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View Full Version : How does cold smoking in a smaller chamber affect cooking times?


BonJoey
01-19-2021, 03:55 PM
I am smoking sausages from a family recipe that calls for 5-7 days of cold smoking 80-100 sausages in a smokehouse large enough to fit them. However, I am using a small upright smoker and only smoking about 12. How will this affect my calculations or expectations on length of cooking? Is it even worth cold smoking or should I just hot smoke a batch like this? Thanks, guys!

thirdeye
01-19-2021, 05:09 PM
Depending on the cold smoke generator, the physical size of your smoker (or smokehouse) and the draft characteristics will have an affect on the flavor of your smoked food. Meaning too much smoke over too long of a time could make your sausage bitter. For example I've cold smoked hams in a mini WSM, but I was careful to keep the smoke very gentle. Then I finished the ham in my box smoker or BGE.

When it comes to bringing your sausages up to finish temp, heat is heat. You could do this step in the oven followed by an ice bath.

https://i.imgur.com/iFYFS4Q.jpg

BonJoey
01-19-2021, 05:17 PM
Got it. Lots of variables to consider. Will do what my gut tells me to do (literally and figuratively - lol) and take it from there. Thanks.

thirdeye
01-19-2021, 05:39 PM
I'm assuming your family recipe has some curing agents (?) but I can't say I've heard of a 4 to 5 day cold smoke on sausages. It it's not a guarded secret.... please tell us more.

Hoss
01-19-2021, 07:00 PM
I'm assuming your family recipe has some curing agents (?) but I can't say I've heard of a 4 to 5 day cold smoke on sausages. It it's not a guarded secret.... please tell us more.

My Great Uncle used to talk about how good the sausages (breakfast) were when he was a kid.He said they hung in the smokehouse with the hams and bacon slabs til ready to cook.They made the casings by sewing tubes out of empty flour sacks.He remembers them killing and butchering the hogs and processing the meat but had no idea what they put in/ on it before moving it to the smokehouse.This was all raw meat that was seasoned and cured in an outside smokehouse.I guess they added saltpeter back then to the ground sausage.I know they used saltpeter on the hams and bacon.He said the the sausage casings would be kinda moldy when his mother would bring them in to cook.Slit the casing,peel the rind off and fry em up.

thirdeye
01-19-2021, 07:37 PM
My Great Uncle used to talk about how good the sausages (breakfast) were when he was a kid.He said they hung in the smokehouse with the hams and bacon slabs til ready to cook.They made the casings by sewing tubes out of empty flour sacks.He remembers them killing and butchering the hogs and processing the meat but had no idea what they put in/ on it before moving it to the smokehouse.This was all raw meat that was seasoned and cured in an outside smokehouse.I guess they added saltpeter back then to the ground sausage.I know they used saltpeter on the hams and bacon.He said the the sausage casings would be kinda moldy when his mother would bring them in to cook.Slit the casing,peel the rind off and fry em up.

Yes, sausage and or salami in cloth casings (later linen) was popular. My Grandparents had a dairy farm during the depression and so they had an ice house which could stage meats before going into their smokehouse. And you are right, because in later years when they were making ham or bacon I was a little boy and had no idea how it magically appeared.

Hoss
01-19-2021, 07:52 PM
Yes, sausage and or salami in cloth casings (later linen) was popular. My Grandparents had a dairy farm during the depression and so they had an ice house which could stage meats before going into their smokehouse. And you are right, because in later years when they were making ham or bacon I was a little boy and had no idea how it magically appeared.

I wish I had a recipe.I know you could use pink salt now instead of saltpeter.Just wondering if it would be safe to make regular breakfast sausage,add in correct amount of pink salt,stuff in a permeable ( muslin,cheesecloth,etc.) casing and cold smoke and cure in a smoke house?.I have done hams and bacon but was always afraid to try the ground sausage.I have access to a smokehouse.Any guidance would be appreciated.Guess it would not be a lot different than salami or other sausages?

woodbutcher1
01-19-2021, 10:12 PM
I wish I had a recipe.I know you could use pink salt now instead of saltpeter.Just wondering if it would be safe to make regular breakfast sausage,add in correct amount of pink salt,stuff in a permeable ( muslin,cheesecloth,etc.) casing and cold smoke and cure in a smoke house?.I have done hams and bacon but was always afraid to try the ground sausage.I have access to a smokehouse.Any guidance would be appreciated.Guess it would not be a lot different than salami or other sausages?

