cold smoke suggestions?

[Bro-be-que]

so...i want to start doing some cold smoking for summer sausage. i'm a deer hunting nut and am tired of paying $3-$4/lb for someone to do to smoked summer sausage for me. as much as i hate to do it, i'm thinking of going electric just because i cant fire up charcoal and keep the temps under 175*. unfortunately, i am not in a position right now to build a smoke house... any suggestions brethren?

[HankB]

What about the soldering iron in the can of wood chips? Does that work? I guess it's kind of an electric conversion that could be used on a regular smoker.

[thirdeye]

You mean you're tired of paying an additional $3 or $4 a pound..... when you factor in everything else (license, fuel, guns, clothing, wear and tear on your pickup, optics, ammo, consumables , processing, and miscellaneous, your meat already costs about $10 or $15 a pound anyway right? Sorry I couldn't resist.... I know the drill all too well.

I think the biggest advantage of making your own sausage, fresh or smoked, is knowing exactly what is going into it, and seasoning it exactly the way you like. Around here, all the game processors make summer sausage, and jerky in additional to cutting and wrapping.... however, because of the time delay, they swap fresh meat for summer sausage and jerky. So, you are not getting your own meat back, and it's not made to order.

Check out the Cookshack line of electric box smokers. They are nice units, and you will be able to smoke and cook other things in them too. I've had prime rib from one that was cooked at 220° that was pretty tasty.

I'm sure you will get a lot of other suggestions.....

[Trumpstylz]

A lot of people do great stuff in a carboard box. No need to spend big bucks. I'm pretty sure you can use a uds, kettle, or wsm as well.

[chriscw81]

get creative, bro!! stop paying "the man" all that money!!!!! there's a thousand different ways to cold smoke. solder pen method, a-mazen-n pellet smoker, a-mazen-n tube smoker, venturi style, and lots more.

[Bro-be-que]

we process our deer ourselves, but always 'sub-out' the grinding and summer sausage. i usually have 50-75 lbs of ground meat (with 20% beef fat). one of these days, i'm going to invest in a grinder. the main concern is temp control. i'd like to be able to reliably start at 140* to dry out the casings and gradually up the cook temp to 185*-195* over the course of 4-5 hours. does anybody have any experience with setups that can be adjusted in this way?

[Bro-be-que]

thirdeye, trust me, i know all about the game processing racket! we used to take whole deer to a processor we thought we could trust until we started getting tough, smelly meat back when we dropped off 2 year old does. started cutting 'em up myself and have never gone back!

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by Bro-be-que

we process our deer ourselves, but always 'sub-out' the grinding and summer sausage. i usually have 50-75 lbs of ground meat (with 20% beef fat). one of these days, i'm going to invest in a grinder. the main concern is temp control. i'd like to be able to reliably start at 140* to dry out the casings and gradually up the cook temp to 185*-195* over the course of 4-5 hours. does anybody have any experience with setups that can be adjusted in this way?

well thats not cold smoking. You are hot smoking at those temps. Thats how I do all my sausage.

what kind of cooker are you doing this on?

[IamMadMan]

I agree with "Thirdeye", an electric smoker may be your best bet to get you started. They may not hold a large volume, but they do get the job done in a controlled environment.

LEM recently had a sale on electric meat grinders, I am not sure if it is over but the website is http://www.lemproducts.com/category/...-meat-grinders.

[boatnut]

Originally Posted by Bro-be-que

so...i want to start doing some cold smoking for summer sausage. i'm a deer hunting nut and am tired of paying $3-$4/lb for someone to do to smoked summer sausage for me. as much as i hate to do it, i'm thinking of going electric just because i cant fire up charcoal and keep the temps under 175*. unfortunately, i am not in a position right now to build a smoke house... any suggestions brethren?

When people say "cold smoking", I always think of temps under 80 degrees.

True "cold smoked" sausage is an art in it's self , IMO and requires a good degree of study so you don't end up with botulism.

Making "smoked sausage" where you start off at say 110 and slowly ramp temps up to maybe 170 max over several hours is a lot easier and very rewarding. If this is what you are referring too, then you might want to consider a Masterbuilt electric. That's what I use.

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by boatnut

When people say "cold smoking", I always think of temps under 80 degrees.

True "cold smoked" sausage is an art in it's self , IMO and requires a good degree of study so you don't end up with botulism.

Making "smoked sausage" where you start off at say 110 and slowly ramp temps up to maybe 170 max over several hours is a lot easier and very rewarding. If this is what you are referring too, then you might want to consider a Masterbuilt electric. That's what I use.

hey Mikey

guess who?

;)

[---k---]

I'm sure an electric or pellet recommended above would be easier to control that low. No problems with those recommendations.

BUT, I have been successful running my UDS with charcoal at 150*. I made 20# of summer and salmi back at christmas on mine. Came out great. It isn't that hard and held steady for hours. The hardest thing is then raising the temp to 185* and not overshooting. But even then it isn't the end of the world. (On tapatalk, i can't see your sig and what type of smoker you have).


Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk 2

[LM600]

For cold smoking I am using the inverted mesh strainer method in my Excel 20 and am absolutely loving the results so far.

[CarlWayne]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1359492611.673405.jpg

Did this about a week ago. More of a test run. Did 2 blocks of cheddar an pepper jack. Did so well did another 2. Just used a soldering iron with a tin can full of wood chips. Very easy and if you do it in the right temp you will keep temps down. If you have any questions send me a PM.

[woodbutcher1]

I cold smoke when outside temps are well below 40* to as low as 0* using well cured sausage ,bacon,pork loin etc. I smolder saw dust in a contraption similar to the A-MAZ-N Smoker. (home made) I get about 8 t0 10 hrs of TBS.
Then rest for 24 hrs. and resume smoking for another 10 to 12 hrs. I do about
4 to 5 sessions, or until i have the color i want.

If for some reason that i think to increase the temperature, i just place some bricks.on the saw dust,that will kick the temps. up by 10* to 15*.