Just throwing out a thought for what ever it is worth, oxidation maybe.
Knocked out 50lb of sausage today - Andouille and Sheboygan Brat
-
Local grocery had a $1.49/lb sale on butts and that is as good as it gets lately. They were bone-in cryo two packs so picked through to find what I thought would land me with enough for two 25lb batches. after deboning. Now I do have to mention with ZERO exaggeration: I literally landed at 50lb of meat block after deboning - ON THE NOSE. Pat myself on back right there.
For the Sheboygan Brats I did a single 4.5mm grind and stuffed into 32-35mm casings. This is a new recipe for me (both from Walton’s).
The Andouille I did maybe 5lb through the 4.5mm plate and the rest through a 10mm for a nice chunky texture. Made this Andouille once before but as a fresh brat and it is absolutely amazing… This time I added a pack of sure cure and will smoke them tomorrow. Planning to use the advice on smoke schedule twilliams s gave me in my Smoked Kielbasa thread and see how it goes:
- Do me a favor and next time try this smoke schedule
110* for 1 hour vents all open (drying phase)
125* for 2 hours (with smoke) close dampers to half on bottom 1/8th open on top
140* for 1 hour (with smoke)
155* for 2 hours (no smoke)
170* until IT reaches your desired finished temp. 157*-160*
Ice bath immediately
Also been trying to be more consistent on size so I cut a piece of tube the casings come on to size I want and use that as a guide (visible in pics). Went longer for Andouille.
Sheboygan Brats:
And the Andouille:
- Do me a favor and next time try this smoke schedule
-
nice links
-
cdavis Team Blue Big Green Egg Masterbuilt Canning Kamado Joes Regular Contributors Power User last edited by
Jamieson22 man that is alot of brats. They look great and what a job linking. Congrats
-
cdavis said in Knocked out 50lb of sausage today - Andouille and Sheboygan Brat:
Jamieson22 man that is alot of brats. They look great and what a job linking. Congrats
Yeah I bought the meat block without thinking it through much. Realized I am out of town next weekend so had an “Oh c**p, guess I’m making 50lb this weekend” moment last week. Plan was to make Saturday and smoke Sunday but got lazy. So will work from home tomorrow to do the smoke.
-
GWG8541 Regular Contributors Cast Iron Sous Vide Canning Team Blue Power User Military Veterans last edited by
Jamieson22 great looking batch. Let us know how the smoke goes.
-
cdavis Team Blue Big Green Egg Masterbuilt Canning Kamado Joes Regular Contributors Power User last edited by
Jamieson22 good luck on the smoke
-
Jamieson22 now ya got me nervous, all eyes are on deck….lol
-
twilliams No need to be nervous. I appreciate the input/help! Generally I slay on the smokers but turning out nice smoked sausages has eluded me. I’ll happily take the experienced advice I get to learn this PK100!
-
Getting ready to start the smoke and got a chance to use my sawhorse setup for loading up the hanging rods. Nice and easy!
-
lkrfletcher Sous Vide Canning PK100 Team Blue Power User Regular Contributors Veteran last edited by
Jamieson22 Well done!
-
Surg Team Blue Cast Iron Dry Cured Sausage Masterbuilt Veteran Sous Vide Power User Regular Contributors last edited by
Jamieson22 very nicely done
-
Nice! Leave a review of the taste of those Sheboygan brats! I have been eyeing that seasoning.
-
ND Mike said in Knocked out 50lb of sausage today - Andouille and Sheboygan Brat:
Nice! Leave a review of the taste of those Sheboygan brats! I have been eyeing that seasoning.
I’m curious as well.
-
Jamieson22 wonderful outdoor kitchen
-
-
So I am now 9+ hours in and sitting at 136F IT on the links. I opened it just once a bit ago to remove dust pan and checked temp on another link and read the same.
Color looked really nice which is a plus.This time I also hung an ambient probe that is kind floating in the middle of chamber as I wrapped it around a dowel. When I set smoker to 155F it read 142-148. To get to 170F I had to set smoker to 195F. Not sure if I am just way impatient or should I be planning for crazy long cooks? Any thoughts?
I fired up my P&S pellet smoker and may move them to it on 30 min or so if they don’t start moving up more.
-
Well ended up turning the PK100 up to 215F which gave me a temp reading of 195-198F on my Thermoworks Smoke ambient probe. That seemed to push them through as 125F to 135F took hours. Pulled them at 155F IT and did a cold water bath. Final cook time was 11h20m for 25lb in 42-45mm casings. Currently sitting on counter for a bit before going in fridge.
Color is fantastic so twilliams think your advice of less water in dust made a diff. Have a few pale spots but that was due to overlapping .I did get a lot more case wrinkle than I’d like and imagine the higher temps had a lot to do with it. Guessing I got some fat out on a few in hotter spots in smoker. Not sure what to change next time for a better batch.
-
Jamieson22 did you use the 1250watt setting from start? Maybe next time try your ambient probe trick at the beginning and adjust smoker temp to hit the desired cabin temps. I think 195* was a bit much and pushed a bit of fat out. When you cook them they may plump up and not be wrinkled
-
Jamieson22 good job by the way, practice and trying new things is good. I need to figure out my fresh bratwurst texture.
-
twilliams said in Knocked out 50lb of sausage today - Andouille and Sheboygan Brat:
Jamieson22 did you use the 1250watt setting from start? Maybe next time try your ambient probe trick at the beginning and adjust smoker temp to hit the desired cabin temps. I think 195* was a bit much and pushed a bit of fat out. When you cook them they may plump up and not be wrinkled
Yep 1250w the whole way. I was watching temps and things were in line until I went to 155F though didn’t adjust for a bit as was working and didn’t notice.
Definitely a good idea for next time to shoot for actual vs what is on the display. Also curious if other PK100 owners notice a big difference. I generally never monitor pit temps. I also left my sawdust pan in until well after it burned out. Maybe next time will pull it per smoke schedule as not cure if it sitting on burner makes a big diff. Imagine it can’t help. I’ll figure this d**n thing out.
I’ve been turning out really good brats with a 4.5mm or 6mm single grind. Comes pretty close to Johnsonville texture (6mm is better). I try to avoid over emulsified.
Suggested Topics
Sponsored By:

Visit waltons.com to find everything for meat processing.
Walton's - Everything But The Meat!