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Cured Meats & Food Preservation => Cured meats & Food Preservation => Charcuterie: Ham, Bacon, Sausage, etc. => Topic started by: Sailor1 on December 30, 2013, 07:29:21 PM

Title: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: Sailor1 on December 30, 2013, 07:29:21 PM
Tee asked me to do a write up on the use of a hot water bath to speed up the time on smoking sausage.

For full disclosure, this is not my idea and I learned of the Turkey Roaster idea on another forum.  The first one to bring the hot water bath to my attention was Kirby and he posts on another forum.  When he and his buddies make sausage they are making 60 pounds or more at a time.   Kirby has a large stainless steel tub that he made that is heated by propane heaters that he puts the tub over.  He has water circulation pumps pulling water off the bottom and shooting over the top to keep the water at a constant temp.  He will smoke a load of summer sausage or hot dogs or sausage or what ever road kill he has made up and smoke with heavy smoke for a few hours.  After the smoke he pulls them and puts them on racks and lowers them into his tub to finish off.  While the hot water bath is going he puts another load in his smoker and repeats the process.  He can put up a lot of smoked sausage in a short amount of time.

After Kirby started posting about his hot water bath a few other guys on that forum started doing the hot water bath using a Turkey Roaster.  I don’t know who came up with the idea and if I remember I will be sure to edit this to give them credit.

Why a hot water bath instead of just finishing them off in the smoker you ask.  Well, several things.  First it cuts the time by at least one half.  Second, the sausage turns out plump and juicy.  Third, you can do several loads in a day instead of just one. 

Why does doing the hot water bath speed up the process?  Heck, I don’t know the scientific reason but I would hazard a guess that water is a great conductor of heat verses air.  For some reason, meat that is put in hot water say at 160 degrees will get to an IT of 152 a lot faster than meat that is in 160 degree air.  You can have hot and cold spots in your smoker and that too will tend to keep the meat from coming to IT.  Water will cover all surfaces of the meat and be consistent which helps drive the IT up.

It is just like having your house temp at 78 degrees and having a tub of water at room temp, the tub water will feel cooler to the touch than just sticking your finger in the air.  When you finish a long smoke in the smoker it is suggested that you plunge the sausage in a cold water bath to take the temp down to around 100 degrees to stop the sausage from cooking and then to let it bloom at room temp for a few hours.  I don’t use any ice in my cold-water bath as I just fill a tub with cold water from the faucet and it is pretty much at room temp.  When I pull sausage from the smoker with an IT of around 152 they go into the cold-water bath and they loose the heat pretty fast.  They loose it faster then if you just lay them out or hang them at room temp and let the air-cool them down.  So the process for cooling is the same as for heating if you get my drift.

If you decide to do a hot water bath please very carful not to let the water temp get above 165 degrees or you will fat the sausage out.  Also remember that probes are not waterproof and you will short a probe out if you get the lead in the water.  Don’t ask how I know this.  You can use a food grade sealant to seal where the lead goes into the probe and this should take care of a potential problem.

I don’t use the hot water bath on all of my sausage as I am kinda old school and like to finish my summer sausage in the smoker then do the cold water bath and then bloom and fridge them.  When I am making Kielbasa or smoking other sausage that have been stuffed in hog casings I like to do the hot water bath as I have found that the casings don’t dry out or become tough.   If I am using collagen casings I don’t hot water bath them as I have had them get loose and peel.  I have had good success with using cellulose casings with the hot water bath and after blooming them and in the fridge over night the casings peel right off and I have a great skinless dog or skinless sausage.

I will mention that if you do use the hot water bath and if you see what looks like water between the casing and the meat DO NOT poke a hole in the casing to drain out the “water”.  It ain’t water!!!!!! It is fat that has rendered and it is under pressure.  I can tell you that poking a hole in a casing to let the water out will shoot a stream of hot grease across the room and if properly aimed it can coat the kitchen ceiling.  Don’t be concerned about the “water” pockets if you get them.  Just let the sausage cool down and fridge over night and the fat will get solid and you can peel the casing and wash it with warm water and all is good.  Or you can just throw on the grill and all is well.  Them little fat pockets between the casing and the meat never hurt anyone.  You generally get them when you stuff and get a fat lump next to the casing and as the meat sets up the fat doesn’t have anywhere to go.

