# Sausage question



## limey (Feb 25, 2005)

When making sausage do you have to smoke the sausage ? 

What are the pros and cons to smoking Vs not smoking ?

I have seen some posts about making a smoker, can anyone shine some light on the construction ?

thanks..


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## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

*Well,....*

Since no one has answered, I will try....No, you don't have to smoke sausage. Pan sausage (looks kinda like hamburger meat) is seldom smoked. Some link sausage is not smoked.

Pros and Cons....taste....smoking imparts a mild to strong smokey flavor and taste to the sausage. I love it!! Smoking a dry smoked sausage will help in its' preservation, to some extent.

Smoker construction...geeze..that is a whole string in itself. It can be as simple as 4 2 x 4s driven in the ground, cross boards to hang meat from, and covered with tin, plywood or whatever, and a piece of stove pipe sticking out the side with a 90 deg ell pointing down over your smokey fire on the outside, or you can build a small fire in the "box" as long as you keep it small and very little heat..... to elaborate electrical smokers. My grandfather had a single car garage and he would hang sausage, hams, and bacon from the rafters, and build a small fire on the dirt floor and smoke in it! This is called "cold smoking" imparting the flavor of smoke to the meat, with very little heat.

Hope this helps...do a google and you will find out more than you want to know about sausage making, bacon making and smoking! LOL

Later
R3F


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## duge60 (May 27, 2006)

Smoked sausage is good for quick meals. Put it in pan, halfway cover with water and boil for 8 min and turn and repeat. When water is gone brown both sides and eat. Smoked sausage when put on a pit has a problem of the casing getting real tough. We always do a lot of fresh sausage. You can fry, put on pit, boil or even bake in oven. These are just a few ideas. Smoking does preserve it a little longer.
I have also lightly batterd and deep fried smoked sausage.
Also, we have used a refrigerator box for smoking in. Cut holes on side by top and put sticks in to hang links. Put your favorite wood chips in pie pan and let them smolder ( no heat ).
It also helps to smoke sausage when humidity is lower.


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## Cardiff (Aug 10, 2006)

This is a smoke house that we just built. 5x4 1/2'' plywood. Screwed together so you can take it apart for storage.


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## Tiger Fish (Jul 9, 2007)

Cardiff- Cool box. Where is the fire? How do you keep it from burning to the ground?


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## bowed up (Apr 1, 2007)

We Usually Do A Light 30minute Smoke As Soon As We Hang It (usually At 10 At Night And Then Again At About 9 In The Morning. Then That Evening We Will Pull The Fresh Sausage And Package It, And Then The Dry Sausage Will Usually Get One More Light Smoking A Day Later. Key To Drying Dry Sausage Is Keeping The Moisture Away From It-run The A/c And Use A Dehumidifier If Necassary.
To Much Smoke Takes Away From The Flavor Of The Meatand Seasoning.


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## Profish00 (May 21, 2004)

Tiger Fish said:


> Cardiff- Cool box. Where is the fire? How do you keep it from burning to the ground?


Yea, we need more info, that looks great:work:


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## Red3Fish (Jun 4, 2004)

*Come on guys....LOL*

I would bet my government "rebate" that there is no bottom to the box. The little hinged door is where you tend your "fire". "Fire" is the wrong word....you are talking about a handful of coals with a few lumps of your smoking wood smoldering in an old metal pot or tin plate, or just on a dirt floor, that you have to renew every couple of hours. Very little chance of it burning it down.

Later
R3F


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## Cardiff (Aug 10, 2006)

There is no bottom on the smoke house. Unscrew 12 screws and it comes apart. The frame is built out of 1x2 and 1/2'' plywood. Very light. One half the size should hold
50# of sausage. We used an old fijta cooker to build the little fire on, it has small legs that get it off the ground about 2''. It worked great. With a small amount of coals it held around 125-135 degrees. The hinged door is where you access the fire. An old plow disk would work good to build the fire on.


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## fishbowl365 (Mar 9, 2005)

alton brown made a smoker out of a cardboard box using an electric hot plate for the smoking wood in one of his shows on the food network.


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## Profish00 (May 21, 2004)

fishbowl365 said:


> alton brown made a smoker out of a cardboard box using an electric hot plate for the smoking wood in one of his shows on the food network.


I remember that show


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## EXpatdan (Jan 30, 2007)

*Try This...*

These folks will answer all your smoked meat questions. like here, really good people.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/index.php

Tell 'em the new guy "Victory" sent you.


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