Your expertise please..... New to smoking fresh sausage.


 
A

A Kokkinos

New member
Hi to all. Finally received the Cure #1 I ordered - not available in Cyprus for individuals. So I am ready to get started with traditional Cyprus sausage. The recipe:

2000 grams pork coarsely ground (20 mm plate)
1.4% to 2% kosher salt - depending on your liking
black / red pepper
1% to 2% ground dry coriander (an absolute must)
0.5% whole cumin (optional)
500 ml dry red wine
(Some folks swear by pouring out a cup of the wine on a daily basis and replace it with a fresh cup of wine)

FRESH SAUSAGE
Mix everything and refrigerate for 4 days. Stuff and hang to dry at low room temp for 1-2 days (prick casing with a needle to allow extra wine to drop out)
Refrigerate. Cook before eating (FRY or GRILL). Freeze for about 3-6 months remaining uncooked sausage. This I have done many times and the sausage is excellent.

SMOKED SAUSAGE
Now to the tricky part. Finally got my WSM and I am ready to try my hand at smoking a batch of the sausage above. From all the posts I read here, I understand that the use of Cure #1 is an absolute must since I plan on smoking at temps about 180 - 200 degrees (as per the recommendations here). How much Cure #1 would I need in this case? Does the 2.5 gr per kilo still apply or does the addition of the red wine necessitates an adjustment of the amount used?

Looking forward to your help.

Thank you all

Andreas
 
A Kokkinos said:
From all the posts I read here, I understand that the use of Cure #1 is an absolute must since I plan on smoking at temps about 180 - 200 degrees (as per the recommendations here).
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Nitrite isn't needed when smoking at those temperatures, only when cold or warm smoking. Anything less than 180 degrees, use nitrite.

A Kokkinos said:
How much Cure #1 would I need in this case? Does the 2.5 gr per kilo still apply or does the addition of the red wine necessitates an adjustment of the amount used?
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2.5 g of cure #1 (6.25% nitrite) per kilo of meat is the correct amount, usually a small amount of liquid is ignored, but that is quite a bit of wine, you can adjust for the wine if you wish, it won't hurt anything.

~Martin
 
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Andreas,

On your smoked sausage I would recommend smoking at a lower temperature. I've had better luck with keeping temps no higher than 170. Above 170 and the sausage renders too much fat and your finished product is too lean which yields an odd 'mouth feel'. Smoking at higher temps, your smoked sausage may turn out with pronounced wrinkled casings due to shrinkage as a result of fat rendering off. An excellent source for all things sausage related is this one: http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/

I've consulted this site many times for recipes, methods and tips; it's very helpful.

Paul
 
I made the assumption that you'd be smoking in the bbq sense because you mentioned grilling the sausages is the usual way they're done, if that is in fact the case, there's nothing wrong with the higher temperatures when done with care, but if you're making them like kielbasa then the lower temps are essential.


~Martin
 
Thank you both. Martin, apologies for not being too clear on the cooking method (you can easily tell English is not my first language...:). Both the fresh and smoked sausages are grilled or fried before eating them. The reason for smoking them (asides from the old tradition of preserving food when no refrigeration existed) is the difference in taste. Some people are die hard fans of the fresh type, and some people will always chose the smoked type - but again, both types are cooked prior to consumption. In the old days, they were smoked using bushes of forest herbs picked up by the locals. Now it is illegal to destroy wild plan life - so we turned to wood for smoking the sausages. Thus, my reason for smoking them is to infuse a smoke flavor - and of course a nice color. Both types will eventually be packed, labeled and frozen for gradual consumption. I guess I will head your advise and smoke at a lower temp for a stronger smoke flavor.