First of all, pink salt does not go into breakfast sausage. Neither is it smoked.
Pink salt is used to prevent botulism in smoked sausages such Polish kielbasa,
Smoked Hungarian sausage etc. Cold smoking is done to max.77*F ,so you can not achieve an IT of 135*F, that would be hot smoked.

BonJoey
01-20-2021, 04:59 AM
I'm assuming your family recipe has some curing agents (?) but I can't say I've heard of a 4 to 5 day cold smoke on sausages. It it's not a guarded secret.... please tell us more.

It’s called chorizo de cebolla. The only internal curing agent is salt, but not really more than required to season the meat before it went in the casing (natural). Hung them in a smokehouse for several days until they were “done”. Can’t it be considered smoke-cured? The recipe was taught to me by people who didn’t track internal or cooking temps. Everything was done by feel. They were dried then cooked later. This type of sausage has loose meat inside, primarily used to flavor soups, then cut open to be enjoyed separately with potatoes, greens and beans. The sausage itself had lots of pork fat in it and was flavored with pumpkin as well as other spices. The meat inside was always moist.

thirdeye
01-20-2021, 10:23 AM
I wish I had a recipe.I know you could use pink salt now instead of saltpeter.Just wondering if it would be safe to make regular breakfast sausage,add in correct amount of pink salt,stuff in a permeable ( muslin,cheesecloth,etc.) casing and cold smoke and cure in a smoke house?.I have done hams and bacon but was always afraid to try the ground sausage.I have access to a smokehouse.Any guidance would be appreciated.Guess it would not be a lot different than salami or other sausages?

Absolutely, you can add cure to any sausage formulation. In fact Cure #1 is used when the sausage will be smoke/cooked, and Cure #2 is used when the sausage will be cured/dried without cooking, think salami. Cure #1, in addition to providing food safety, will give your sausage a nice pink tint, as well as firming it up a bit. It was the length of time in the OP's post I was curious about.

The sausage bags I've seen are either marked with different color string, or have a stripe so you can tell batches apart. A lot of my hunting buddies add cure and smoke breakfast sausage from venison and elk cut with pork and it's delicious. If you want to a quick experiment, buy some Jimmy Dean breakfast logs, mix the correct amount of Cure #1 with water cool and mix into the sausage very well. Re-roll it in clear wrap and refrigerate 24 hours. Then cold smoke naked like a regular fatty. During the smoking cycle, you will have to take the internal to a minimum of 152° (I use 155° just for insurance). But you could cold smoke for 5 or 6 hours then finish to temp on a grill or in an oven.

Here is another thought if you decide to use cloth bags.... you could bag the cloth-stuffed cold smoked sausage bags and finish in a sous vide bath instead of your smoker or grill..., below is FB casing with bologna (with Cure #1) that I cold smoked, but you get the idea. Pasteurizing your cold smoked breakfast sausage means it's perfectly and fully cooked, keeps it super moist and when you slice and pan fry it, it picks up color. My processing water temp is 150°, I ramp up the temp over an hour, so ignore the 125° on my circulator.

https://i.imgur.com/xyfBzEK.jpg

Check out this video which used cloth bags to stuff both fresh and cured breakfast sausage.

https://youtu.be/l35fi-hKq8g

thirdeye
01-20-2021, 10:47 AM
It’s called chorizo de cebolla. The only internal curing agent is salt, but not really more than required to season the meat before it went in the casing (natural). Hung them in a smokehouse for several days until they were “done”. Can’t it be considered smoke-cured? The recipe was taught to me by people who didn’t track internal or cooking temps. Everything was done by feel. They were dried then cooked later. This type of sausage has loose meat inside, primarily used to flavor soups, then cut open to be enjoyed separately with potatoes, greens and beans. The sausage itself had lots of pork fat in it and was flavored with pumpkin as well as other spices. The meat inside was always moist.

Thanks for that. In yester-years a lot of smokehouse 'smoked' food was cured with only salt and time. Smoke did several things.... it added flavor, it discouraged flies or other varmints and any low heat generated helped to keep the surface dry. Bottom line is.... this method works and has a history of hundreds of years. people still cure with salt only (check out the Benton's video below) but I think our friends at the USDA discourage it since it has no curing agents as a safety net.

https://youtu.be/nVNSNGXzmO4