I hope this has some been of some help to those that are willing to try a hot water bath or perhaps never heard of the hot water bath. 
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: CDN Smoker on December 30, 2013, 07:49:38 PM
Thanks for the post Sailor ;D

I am one who has never heard of a hot water bath.
Title: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: mikecorn.1 on December 30, 2013, 08:18:48 PM
It works well. I smoked some fresh sausage a buddy gave me for a few hours and them put it in a hot water bath until the sausage got up to temp. Didn't seem to loose any smoke flavor either. Done a heck of a lot quicker then leaving them in the smoker the whole time.
Just my two pennies ;) :)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk (http://tapatalk.com/m?id=1)
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: Smokin Soon on December 30, 2013, 08:30:48 PM
I have also used the hot water bath and have found that it does make a visually better looking finished product, more plump, less wrinkles. I only do it for the giveaway's. Taste is the same for the wrinkled stuff.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: TentHunteR on December 30, 2013, 10:31:49 PM
Good post Jim!

I started doing a water poach after I first read about it in the book "Polish Sausages,  Authentic Recipes and Instructions - Stanley Mirianski" I'm sure he learned it from someone, who learned it from someone...

The Turkey roasters are great for smaller batches around 10 pounds or less. For lager batches I've used a large stock pot, over a burner, but it's a lot harder controlling the temp.

I'm looking at getting one of those Sous Vide controllers that Meube and Rick B. have and pairing it with an electric hot plate under a stock pot. That way I can dial it in to 160° - 165° for a nice gentle poach.


Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: muebe on December 31, 2013, 11:00:59 AM
Cliff the Dorkfood controller works great! I highly recommend it ;)
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: spuds on April 06, 2014, 02:24:00 PM
Just happen to have a turkey roaster or 2,cant wait to get these going.

Thanks for the great advice.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: GusRobin on April 06, 2014, 11:43:47 PM
Good post Jim!

I'm looking at getting one of those Sous Vide controllers that Meube and Rick B. have and pairing it with an electric hot plate under a stock pot. That way I can dial it in to 160° - 165° for a nice gentle poach.
Here is a DIY controller that I ran across on another site (can't remember which one). The set up can be used for hot water bath of sausage. While this design appears to be for clamping it on a plastic tub, I am considering doing one for my roaster. Or for a few bucks I may just buy a plastic tub if I can find a food grade version.
http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy-sous-vide-heating-immersion-circulator-for-about-75/  (http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy-sous-vide-heating-immersion-circulator-for-about-75/)
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: TentHunteR on April 07, 2014, 07:49:26 AM
Here is a DIY controller that I ran across on another site (can't remember which one)...
http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy-sous-vide-heating-immersion-circulator-for-about-75/  (http://seattlefoodgeek.com/2010/02/diy-sous-vide-heating-immersion-circulator-for-about-75/)

Perfect - Thank you Gus!
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: africanmeat on April 07, 2014, 10:34:54 AM
thanks for the info Jim
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: Las Vegan Cajun on April 08, 2014, 11:54:33 AM
Great post, thanks for sharing.  ;)
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: CANNON-MAN on May 10, 2014, 11:13:03 AM
Sailor
Thanks for the nice post on the subject of hot water bathing some sausages. I think I am the one that started posting it on another forum but I know I am not the one to first try it. The commercial sausage makers have been doing some version for years. I just applied the process to the small sausage maker.  I got the idea from reading Rytek Kutas book. He mentions that most commercial smoke house systems smoke their product for a period of time and then use a steam room or chest to finish their sausage.  They just can't afford the time to leave something in a smoker for 10-12 hours.  I knew that making a steam chest would be a difficult task so I chose to head for the hot water bath system. Sailor is right with the assumption that water can conduct heat so much faster then the same temperature air. It is just the difference in density of the two mediums and their ability to transfer heat . Here is a link to a commercial YouTube post that shows a commercial hot dog manufacture making hotdogs. You will kind of enjoy it though you might not eat too many dogs after that. Pay special attention to the point in the video when they give everything a liquid smoke hot water shower and then into a steam room to finish their product. Here is a round 25 gallon hot water bath though now I use the Inkbird control.

