tempature of meat before going in smoker ?

[heagerty666]

new to this i am concerned of having blowout with the meat due to temps. should the summer sausage log be at room temp. before going into smoker ? same question for snack sticks ? thanks

[Jonathon]

heagerty666 Good question! Some people let it come to room temperature first but we don’t recommend it. As long as you start out your smoker at low heat you don’t need to be overly worried about blowouts. For both of those products, I would recommend starting at 125 for an hour if you have a smoker that is capable of handling such a low heat.

The problem with letting it come up to room temperature is the possibility of growing bacteria in the meat that could affect the taste and safety of the meat. As long as it is stuffed correctly and brought up in stages you won’t have an issue.