments. Although it can only reproduce in an oxygen-free environment, when it does reproduce, it produces the deadliest poison known to man - botulinum toxin. One millionth of a gram ingested means certain death - about 500,000 times more toxic than cyanide. Onset of symptoms can occur quickly and include nausea, stomach pain, double vision, and spreading paralysis, ultimately reaching the heart or respiratory organs. If treatment is given and the dose is low, half of those affected may survive, but recovery may take months or years. Although fatalities occur yearly, especially in countries where home canning is popular, the risk of acquiring botulism is very, very low. However, the lethal consequences of poisoning may make you wish to reconsider the proper addition of sodium nitrate/nitrite in your products to almost eliminate the risk. Worldwide, there are about 1000 cases of botulism each year.

The rod-shaped bacterium was first recognized and isolated in 1896 following the poisoning of several people who had consumed bad ham. It was later discovered that due to the enzyme superoxide dismutase, the bacterium might actually tolerate very small traces of oxygen. Botulinum spores are extremely persistent and will survive heating up to 250°F. (121°C), freezing, smoking, and drying. Insidiously, they lie in wait for the right conditions to occur and give no foul smell or taste, making it even more treacherous. In non-cooked fermented sausages, the microorganism must be destroyed using a combination of salt, a drop beyond 5.0 pH, and a minimum drop in Aw water activity to 0.97 or less. Placing fresh vegetables or un-sterilized (garden fresh) spices into sausage is not recommended as botulinum spores are not uncommon on leafy herbs, peppers, beans, chilies, and corn. Cut off from oxygen by being stuffed into casings and placed in a smoker, the smoking temperatures are ideal for bacteria growth. The risk using fresh garlic is less, but cases of botulism poisoning have been reported after people have eaten home-canned garlic cloves in oil - the ideal environment for anaerobic bacterial growth!

Why am I telling you this? Frankly, to scare the crap out of you! What better place to print explicit details with which every responsible sausage maker should become familiar before undertaking the business of feeding or preparing food for other people? A trusted sausage maker or cook may either promote or recklessly endanger the health of other human beings. I openly cringe whenever I hear someone repeat the words "he`s just a cook". Inside our ranch kitchen, cowboys helped with dishes and treated the cook as if he were royalty. After all, although he was "just the cook", all hands depended upon the "biscuit wrangler" to feed us fresh, tasty, and safely prepared food. Shucks pards, we all knew he could have easily slipped a little Ex-Lax into the chocolate pudding anytime he had revenge on his mind. We also trusted and relied upon him to help keep harmful bacteria out of the sausage and meat products we devoured like hungry wolves.

If someone wishes to be stupid and leave out a few cents worth of sodium nitrite in THEIR OWN sausage, then I suppose it`s their own business if they wish to commit suicide. But when a person recklessly endangers ANOTHER person`s life or OTHER PERSONS lives as well, it is my opinion, that person should be considered a criminal!

One more thing. Cloth bags are a breeding ground for bacteria. They went out with Betty Boop and running-boards! Break down and buy a few dollars worth of synthetic casings - you may live a lot longer!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

[widetrackman]

Each year in the United States food borne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses and 325,000 hospitalizations. These are statistics from Center For Disease Control. Of this number, more than 5,000 Americans painfully suffer the clearly evident indications and symptoms of preventable food contamination, breathe their last breath, and agonizingly die!

Three pathogens in particular - Salmonella, Listeria, and Toxoplasma - are responsible for 1,500 deaths annually. Many of the pathogens of greatest concern today, were not even recognized as causes of food borne illness merely twenty years ago! They include Campylobacter jejuni, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Cyclospora cayetanensis, and others.

Other pathogenic bacteria of concern to sausage makers include Clostridium botulinum whose spores produce the deadliest toxin known to man, and Clostridium perfringens - both of which grow without oxygen present. Staphylococcus aureus is present in the mouth, nose, and throat as well as on the skin and hair of many healthy people who never suspect it. One cough or sneeze may be accountable for the sickness of countless individuals. Shigella, also a rod-shaped pathogenic bacterium, is closely related to E.coli and salmonella. Usually ingested, it is the cause of severe dysentery. Also rod-shaped pathogens of bacteria genus bacillus include Bacillus cereus, which causes a foodborne illness similar to that of staphyloccus.