https://vimeo.com/244289220

I experimented with systems years ago on the stove top and learned that you need to have good control on the temperature and circulation of the water. I made my large tank which will process 90 pounds of summer sausage at a time. I have also recently made a digital temperature controlled 25 gallon stock pot for doing dogs and the like. I know that many have started using electric turkey roasters which I think was the brain child of KEVIN A on another forum. I have read a few post of those that have tried them an had some fat out issues. The issue with the roasters is the lack of water circulation. The edges of the roaster are very hot and with out circulating the water. The water near the edge of the roasters gets above the safe temperature for the sausage. For the small batch sausage maker the DIY Sous Vide Heating Immersion Circulator will work fine but it is a rather expensive tool and will be limited in use to a smaller container. It just doesn't have enough heat to keep up with the heat loss of a larger container of sausage. I thinks the common propane fired turkey fryer will work well for most smaller sausage makers. just pay very close attention to keep that water no hotter then 165 F.  I would look at using the air stirring system in a smaller version that I am using on the following link. I went to our local Petsmart store and found that they had a large Varity of different sized air pumps and all the tubing an air stones. Using the air stir system is very simple to set up and assures that you have circulation. My 25 gallon will easily do 60+ pounds of frankfurters or the same weight or more of summer sausage hanging from rods. Here is the link to the hot water tank with the air stirring.

https://vimeo.com/378658865

I have found that the water bath does not affect the flavor of my sausage but it does affect the texture. The sausage is not dried like leather on the edges and the frankfurters are moist and also not dried and tuff. I do not suffer any fat out issues as I work hard to keep good control on temperature and circulation. I never raise the temperature above 165 F. If you want a drier finished sausage try letting them sit in the fridge for a couple of days after you are done with the process. You will be surprised how fast they will lose some of their moisture. They will balance the moisture throughout the sausage with the time in the fridge. If you are worried about loosing some of your smoke flavor in the water you could always add a little liquid smoke to  the water. Give it a try some time I think you will like the results.
Kirby
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: spuds on May 10, 2014, 03:34:39 PM
I did mine on the stove and had no problem keeping the temperature right on zone,and it works like a charm.

Sure a good idea/advice.Thank you for sharing this great tip.

Very nice set-up you made.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: cookiecdcmk on August 01, 2014, 01:58:54 PM
Am interested in the water bath method but have a couple of questions that I may have missed the answers:

1.  How long do you typically smoke for brat sized links?  I can hold 150 degree smoke temperatures.
2.  After the smoke, do you hang for a period of time before the bath?
3.  It looks like the water bath should be no higher than 165, so about how long in the bath?  I think that I remember a goal of 152 internal temp, and I realize that I can measure, but just wanted a ball park figure.

Thannks, I am a wannabe sausage maker
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: CANNON-MAN on August 01, 2014, 11:39:36 PM
Am interested in the water bath method but have a couple of questions that I may have missed the answers:

1.  How long do you typically smoke for brat sized links?  I can hold 150 degree smoke temperatures.

1 1/2 hour to 2 hours. Here is what a batch of German Franks looks like after 1 1/2 hours. That is around 30-45 minutes at 130F drying time with no smoke  and then 160F and heavy smoke.


(http://i943.photobucket.com/albums/ad274/pikeman_95/German%20franks%20at%20home/CLOSEUPOFDOGSINSMOKER.jpg~original) (http://s943.photobucket.com/user/pikeman_95/media/German%20franks%20at%20home/CLOSEUPOFDOGSINSMOKER.jpg.html)

2.  After the smoke, do you hang for a period of time before the bath?

You do not need to hang them at all just get them into the water as fast as you can. I get the water at the correct temperature while I am smoking.

