Summer Sausage-First Try Questions
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Hello, I am looking to try my first batch. I will be receiving H summer seasoning, sure gel, and encapsulated citric acid today. A couple of questions:
Can I used a kitchen aid mixer with a paddle attachment to mix? (I will be doing a small batch to start, likely less than 5 pounds).
Can you over mix? From reading, it looks like you can definitely under mix and not achieve proper protein extraction.
I use a charcoal barrel house smoker. It’s relatively difficult to keep the temp low and consistent. Any suggestions here? Or could I do like 180 degrees, the entire smoke, until internal temp reaches 145? Alternatively, is the oven an option?
Appreciate it!
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glen Regular Contributors Team Grey Sous Vide Canning Dry Cured Sausage Masterbuilt Power User Meat Hack Winner Veteran Kansasreplied to benj11317 on last edited by glen
benj11317 If less than 5 lb. hand mix, less clean up, mix until a small hand full will stick with palm down, same if you decide to use mixer
Keep temp as low as possible 100 + for at least 1 hr then you can go higher, if you can’t it’s not the end of the world but try to stay below 200
Many say 165 internal, I have made it for years topping out at 150-155
Definitely do not go above 165
Oven is fine but your lowest selling may be 175 or so. You can keep the door cracked or cycle on and off to start at a lower temp
Good luck, let us know -
RON PARRISH Regular Contributors Cast Iron Canning Team Orange Power User Veteran Ohioreplied to benj11317 on last edited by
benj11317 Finishing them in a hot water bath saved a lot of time and eliminated my fat out problem on earlier batches
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RON PARRISH I do have a sous vide. Would you suggest starting with the low temperature smoking and then transitioning to the sous vide when a certain internal temperature is hit?
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glen Regular Contributors Team Grey Sous Vide Canning Dry Cured Sausage Masterbuilt Power User Meat Hack Winner Veteran Kansasreplied to benj11317 on last edited by
benj11317 I didn’t realize you have sous vide, yes to your question, works great but still be aware of too high a temperature
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benj11317 said in Summer Sausage-First Try Questions:
RON PARRISH I do have a sous vide. Would you suggest starting with the low temperature smoking and then transitioning to the sous vide when a certain internal temperature i[censored]?
That is how I do my snack sticks. Sous vide is so much less work since I don’t have a dedicated smoker. I get my smoke from a combination of my pellet grill (to get to desire temp) and a smoke tube. I try to get 3 hrs of smoking before I finish them in the sousvide
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Dr_Pain If you wouldn’t mind, could you provide how you do yours step-by-step? I am very comfortable smoking meat and using the sous vide for meat. But, combining the two for snack sticks/summer sausage is completely foreign to me. I assume I would smoke at the lowest temp I could get my smoker to for 3 hours and then immediately transfer to sous vide until internal temperature is 155-160? What temperature do you set your sous vide at? I will be doing a pork/beef mixture first and then a venison/pork mixture after I get good results. Thank you!
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I normally put the snack stick, a smoke tube and a meat probe (to monitor the ambient temperature) in the pellet grill and start the grill. I let it come to temp and then turn off the pellet grill. I then monitor the gill via the probe and when is goes below desired temps I bump it up again and do so every time the grill cools. The schedule I follow is:
- 125F for 1.5hrs
- 135F for 1hr
- 155f for 1hr
- Then sousvide set at 165F until IT is 150F.
Now comes the plot twist. I put the sticks in the water direct, I don’t bag them. This was discussed before and can be a subject of controversy because your sousvide will obviously circulate “dirty water”. I feel a good clean up after is cheaper than all the bagging material I would use. A good degreaser and proper brushing followed by a good rinse is all good in my book
Below is a few pics I shared about my small batch of pepperoni snack sticks. Made a few batches since that were much larger (5lbs)
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benj11317 I forgot to mention that I have smoke going through the whole process when most (with traditional smokers) use the first phase to “dry out” the sticks. I need as much of the 3-4hrs of smoke I can before going to sousvide
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RON PARRISH Regular Contributors Cast Iron Canning Team Orange Power User Veteran Ohioreplied to benj11317 on last edited by
benj11317 I did mine in smoker until IT hit 130 and then finished in 170 degree water to 155 IT. I am far from an expert but there are many here that are and are more than happy to help. You can get any question you have answered by people who do it every day!
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Dr_Pain Greatly appreciate the in-depth explanation! I’m excited to give it a go with this method.
By the way, those pepperoni sticks look awesome. My wife would probably love something along those lines. Did you post how you did those on this site? I assume you used a smoke collagen casing for these?
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benj11317 said in Summer Sausage-First Try Questions:
Dr_Pain Greatly appreciate the in-depth explanation! I’m excited to give it a go with this method.
By the way, those pepperoni sticks look awesome. My wife would probably love something along those lines. Did you post how you did those on this site? I assume you used a smoke collagen casing for these?
I did not make a how to recipe on this batch. I am still trying to perfect it some. It is very close though
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benj11317 said in Summer Sausage-First Try Questions:
Dr_Pain Greatly appreciate the in-depth explanation! I’m excited to give it a go with this method.
By the way, those pepperoni sticks look awesome. My wife would probably love something along those lines. Did you post how you did those on this site? I assume you used a smoke collagen casing for these?
I forgot to say… Yes it was smoked collagen casing (19mm)
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Looking forward to your recipe but hunger may drive me to do a batch of terriaki sticks while waiting