We live in a microbial world in which there are limitless opportunities for pathogenic or spoilage microorganisms to contaminate food whether it is produced in huge commercial kitchens or prepared "from scratch" at home. Food borne microbes are present (usually in the intestines) in healthy animals raised for food and the slightest contact with even small amounts of intestinal contents may contaminate meat or poultry carcasses during slaughter. Others are passed along by any number of means. As a result, worldwide each year, over two million people die from diseases attributed to contamination of food and drinking water, many being painful diarrhoeal diseases. Even in industrialized countries, up to 30% of the population have reported suffering from foodborne diseases annually.

Recently in Europe, two and a half million pounds of beef were recalled due to salmonella contamination. In the United States, a single ice cream producer affected 224,000 persons when salmonella contaminated products were placed on the market. Earlier, an outbreak of hepatitis A, resulting from the consumption of contaminated clams, affected some 300,000 individuals in China. In the United Kingdom, two million cases, (about 3,400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants), of food contamination are reported each year. In France, three quarters of a million people (1,210 cases for 100,000 inhabitants), report food contamination sicknesses annually. Australia reports an estimated five and a half million cases of food-borne illness every year, causing 18,000 hospitalizations and 120 deaths. The problem creates an enormous social and economic strain on people in every country. In the United States alone, diseases caused by the major pathogens are estimated to cost over $35 billion dollars annually in medical costs and lost productivity.

Make no mistake. Clostridium botulinum is a killer! Clostridium botulinum is a common obligate anaerobic bacterium microorganism found in soil and sea sediments. Although it can only reproduce in an oxygen-free environment, when it does reproduce, it produces the deadliest poison known to man - botulinum toxin. One millionth of a gram ingested means certain death - about 500,000 times more toxic than cyanide. Onset of symptoms can occur quickly and include nausea, stomach pain, double vision, and spreading paralysis, ultimately reaching the heart or respiratory organs. If treatment is given and the dose is low, half of those affected may survive, but recovery may take months or years. Although fatalities occur yearly, especially in countries where home canning is popular, the risk of acquiring botulism is very, very low. However, the lethal consequences of poisoning may make you wish to reconsider the proper addition of sodium nitrate/nitrite in your products to almost eliminate the risk. Worldwide, there are about 1000 cases of botulism each year.

The rod-shaped bacterium was first recognized and isolated in 1896 following the poisoning of several people who had consumed bad ham. It was later discovered that due to the enzyme superoxide dismutase, the bacterium might actually tolerate very small traces of oxygen. Botulinum spores are extremely persistent and will survive heating up to 250°F. (121°C), freezing, smoking, and drying. Insidiously, they lie in wait for the right conditions to occur and give no foul smell or taste, making it even more treacherous. In non-cooked fermented sausages, the microorganism must be destroyed using a combination of salt, a drop beyond 5.0 pH, and a minimum drop in Aw water activity to 0.97 or less. Placing fresh vegetables or un-sterilized (garden fresh) spices into sausage is not recommended as botulinum spores are not uncommon on leafy herbs, peppers, beans, chilies, and corn. Cut off from oxygen by being stuffed into casings and placed in a smoker, the smoking temperatures are ideal for bacteria growth. The risk using fresh garlic is less, but cases of botulism poisoning have been reported after people have eaten home-canned garlic cloves in oil - the ideal environment for anaerobic bacterial growth!

Why am I telling you this? Frankly, to scare the crap out of you! What better place to print explicit details with which every responsible sausage maker should become familiar before undertaking the business of feeding or preparing food for other people? A trusted sausage maker or cook may either promote or recklessly endanger the health of other human beings. I openly cringe whenever I hear someone repeat the words "he`s just a cook". Inside our ranch kitchen, cowboys helped with dishes and treated the cook as if he were royalty. After all, although he was "just the cook", all hands depended upon the "biscuit wrangler" to feed us fresh, tasty, and safely prepared food. Shucks pards, we all knew he could have easily slipped a little Ex-Lax into the chocolate pudding anytime he had revenge on his mind. We also trusted and relied upon him to help keep harmful bacteria out of the sausage and meat products we devoured like hungry wolves.

If someone wishes to be stupid and leave out a few cents worth of sodium nitrite in THEIR OWN sausage, then I suppose it`s their own business if they wish to commit suicide. But when a person recklessly endangers ANOTHER person`s life or OTHER PERSONS lives as well, it is my opinion, that person should be considered a criminal!

One more thing. Cloth bags are a breeding ground for bacteria. They went out with Betty Boop and running-boards! Break down and buy a few dollars worth of synthetic casings - you may live a lot longer!