3.  It looks like the water bath should be no higher than 165, so about how long in the bath?  I think that I remember a goal of 152 internal temp, and I realize that I can measure, but just wanted a ball park figure.

The thing you will find is the larger diameter sausage will take longer. sausage links like brats or German Frankfurters usually take around 20 minutes. Make sure that you are checking the temperature of the thickest sausage in the group. My 2 1/2 inch summer sausage takes around 35 minutes or a little longer to reach 155F.


Thanks, I am a wannabe sausage maker
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: CANNON-MAN on December 14, 2019, 09:52:37 PM
Here  is my rectangular tank that I use for my summer sausage. It is sitting on a propane burner which has a pilot system and a gas control valve that is run by an Inkbird temperature controller. It holds the temp within 1 degree. I run my water temperature between 162 and 165. I never go over 165 because I do not want to suffer fat-out. I run my sausage to a core temperature of 155 F for 10 minutes. I water proofed a couple of digital temperature probes by silicone the end of the probe and then heat shrinking two feet of heat shrink tubing . They survive well under water which will usually ruin a therm-ester temperature probe. I use air stones and an aquarium pump to stir the water. The bubbles that you see are just air. The sausage came out of the smoker well smoked because I have 5 different fans in my smoker. It is like a smoke tornado in there and it causes the sausage to get a very good smoke in only 2 hours. I have a separate smoke generator which is duct into the smoke chamber. This generator produces a three alarm smoke.  Because I only run my smoker at 140 F so I never overheat the surface of the sausage. I am just trying to get it smoked and not trying to reach core temperature in the smoker. I accomplish core temperature in the hot water bath. You can get the Inkbird off ebay for a very reasonable price. These temperature controllers would make great smoker temperature controllers.


http:// https://vimeo.com/378658865
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: AndyL on December 15, 2019, 04:23:56 PM
Yeah.......I'm definitely switching to a hot water bath to finish my sausage after cold smoking.

Consequently I have a stainless steel 5 gal stock pot and a huge turkey roaster to use. I'm gonna give the stock pot at 162 - 165 deg F a shot first, I'm pretty decent at maintaining proper temperatures in a kettle. I was a big batch homebrewer for 25 years and a professional brewer for 2 years. If I can't maintain the kettle temp easily i'll just buy the Inkbird digital temp controller with the waterproof probe and run the roaster.

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge here, that's EXACTLY why I joined this forum.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: Salmonsmoker on December 16, 2019, 10:18:36 AM
Yeah.......I'm definitely switching to a hot water bath to finish my sausage after cold smoking.

Consequently I have a stainless steel 5 gal stock pot and a huge turkey roaster to use. I'm gonna give the stock pot at 162 - 165 deg F a shot first, I'm pretty decent at maintaining proper temperatures in a kettle. I was a big batch homebrewer for 25 years and a professional brewer for 2 years. If I can't maintain the kettle temp easily i'll just buy the Inkbird digital temp controller with the waterproof probe and run the roaster.

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge here, that's EXACTLY why I joined this forum.

If you're not going to run batches of sausage as big Kirby does, you might take a look at a sous vide unit. Mounted to the side of your 5 gal. or your turkey fryer, it's like an all-in-one. It heats, circulates, and maintains temperature, and costs just a little more than an Inkbird. I have an Igloo type insulated cooler that I matched to my sous vide. (I have an Anova SV) With the insulated cooler, I can quadruple the recommended volume that my unit is rated for, and it will easily maintain the set temperature, especially in the 165F range. I'm a home brewer also, and have several 30 gal. Blichmann pots. It would be easy to insulate one of those for use with a SV for a larger batch of sausage.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: AndyL on December 16, 2019, 03:08:48 PM
Yeah.......I'm definitely switching to a hot water bath to finish my sausage after cold smoking.

