Cured-Smoked Experiment

[Fishawn]

I was going to try CA's Hybrid Snack Stix, the mixing of fresh meat with cooked meat & smoked in Sheep casings or Collagen, but I had no sheep casings. The closest place was Cabela's, but @ 5:00 on Friday with traffic & fighting the crowds @ Cabela's, it just did not sound good. So I improvised, got some Pork Butt, ground it up & measured out 3 pounds. In my freezer, I had various experimental beef based sausage, so I defrosted them & stripped all the filling out of the casings to get 2 pounds. So now I got 5 pound, ground up ready to go.....

Seasonings: Sriracha, CBP, 1/2 cup Oats (Yes Oats for CA), Mustard seeds, Jerk seasoning, Jalapeno Tabasco, Pineapple preserves, Sage, Paprika, Cajun seasoning, Red pepper flakes, Splenda...... Along with 1.5 tsp per pound TQ.

Smoked with Hickory at 130* for 2 hours, bumped it up to 150* then 160* then 170* till they hit 153* internally. Took about 4.5 hours. Then into a ice bath to cool them down & let them dry and bloom about 3 hours. They did "bloom" some, but not quite what I was wanting. I would like to get a darker "Mahogany" color when finished, but they looked OK. Tasted GREAT!
The Sriracha heat was there & just a touch of sweetness, which was what I was aiming for. (Love the Hot-Sweet thingy)

Any tips on achieving the darker color after resting them at room temperature to BLOOM? or do they all respond differently?

Would Oggy be proud of me writing skills.....

[Kingudaroad]

Any tips on achieving the darker color after resting them at room temperature to BLOOM? or do they all respond differently?

Looks to me like you may have some hot spots in your smoker. May want to turn down the heat a bit, and shuffle them around during the smoke.

Do not turn the heat above 140 till the sausages have turned a nice uniform color. Then you know the smoking part is done, and you can turn the heat up to 160 to 170 to finish cooking them.

[Fishawn]

Looks to me like you may have some hot spots in your smoker. May want to turn down the heat a bit, and shuffle them around during the smoke.

Do not turn the heat above 140 till the sausages have turned a nice uniform color. Then you know the smoking part is done, and you can turn the heat up to 160 to 170 to finish cooking them.

All great advice Keith & I think I do have a hot spot in the back. I rotated the trays, but gave no thought of "shuffling" them. Great point.

So longer time & lower temo next time should help.... Thanks

[Richtee]

A bit of paprika. Altho it's kind of "cheating"- it works well and can't hurt :{)

[JustSmoke2]

I knew a fellow who would spray his casings with red food coloring and water while hanging up before the smoked them.

[Texas-Hunter]

I didnt see where you added cure or TQ?? If you add it and let rest in the frig over night before smoking you will get the dark bloom you are looking for..

[Fishawn]

I added 1.5 Tspn per pound...... If I let it rest overnight, I would think it would get a little "tough" as the cure does it's thing?

So should I leave out the liquid & mix it in before stuffing to get the right consistancy for the stuffer?

[Texas-Hunter]

I always mix my ingredients with some sort of liquid.. Water, Beer, Wine... Add to the meat, mix well... stuff into casings and then let rest over night...


But thats me.. I know some do not add any liquid..

[Fishawn]

Got it, I'm impatient..... COULD NOT WAIT

Must make sausage now....

[Texas-Hunter]

Also, my rule of thumb is one ounce per pound..

[Bbqgoddess]

Scott,
I was really intrigued with the flavors! sound yummy! what a great thread for us noobs! Thanks everyone!

[Richtee]

And antsy-pants...your sausage will be better AND safer by a bit- if you give it 24 hours after stuffing chilled before smoking.

[Fishawn]

Points all well taken & good ones at that. Antsy-Pants is probably about right for me.... New screen name?

[Bbqgoddess]

Points all well taken & good ones at that. Antsy-Pants is probably about right for me.... New screen name?

Hummm makes for a lot of good avatar ideas too.....

[Slanted88]

Like what ya stuffed in em!....Oggy will be Chagrined cause ya didn't type more....