Smoke Sausage
People around the world have been making and enjoying smoked sausage for centuries. Originally, sausages were smoked to preserve the meat for a longer period of time, but with the invention of refrigerators and freezers, smoked sausage became a delicacy purely for its smoky flavor and these days is served as a snack by itself, or as an ingredient of soups, stews, and other meals. Though smoked sausage is widely available in stores, many amateur and professional chefs prefer learning how to smoke sausage themselves to create unique flavors.
Steps
- Put wood chips or sawdust into a bowl of water and let them soak for 30 minutes.
- To achieve a lighter flavor, use fruit wood and smoke for 3.5 to 4 hours.
- For a stronger flavor, use mesquite or hickory and smoke for 3 hours.
- Transfer the wood chips or sawdust to the smokehouse. A modern smokehouse is typically a small structure you can place in your kitchen, pantry, or yard and in which sausages or other types of meat are placed for the duration of the smoking process. Smokehouses are available online or at specialty kitchenware or sporting goods stores (in the hunting or camping supplies area).
- Increase the heat of the smokehouse from 0 to 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) and close the dampers.
- Hang the fresh, dry sausage from meat smoking sticks or place on racks inside the smokehouse. Make sure there's about {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} between the sausages to allow the smoke to touch all surfaces. This will result in an even distribution of taste and color.
- The kind of sausage you smoke is a matter of personal taste. The most popular types of sausage to smoke are summer sausage, breakfast sausage, fatties and patties.
- If you're using homemade sausage, always use a cure to prevent botulism, a harmful bacteria, from developing in the sausages. Mix 2 teaspoons of cure in with every 10 lbs. of meat. You can find cure in the spice section of most grocery stores, at specialized butcher's stores, or online.
- When using store-bought sausage, remember to ask for certified meat, as it has already been cured and is safe to smoke.
- Maintain a constant temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius). A higher temperature will cause the fat inside the sausage to melt and drip out, making the sausage dry and less tasty.
- Replace the existing wood chips in the chip pan with new ones every 90 minutes to maintain the strength of the smoking process.
- Check the temperature of the smoked sausage with your cooking thermometer until it reaches an internal temperature of 152 degrees F (67 degrees C).
- Remove the smoked sausage from the smokehouse when the smoked sausage has reached the desired temperature and has an even, rich brown color.
- Cool the sausage with cold water. Rapid cooling will prevent the smoked sausage from shriveling and shrinking.
- For one sausage or a small batch, simply place them in a bowl of cold water.
- For a large batch of sausages, run cold water over them in the sink.
- Air dry the smoked sausage for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature to let it bloom, or deepen in color.
- Wrap the smoked sausage in wax paper and refrigerate it if you plan to eat it within 3 to 4 days. If you plan to keep it any longer, vacuum pack and freeze the smoked sausage. This will keep it good for up to 9 months.
- Finished.
Tips
- Always use a digital thermometer with an alarm to measure the temperature of your smoked sausage. This way, you can ensure it will maintain the desired texture.
Warnings
- Never over-smoke sausage, as the resulting taste will be acrid and bitter. Under smoking results in a less strong, but still distinctly smokey flavor.
Things You'll Need
- Wood chips or sawdust
- Bowl of water
- Smokehouse
- Fresh, dry sausage
- Cure
- Smoking sticks or racks
- Cooking thermometer
- Cold water
