Homemade Sausage Making

There are no "silly" questions on this forum. Ask your fellow members for tips and suggestions in making your own favorite sausage recipes. Ask them about their techniques and secrets too! There are folks on this site with incredible sausage-making savvy and they will share it... BUT you will have to ASK.

I'm trying to figure out what are the long thin casings I see used mostly by Germans. In Germany, they seemed to be quite common. Here in Chicago, I've only had them at German festivals as Bratwurst or Currywurst. Sometime advertised as meter long sausage.

All sausage makers use casings. They are often made from intestine from pigs, sheep or cattle. Different sizes are used of different types of sausage. Casings are also made from animal collagen or from synthetic materials. For some types of sausage cloth bags are sewn for casings. As you can guess not all casings are edible.

Hi Siamon: I have also had these long skinny sausages while over in Mainz Germany. I see them mostly served in the mornings in take out windows as a breakfast sausage. My guess is that they are just a 22 mm sheep casing. The ones I had were bent in half and served on a fresh bun. Very yummy.

Bert

There are no "silly" questions on this forum. Ask your fellow members for tips and suggestions in making your own favorite sausage recipes. Ask them about their techniques and secrets too! There are folks on this site with incredible sausage-making savvy and they will share it... BUT you will have to ASK.

Hey guys,

I have been researching and planning my first true smoked sausage attempt and decided to do some Andouille. My plan is to bring it to an Easter gathering as snacks before the main meal, however I am a little worried about getting my friends and inlaws sick, and was hoping to get some validation of my plan to ensure success. Here is my plan:

5lb boston butt
Various spices the recipe calls for
Now the confusing part - I purchased DQ curing salt (pink) at amazon and the label does not state #1 or #2 - but I can confirm it does say It contains 6.25% sodium NITRITE. I will use a level tsp for the 5lbs of meat.

I plan to cube the meat and mix with the cure and spices and let sit overnight wrapped tight in plastic wrap. Next day grind\stuff and let air dry for a few hours.

Cold Smoke will be applied via Amazing box with hickory dust for 2.5 hours in my WSM. Then I will light a few Kingsford in a snake configuration to get the temp up to around 200-220 for another 3 hours or so or until the internal temp reaches 155.

Can someone confirm if the curing salt I described above is the right one to safely cold smoke the stuffed sausage?

Thanks so much

TomD

From what you describe, you have #1. As to the idea about adding the salt and nitrite to the meat and then sealing it in plastic, that is not exactly the right thing to do. Nitrites produce gases during the curing process and these need to escape. place the meat in a non reactive container, that is glass, stainless steel or food grade plastic and cover with a clean cloth or a couple of layers of parchment paper. That way the meat won't dry out in the fridge and the gases will escape.

redzed wrote:From what you describe, you have #1. As to the idea about adding the salt and nitrite to the meat and then sealing it in plastic, that is not exactly the right thing to do. Nitrites produce gases during the curing process and these need to escape. place the meat in a non reactive container, that is glass, stainless steel or food grade plastic and cover with a clean cloth or a couple of layers of parchment paper. That way the meat won't dry out in the fridge and the gases will escape.

Hey Chris

I have been vacuum sealing meats to cure for a long time, even in a brine since I obtained a chamber sealer. Have never had a problem...in fact it seemed better.

What is this info based on?

Thanks
Bob


All pink tinted cures have the same sodium nitrite concentration, which is 6.25%. Prague Powder # 1, Insta-Cure, Modern Cure are all the same. The pink color is not what gives the meat a reddish hue - that is done by the curing process.

Thanks so much for the fast response and clarification that what I have is indeed cure #1 - can you confirm that this is the proper cure for the smoke plan that I have described?