Consequently I have a stainless steel 5 gal stock pot and a huge turkey roaster to use. I'm gonna give the stock pot at 162 - 165 deg F a shot first, I'm pretty decent at maintaining proper temperatures in a kettle. I was a big batch homebrewer for 25 years and a professional brewer for 2 years. If I can't maintain the kettle temp easily i'll just buy the Inkbird digital temp controller with the waterproof probe and run the roaster.

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge here, that's EXACTLY why I joined this forum.

you might take a look at a sous vide unit. Mounted to the side of your 5 gal. or your turkey fryer, it's like an all-in-one. It heats, circulates, and maintains temperature, and costs just a little more than an Inkbird. I have an Igloo type insulated cooler that I matched to my sous vide. (I have an Anova SV)

Sounds like another great idea! Can you recommend exactly  what particular model Anova unit I might need for this size project?
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: TentHunteR on December 16, 2019, 05:41:13 PM
I do hot water baths for some sausages using a Dorkfood Sous vide controller with an electric roaster.   It's a nice gentle way to finish off sausages, and keeps them nice and plump.   I do prefer running it at 155° (as opposed to 160° -165°), though, as it brings them up to temp a little more gently and lessens the chance of fat out with sausages.  I pull the sausages off at an i.t. of 152° and follow with an ice water bath.

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RRHNGKsvnh8VlqOh4Ei2Qx7Ebmu565eAbOyWYt_q35KazN2gQrlLoHjeHp4VTKTKkGmJ8UjXKL1mCEIIIKRa_r3Qsldm2_maLjIgV7xWgdMud1hIoyqz5AiWRQirg0lV61m0whhBAt3ZXe_iLMAq4fp33Fyqh078NV4iXy6fADrHGFPEMCrrwESHcqD883IoezpTvi-jS5WocBe4oegTKlayKhhOrKNfUfB-wGjCSOsMIvoH-8anwhpJ1AF_GqoCkHjZa5eXkVhifJKuCHRiBrTfGQlndJMbq_Nxx2NfVlt-ufAHvNZftwlhHmtl_Sqrm11sQvtRpeuEbR5Xz474JUsTQLVpjPP4VCx4rS0ZGnAWBuIMhsJT3rjt_CuUQUF_3vYLZW7to9IPSl1hZRsIdFXpg-aYZDZdilYBBoJXKrvgYKER8g6brSiG1WjsNj3EGmkLM9ukFB9LHj36R9zGkCg2P2_1hsJU6nJGuUrfCZxAXB6Y0vkriOD46FizlvDrer_EGsWNtvHLlHUpD1gskDzP8hxkU66IDmaBtJrpzXGkrv_qVa5RJoQLCEhfEb0tTQ2rXU5HKet7q8vsw8ZPpBNbelA_6aK4FN6PMdfmK1x1hMFfpIAsvmnyeDku5nCZz9EvufrfS78tUnbl5CAC-jtrNbDRuJnNbY5EDVpV_o7quqo1ADJ_wA=w640-h438-no)

(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/BFvqmzy3BJ8EOTUFAzX8gB8jerkQBuRodf1N1ECmuVBCnLtsdczJsAfvKOBEat92FVoHLsVxMyVbCVJ518RESjfbchxCojl615LchkaUkjra1x2uNzf7Yo_GKzg5XPFOtqGAjbORDw48PfiEGtHnGTHY4FtOhvEFnWkvpU_vBwhEp0UkfR0EKr6fDQ9ucPOGMv09s-rTwKcR-OvOI6drQCMPTsiYe58PcgjHYd2Gu9YSrzlqOpVkhJG1xoX2nFpcE9nDV2_Py6c5jvKGpDb-W_6Il7aSoG3sFK7NkM-fqkwI1OchN1JBRfkoeYz18Za-ySkBpbSTXX2VGdZ3LazQiyYOJfZIGNmRQE27ok_fXHOAQ-34LBPFxsL6EnajEBgqJfVKKpLf_PYMsY0ivA5GF5uX37Jgs-1I_lX5IKazMNDZMiA3aBsAGddzO3dWOhQYjCzocu4IRPlqYh2Vam6C02ubxj2SmZdallLpD9CE4S0JrgM8K6FkWHiGU27iGxTjCDcGw6hluFte3t9bpO0cf1N8JRFgxBxbdBfQTGx27jYEKh9Ffj-XODRu9k_CnR6YBHjh_9OczIYB8H0MqQnbfzZwlALo3VolG8K9C9IpGspAheK1PbRnoet7c_lCZUx4QAHnpXbQBew_r4qUMSmYdadTgzbEzxm9gxxgATplPqfoQTtW8U4FRA=w500-h375-no)