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Damn Chuckwagon, you must have a PHD in Pathogenic Bacteria or were involved in Germ Warfare You did scare the Sh*t out of me and although people are doing it I think I will not. I purchased fresh pork sausage for years and up to the early 1980s from Mid South Packers, Tupelo, Ms. (Southern Belle Brand) in cloth bags (cured & smoked and non-curred non-smoked) Mid South was considered by the U.S. meat packing industry to be the "Standard" for whole hog pork sausage cira 1955-70s. The product was excellent and at the time the brands using the plastic bags could not come close to the taste, I always thought it was due the cloth bags and air aging process as well as the smoking in cloth bags. If I dont use cloth bags what would you use when smoking 1 or 2# chubs. I dont want to use liquid smoke or hog/sheep casings. Also no one has answered how to keep sausage from sticking to the cloth bags.

[widetrackman]

I'm certainly no expert on cold smoking, and have no experience with a refrigerated smoker, but I gotta wonder...why wouldn't you simply add the cure to your sausage and be safe, rather than try to keep a refrigerated smoker under 40* and worry?

I have eaten smoked non cured and cured pork sausage. It seems the cure changes the taste which I dont care for as much as the uncured. But then again I want to be around to continue eating sausage

[ssorllih]

Widetrack, The lower limit for an effective cure I believe is 50 ppm and the upper level maxes out at 156ppm. Perhaps you have eaten sausage that was cured at the upper limit and of course it does change the taste which is why roast pork doesn't taste like ham.
I would be inclined to add liquid smoke if I wanted smoke taste but wished to avoid the nitrite.

[Chuckwagon]

Widetrack wrote:

Damn Chuckwagon, you must have a PHD in Pathogenic Bacteria or were involved in Germ Warfare

SheeYuks Widetrack, I've got a truckload of letters behind my name, but pard, don`t hold that against me! They don`t mean crap really. And they're a lot better than having numbers behind one's name eh! I always believed that a man is better off with just good common sense! Besides that, I`ve seen too many good folks turn into real horse`s asses when they receive a little education and start stackin` up consonants and vowels behind their surname. Not all - but many. I just can`t stand talkin` to an arrogant, puffed up, snot-nosed high bindin` jackeroo who thinks he just may be better than a lot of other folks. I`ve always thought that when some juniper totin` mudsills got those initials behind them, they start feeling "false pride" and then start talking down to other folks when they should be helpin` to lift them up. I believe everyone on this planet are just good ol` plain "folks" and should help each other succeed.
Germ warfare?... uh... not even!
1 or 2 lb. sausages? Use synthetic fibrous casing. They smoke just fine. "Vulcanized fiber" in thicker cardstock is often used in the knife industry as handle "spacers". The stuff is actually porous and allows for an ingress of smoke.
Sticking cloth? Use a product called "Peel Ease" from the Sausagemaker.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

[Baconologist]

.....what can I do to keep the sausage from sticking to cloth when pealing back cloth to slice patties?

Spray the cloth with vinegar, that'll keep the sausage from sticking.

Countless tons of sausage are still packed in cloth casings.

[Chuckwagon]

Countless tons of sausage are still packed in cloth casings.

Yes, that`s right! And it makes me wonder just how many hospitalizations and deaths might be avoided by using good, common sense. The statistics above are from The Center For Disease Control. The agency has stated that there are 76 million food-borne illnesses and 325,000 hospitalizations annually... of which more than 5,000 Americans painfully die.

It kind of makes a person wonder what people are thinking when they proudly announce that their ancestors did not use an actual curing agent, so why should they? Shucks, Salmonella, Listeria, and Toxoplasma alone, are responsible for 1,500 deaths annually.

It was good to hear from Crusty (Jan) in Brisbane, Australia. I know he diligently uses caution and cures. In his country there are five and a half million cases of food-borne illness every year, causing 18,000 hospitalizations and 120 deaths.

Safety in this business seems to boil down to using common sense.

[Baconologist]

All must understand the importance of fully understanding and following all safety precautions.

It's my understanding that the commercial fresh smoked sausage in the south that's packed in cloth bags is smoked at 36-38 degrees.

It's wise to add cure.

Back home in Jersey, tons upon tons of pork roll are packed in cloth bags.
Pork roll is cured of course.





We've been making homemade pork roll, packed in cloth bags and hickory smoked, for several generations.