TomD

Tom

#1 cure is the right one to use

tdibiasio wrote:Cold Smoke will be applied via Amazing box with hickory dust for 2.5 hours in my WSM. Then I will light a few Kingsford in a snake configuration to get the temp up to around 200-220 for another 3 hours or so or until the internal temp reaches 155.
TomD

If you raise the smoker temp to 200-220° the fat in the sausage will liquefy and bleed out of the casings, leaving you with a VERY dry product and a big mess to clean. Most sausage is smoked at 165° till a IT of 152° is attained. I'm not exactly sure what the term "cold smoke" means, seems a lot of different people take the term a lot of different ways. If it turns out your just doing regular good old smoked sausage, the smoker temp should never exceed 170°. It's wise to start smoking at 130° after the sausage has dried and then raise the smoker temp 2-3 degrees every 15-20 minutes until you hit 165°. Just my 2≠. RAY

Hi TomD - I have cold smoked andouille using the Amazn smoker, and even fed it to guests! I definitely sympathize with your concern, though. Killing yourself is a bad idea, but killing your guests is bad manners. Better listen to Ray about smoker temps - he's got that right.

I don't know your experience with Boston butt, or your preferences, and this may be an unwanted opinion... but the butts I have bought were so lean that I started adding back fat - an extra 20%. Then again, I like a pretty fatty sausage.

You are now obliged to tell everyone how it worked out - with pictures! Meanwhile, I am still pondering what to bring to the Easter feast I am going to.

Cheers,
Jeff

Sawhorse Ray wrote:

If you raise the smoker temp to 200-220° the fat in the sausage will liquefy and bleed out of the casings, leaving you with a VERY dry product and a big mess to clean. Most sausage is smoked at 165° till a IT of 152° is attained. I'm not exactly sure what the term "cold smoke" means, seems a lot of different people take the term a lot of different ways. If it turns out your just doing regular good old smoked sausage, the smoker temp should never exceed 170°. It's wise to start smoking at 130° after the sausage has dried and then raise the smoker temp 2-3 degrees every 15-20 minutes until you hit 165°. Just my 2≠. RAY

Amen Brother!

There are no "silly" questions on this forum. Ask your fellow members for tips and suggestions in making your own favorite sausage recipes. Ask them about their techniques and secrets too! There are folks on this site with incredible sausage-making savvy and they will share it... BUT you will have to ASK.

I always use beef inside round for all my sausage recipes because it is so lean. The only thing about it is I have to buy a 20 lb roast minimum. Beef prices have gotten so high over $1.50 more a pound then last year. I only need about 7lbs. Does the fat in the chuck roast work well with snacks sticks or summer sausage? I have always used just the fat from my pork shoulder for the fat in my sausage. Thanks

Does the fat in the chuck roast work well with snacks sticks or summer sausage?

Scott, you'll always get a little marbeling fat in the content but if you take a little time to trim and dress the chuck, it's not bad at all for snack sticks. I'm like you in preference to the round. It's hard to beat. You might shop for a little top round or even bottom round if you can find it. Both are fairly lean but because they are cheaper, many economy-minded housewives grab it for roasts, although with little marbeling, it's not the best choice for Sunday's roast. For snack sticks, it is ideal.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Great thank you Chuckwagon.

Thanks to everyone for the guidance and vote of confidence on my first attempt at smoked sausage.

As required - here are the pics

5lbs port butt cubed with spices and cure mixed in. In the frig overnight before grinding and stuffing:



Sorry but I "forgot" to take pics of the grinding and stuffing steps

Hanging for an hour after they were stuffed:



Getting the SWM ready with the Amazing cold smoke box and "Snake" of kingsford for later on.



Sausage hung on the new WSM hanging rack:



After 4 hours of smoke from the Amazing box then another 4-5 hours raising the temp of the WSM with the ring of coals to keep the temp down below 180 till the internal temp of the sausage reached 155. Not a single sausage had fat bleeding out of the casings by keeping it in this temp range.



Ice bath to stop the cooking:



Then about another hour of drying before wrapping and vacuuming sealing:



I must admit that I was still sort of worried about potentially getting my friends sick from this so I ate about 1/2 a stick before wrapping it up so that I could ensure they were safe to serve on Easter Sunday as as a before dinner snack. I am pleased to say that I did not get sick at all and my friends and inlaws are still raving about how awesome these tasted. I grilled a few before serving with some smoked pepper jacked cheese I made a few months ago and was the "Highlight" of the Easter celebration - well as far as food goes- we all know who is the real highlight of Easter Sunday

Thanks again for the advice, confirmation, and confidence to keep going with my first smoked sausage.

TomD