An Annova circulator with a nice sized tub should work great!
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: Salmonsmoker on December 16, 2019, 06:29:46 PM
Yeah.......I'm definitely switching to a hot water bath to finish my sausage after cold smoking.

Consequently I have a stainless steel 5 gal stock pot and a huge turkey roaster to use. I'm gonna give the stock pot at 162 - 165 deg F a shot first, I'm pretty decent at maintaining proper temperatures in a kettle. I was a big batch homebrewer for 25 years and a professional brewer for 2 years. If I can't maintain the kettle temp easily i'll just buy the Inkbird digital temp controller with the waterproof probe and run the roaster.

Thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge here, that's EXACTLY why I joined this forum.

you might take a look at a sous vide unit. Mounted to the side of your 5 gal. or your turkey fryer, it's like an all-in-one. It heats, circulates, and maintains temperature, and costs just a little more than an Inkbird. I have an Igloo type insulated cooler that I matched to my sous vide. (I have an Anova SV)

Sounds like another great idea! Can you recommend exactly  what particular model Anova unit I might need for this size project?

Andy
I have the Anova model ASVPIPE 1.2. It has 1050 watt element. I think mine is rated to maintain temp. of 6 gals. of H2O up to 211F. With the insulated cooler, it's capacity far exceeds that. I gave my son-in-law the Anova Nano for Xmas and he loves it. It has a lower wattage output that mine, but he only uses it in the kitchen. I'm not sure if they still make my model. I would do some due diligence on length, the longer from side clamp to bottom of the unit would more advantageous for this application. My s-i-l bought the same cooler I did for his Nano, and it's too short to work like mine does. Anova has one of the highest ratings for onboard computer/controller in the studies I've read. Joule's Chefsteps also rates highly, and I see that InstantPot now has one. Some can only be operated by cell phone app, so that may be a consideration too. One complaint that I've heard is that steam can make the controller go wonky-easy fix- cover the container with Saran Wrap or a cover. It also looks like the pricing has gone up. Must be getting popular. I originally paid around $90 for mine, $70 for the Nano. They're both well over that now. Anova does run periodic sales, and you can get them for a pretty decent price. If you subscribe to their newsletter, they announce their sales. Here's one rating review. There's others too.    https://www.village-bakery.com/best-sous-vide-machines/
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: CANNON-MAN on December 17, 2019, 08:53:53 AM
All of the above ideas are great. I especially like the cooler idea because of the insulation of the cooler. This would allow a smaller heater do so much more volume.
 I do such large batches that when I put 80-90 pounds of sausage in the bath it takes a good sized burner to warm the water back up. My large tank has three burners under it. 
If you use a turkey roaster you need to provide some sort of circulation because the sides of the roaster will get much hotter then the middle of the roaster. You will suffer fat out in any sausage that next to the sides of the roaster. Another thought. When you do meat sticks in collagen casings you could seal them into a long vacuum seal bag that could be placed into the hot water bath with out any damage to the casings.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: TentHunteR on December 21, 2019, 10:02:49 AM
[quoteCANNON-MAN]If you use a turkey roaster you need to provide some sort of circulation because the sides of the roaster will get much hotter then the middle of the roaster. You will suffer fat out in any sausage that next to the sides of the roaster.[/quote]

I've thought about using an aquarium air pump and a couple air stones for circulation, but honestly I've never needed them.  So far all I've ever done is to stir the water & sausages around every few minutes.  Doing that, along with the lower temp of 155°, I've never ever had a fat out in any sausages at all.  Not even with all-beef hot dogs which are a lot more sensitive to fat out.