Thanks once again

Andreas
 
A Kokkinos said:
you can easily tell English is not my first language...:)Thanks once again

Andreas
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Your English is superior to mine and I'm a native speaker :confused:! If smoking, and smoking at a lower temp (<180), then cure #1 is needed. I generally smoke to an internal temp of 140. I then immediately cool the sausages down with cold running water to bring down the internal temp and then refrigerate or freeze until I need the sausage which is then grilled, pan fried, etc. I run a probe thermometer to a link and monitor the temp. Fresh sausage doesn't need curing since it goes straight from preparation/refrigerator to the grill. It can be a little tricky keeping your temps below 170 with the WSM. The key is using very few lit coals (maybe as few as 3 or 4 depending on your outside air temp and volume of raw sausage) and keeping your vents barely open. Hang your sausages right after adding the lit coals and catch the temps on the way up - that's the key. Trying to bring the temps down after over-shooting is much more difficult. I fashioned 'S' hooks out of heavy wire and hung my sausages from the top grate (removing the bottom grate all together for room). Good luck and let us know how it all turns out. Pics would be greatly appreciated!

Paul
 
I've looked at the recipe, and have a couple of small comments, if I may. I'm sure they have made the sausage for ages, but just to be sure:
Get fresh meat, and grind it yourself. Be very careful with temperatures, as well as your hygiene. Buy yourself a packet of disposable gloves, and use them.
You want to keep the ground meat for 6 days after grinding, so it's imperative to be careful, although the salt will help to conserve the meat. Use cure£1 as well, it will do something to the taste and the colour, and it helps to preserve the ground meat.
Regarding the temperatures in the WSM, it can, as Paul K have stated, be a bit difficult to control the temperature, especially to raise the temperature at the end at the smoke.

I've found out that a easy approach is to use just a few briquettes and hot smoke the suasages, and then bring them up to the desired temperature in a oven. It takes less time, and you won't have to tinker with the settings on your WSM. The final result is the same, and if you do'nt tell anyone, noone will notice. Chill down your smoked sausages in plenty of ice water after cooking/smoking. It gives the skin a nice "snap" when grilling, and reduces the time that any bacteria can develop.

Home made sausages are fantastic. The key to a good result is keeping temps down, a quite high fat content and good hygiene.

Greetings from Norway :)
 
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I can't add much to what Martin, Geir and Jim have said. Here are the biggest tips and tricks I know:

  1. Keep everything COLD.
  2. Cut meat into strips rather than cubes to grind.
  3. Don't be afraid to add ice water before stuffing.
  4. Don't smoke at a temperature that will render the fat.
Homemade sausage is wonderful and addictive.
 
Thank you all so much. Now I feel I can go ahead and aggrevate my wife even further..... (she fails to understand my seasonal projects such as this one.....-:).
Game plan:
Marinate ground meat in wine today to stuff fresh sausages on Sunday (no smoking, no cure).
Marinate a pork belly and a pork loin for smoked bacon and "lountza" to be smoked on Tuesday in the WSM (cure will be added to the wine)
Limited fridge space does not allow for curing ground meat for smoked sausages at the same time - this is the next project.
Since I will make a mess on Sunday, I will also stuff some "pastourma", spicy Middle Eastern beef sausage loaded with garlic and pepper, and also try some chicken fresh sausage. Mixture will be prepared on Saturday and be allowed to rest in the fridge for a day for the flavors to come together.
I will update you on my failure or success.

Thank you all once again.
Andreas
 
Andreas - we made chicken sausage for the first time a month or so back. A lot of recipes call for added fat, but ours came out great using just thighs with the skin. Again, keep it very cold and don't be afraid to add ice water.
 
Jon Des. said:
I can't add much to what Martin, Geir and Jim have said. Here are the biggest tips and tricks I know:

  1. Keep everything COLD.
  2. Cut meat into strips rather than cubes to grind.
  3. Don't be afraid to add ice water before stuffing.
  4. Don't smoke at a temperature that will render the fat.
Homemade sausage is wonderful and addictive.
Click to expand...

John Des: Please tell me about the strips instead of cubes approach, please. And are you cutting with the grain, against the grain, or does it not make a lot of difference? Right now I'm cubing all the pork and beef I grind, including the fat.

Thanks!
 
If you cut the meat about the same size as your cube but into a longer strip (say 1"x1"x3" instead of a 1" cube) then your grinder will pull it through instead of having to be forced in. So it's less cutting and easier to grind. The grain direction doesn't seem to make a difference.
 
We are getting ready to make ground beef at home. So my brother-in-law, a budding meat cutter in training, is slicing up our beef into strips as I type. Nice that he happened to visit us this weekend. We'll try the strip technique on our little grinder in a day or two. Thanks for the tip!
 
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