Just finished my first batch of summer sausage. Need to thank everyone who contributed to this message string. I only have a Traeger smoker and I was worried about it running too hot for summer sausage. The temperature swings on that thing are mind boggling. So I opted for sous vide instead. They turned out great! I followed the Waltons recipe for summer sausage (I went with habanero bbq seasoning based on the recent podcast) but I did cut the water by about a third since these were going into the sous vide and not a smoker. Total guess on 2/3 water being the right amount to account for no water loss in the sous vide. I did a 10 lb batch which called for 3.5 cups of water and I used 2 cups. It looked right in the mixer and I had 1.5 cups left in the measuring cup.

After Jon’s recommendation that they stay above 130 for at least 3 hrs I followed the temp schedule below. Don’t know if it was excessive stepping up this way but hey it worked.

110 F for 30 min
120 F for 30 min
130 F for 1 hr
140 F for 1.5 hr
155 F for 1.5 hr

This one is definitely tongue in cheek, but given the general aversion to the word I say to call it the “Moist Maker”.

Bob Stehlik That’s some really great advice! I’ll have to pick up some fire bricks and Nomex BBQ gasket tape. Also, the bread pan idea is something I’ve never really thought about. I’m in Utah (probably a similar humidity profile that you have in Colorado) and your comment was really an ah-ha moment for me. Obviously even in a pellet grill I need to add humidity, especially in such a dry climate. Thanks for the advice!

Bob Stehlik That’s some really great advice! I’ll have to pick up some fire bricks and Nomex BBQ gasket tape. Also, the bread pan idea is something I’ve never really thought about. I’m in Utah (probably a similar humidity profile that you have in Colorado) and your comment was really an ah-ha moment for me. Obviously even in a pellet grill I need to add humidity, especially in such a dry climate. Thanks for the advice!

Just finished my first batch of summer sausage. Need to thank everyone who contributed to this message string. I only have a Traeger smoker and I was worried about it running too hot for summer sausage. The temperature swings on that thing are mind boggling. So I opted for sous vide instead. They turned out great! I followed the Waltons recipe for summer sausage (I went with habanero bbq seasoning based on the recent podcast) but I did cut the water by about a third since these were going into the sous vide and not a smoker. Total guess on 2/3 water being the right amount to account for no water loss in the sous vide. I did a 10 lb batch which called for 3.5 cups of water and I used 2 cups. It looked right in the mixer and I had 1.5 cups left in the measuring cup.

After Jon’s recommendation that they stay above 130 for at least 3 hrs I followed the temp schedule below. Don’t know if it was excessive stepping up this way but hey it worked.

110 F for 30 min
120 F for 30 min
130 F for 1 hr
140 F for 1.5 hr
155 F for 1.5 hr

This one is definitely tongue in cheek, but given the general aversion to the word I say to call it the “Moist Maker”.