Getting good protein extraction during the mixing also makes a huge difference in preventing fat-out.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: CANNON-MAN on December 21, 2019, 02:25:10 PM
If you are doing pork based sausages of larger diameter it is going to take longer to reach core temperature. Yes you can stand there and stir the water but you could be there a while. Remember pork fat melts at lower temperatures then beef fat. One of my friends just set up a bent copper tube that sits next to the outside edges of his roaster and drilled some very small holes in it and has it hooked up to a small aquarium pump.. It works fine and he never suffers any fat out. Tenthunter if you don't mind telling me how much did you temperature controller cost.
Title: Re: Hot water bath for speeding up a sausage smoke
Post by: TentHunteR on December 21, 2019, 06:24:29 PM
Kirby, the Dorkfood controller ran around $100 and can be used with any roaster, slow cooker, etc. (up to 1,000 watts if memory serves), as long as it has a regular analog type controller (it won't work with digitally controlled cookers).  It utilizes a PID controller, so once the water is up to temp it holds an extremely accurate temperature with very minute temp swings (usually +/- 1°).  The first time I used it for finishing sausages, and saw how accurately it held temp, I was hooked!

It was one of the first sous-vide controllers available for home use. They are sadly out of business now as there are too many circulator type sous-vide controlers, such as the Anova, available at great prices.



I appreciate what you're saying in your above post, and already have everything I need to do a similar setup to what your friend has done because that was my original plan. I may actually get it setup here soon ::). 

Before getting the DorkFood controller, I tried using a roaster without a controller, and while it works in a pinch, it's much harder to maintain a precise temperature.  But with the controller, and being able to dial it in at a precise 155°, the method I described above has worked well for over five years, for many sausages (large and small diameter) with zero fat-outs.  Smaller diameter sausages, taken off the smoker at around 135° -140°, are usually finished in the 155° bath within 15 minutes or so.  And larger diameter (hog casings) are finished within about 20 minutes, so stirring every few minutes is no big deal. 

In all honesty it's probably a moot point, anyway. With circulator type sous-vide controllers available now for under $100, THAT is the way to go, and probably what I'll be upgrading to before long.



BTW... Here's a small batch of larger diameter smoked sausage (hog casing) being finished with the roaster and controller.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/NUK6rM-ooldAHwFfYUzB303mFrilEmwXj7xDTNAS-9hed8d0HyCQmAngZU-MQp2B-CUH9ZcCMp7AHjulUhb2RcXlSSZfF-XZMEcmz61NlWZxk94mLcUI5X3euLfkLtTJSzKvgJM3AKKKZ_DFKn6flpD3iTp_LgQv6W3hLJwZ7tm80bpOdTeG32pMcmADxjt5kwJxK0KJ5zD6qg2QxVtX4wfI16_wm3WX0SRstuLCf9ipXtzRxfMcfOqfuVRWqtoqAVqnlbIuSyeaQVNEd-3ch6N5c-dkr53Ol7VI-aOrkd7GYGwQSv07iHqfBAVsDKGRYEHuBCK4KUJ67741Q8r6F1-DYD5gcrynPemtMMt5uSaBR1fP9S_VLZxkrGh4kv62gG-PqJ0sAG6_A2QMF-5tEdeQG-FtYlR49nS4jIyBmx0SpvErYIAJH3YrHjQDWfjGstUVwYCrZlnSvCjTAM3uVYQO3ZqwjqGt4qU9W2LWmlS5hLqm6-qInCLDNeFTUnqA7ArLP0GebRyPwRe2Ei-ExNQfxIeDZd8ISTqxk1U4OCtnMbmHO9IRy7oMZgN5s9-LABSFx3EqEN27ireUz-BBLvsTIskFc7WxLPYowSfW5-P7i62PYJaZ7A9LZUDd2frZw-dJr8GgwQfNGa3QZZrwvqO--VZP-YsltXDUJHwZIApktW9kcwinbg=w640-h480-no)