Working with what I have.........

[AndyL]

I've been looking for and experimenting with ways to make traditional CURED, smoked sausage at the appropriate low temperatures  that are required and I believe I've finally found a way to make them with my limited equipment available to me.

In the spirit of passing on info gathered and other ideas that worked for me while doing this I thought I'd post my results here just in case someone else is in the same boat as I am and looking for answers.

My PBC runs way to hot, my Weber kettle is to way to small and my Weber gasser is completly out of the question for making sausage using traditional techniques.

So, after stuffing the sausage in hog casings I let the flavors in the links develop and dry out in the fridge overnight. Then the next day using my Amaze-N-Smoker tray at the bottom, centered and my PBC as a cold smoking chamber I cold smoked my CURED kielbasa links for 3 hours using hickory. The ambient temp was in the teens when I  started while I was cold smoking so no worries there. Just a side note,  for those thinking about using thier PBC in this manner, you have to leave your bottom vent open wide open and your lid off 3"-4" or your pellets in your tray will go out due to lack air flow.

Then I hung them in my conventional oven on the convection setting at an average temp of around 170 - 180 deg F until they reached 152 deg F internal. Then into a ice water bath to below 120 deg F.

Maybe not the most conventional approach to sausage making but as you can see from my picture of just a sample of a couple of my links that I made this technique definitely worked just fine for me!

I was considering purchasing a high end,  dedicated electric smoker for my sausage making needs but now, it's no longer necessary at all.

I love figuring out situations like this with what I have to work with!






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[oldsmoker]

Great looking sausage.

[HighOnSmoke]

That looks good Andy!

[TentHunteR]

Hey, there's absolutely NOTHING wrong with working with what you have, and those sausages look great!


Now having said that the color will turn out even better if hot-smoked after the cold smoke.

Here's a suggestion that I bet will work (based on my past experience with other cookers).  Experiment with your PBC, try getting just 6 - 10 charcoals lit and ashed over, and place a single large chunk of wood on top of them and see what kind of temperatures you get.  Keep your vent cracked open the same as for normal cooking and the lid on so you limit air flow and keep the heat down.  It might take a few tries, but I bet you can get it dialed in to hot-smoke temperatures (165° - 185°).  The coals should last long enough to get the sausages up to temp.


I've used this method in smaller cookers before and it worked well.

[TMB]

Looks good from here!

[sparky]

Cook some up with eggs for me partner.

[CANNON-MAN]

Can I make a simple suggestion. Give your sausages a couple of hours of heavy smoke and then put them into a hot water bath that is held at 162 F until your internal temperature is reached then you are done. I have multiple friends that have used the old turkey roasters for hot water baths. I use an Inkbird water (27.99 on ebay) temperature controller to control my hot water bath but it would work fine for a turkey roadster temperature controller. I use an aquarium pump with air stones to stir the water

[AndyL]

Thanks for the kind words, the kielbasa I made turned out fantastic! A huge hit with everyone who tried it.

Also, I appreciate the suggestions as well. I'll definitely consider trying those different techniques in the future.

[CANNON-MAN]

I think your sausages looked great and I bet they tasted good also. I usually make 30 pounds when I do frankfurters of kielbasa. Natural hog casings water bath real well. No fat out and cured all the way.

[Jaxon]

I think it is mighty cool that you can figure stuff out and make it work for you.

[AndyL]

I think it is mighty cool that you can figure stuff out and make it work for you.

Yes Sir. That's a technique/philosophy I first learned and implemented as an Infantryman in the Army 36 years ago and have been following it ever since. We used the word "improvisation " or, "making due with what you have." All the time! Hahaha.