Sous Vide Summer sausage help - round 2 update

[Rag Horn]

I decided to make some summer sausage. I smoked it at 120 on my grill with a pellet smoke tube for 3 hours. Then put it in a SousVide bath at 150 for 3 hours. It seems I cooked most the fat out. It cleans up fine and tastes good enough. But all that fatty goodness got cooked out. Any suggestions for how to keep it in. Lower temps shorter times? Anyone have any experience in this department?

[Roosevelt Mark]

It doesn't look bad, I use a very lean mix.  The Temps seem ok, maybe even on the low side. Remember, you need an internal temp of 165 to kill the bacteria.

[Couzer]

I just did 40lbs off my mule deer buck I got last week. Mine came out ok, I cooked it 140 degrees in the oven for 1 hour, then 160 degrees for 30 minutes, then it took about 8 hours on the smoker at 180 degrees to reach internal temp of 157 degrees. Blanched it in a ice bag for 10 minutes right off the smoker, air dried on a towel for 30 minutes and then into the fridge for 24 hours. I used 80/20 lean to pork fat.

Next day I cut into it, turned out ok. But the texture could have been better. 2 things that I could have done different is not to grind it as fine as I did and 2 buy a fresher season and cure kit as mine was about 4-5 years old sitting in my pantry.

So I’ll be following this thread cause I know it I could perfect it. I want to buy a Souls Vide for coooking steaks, never thought about using it for Summer Sausage.

 

[Non-Typical Solutions]

1 hour ago, Vowell said:

I just did 40lbs off my mule deer buck I got last week. Mine came out ok, I cooked it 140 degrees in the oven for 1 hour, then 160 degrees for 30 minutes, then it took about 8 hours on the smoker at 180 degrees to reach internal temp of 157 degrees. Blanched it in a ice bag for 10 minutes right off the smoker, air dried on a towel for 30 minutes and then into the fridge for 24 hours. I used 80/20 lean to pork fat.

Next day I cut into it, turned out ok. But the texture could have been better. 2 things that I could have done different is not to grind it as fine as I did and 2 buy a fresher season and cure kit as mine was about 4-5 years old sitting in my pantry.

So I’ll be following this thread cause I know it I could perfect it. I want to buy a Souls Vide for coooking steaks, never thought about using it for Summer Sausage.

 

Looks like you've done it before and I love that second picture!!! You obviously were in charge of treats for the week!!!

[awatson]

It really needs the fat to get the correct consistency. I cold smoke mine, then into the oven on 160 degrees....very slowly up to internal temp of 152 degrees, then icewater bath. Works perfectly for me; you can actually see the white fat in it, like a commercial sausage.

[brademan76]

Interesting post- definitely following. I like the sous vide idea for the very reason of keeping fat/moisture in. Too bad it didn't work out as theorized. I would think there is some sort of binder/emulsifier that could be added into the mix to help with this kind of problem.

 

Maybe the guys on smokingmeatforums could help? Here's a thread on similar problem:

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/fat-accumulation-in-summer-sausage.126154/

[brademan76]

How is the temp control on your grill? Maybe it got hotter than you think?

[Rag Horn]

1 hour ago, awatson said:

It really needs the fat to get the correct consistency. I cold smoke mine, then into the oven on 160 degrees....very slowly up to internal temp of 152 degrees, then icewater bath. Works perfectly for me; you can actually see the white fat in it, like a commercial sausage.

Is there a theory or strategy  about why “very slowly” because if it’s an issue that I got it to 155 too fast that is easy to fix by adjusting my Sous Vide cooker up very slowly too. I just didn’t think the speed would matter. I wasn’t trying to tenderize it or anything. 

Thanks for the input. 

[Rag Horn]

21 minutes ago, brademan76 said:

How is the temp control on your grill? Maybe it got hotter than you think?

When I pulled my sausage off the grill I had an internal temp of 91 degrees. I wasn’t too worried about my grill temp. I only had my little pellet tube burning. It doesn’t get too hot. 

[Rag Horn]

31 minutes ago, brademan76 said:

Interesting post- definitely following. I like the sous vide idea for the very reason of keeping fat/moisture in. Too bad it didn't work out as theorized. I would think there is some sort of binder/emulsifier that could be added into the mix to help with this kind of problem.

 

Maybe the guys on smokingmeatforums could help? Here's a thread on similar problem:

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/fat-accumulation-in-summer-sausage.126154/

Thanks for the reading material. I feel like Sous Vide summer sausage should work. I just did something wrong. Should be able to figure it out!

[Rag Horn]

1 hour ago, awatson said:

It really needs the fat to get the correct consistency. I cold smoke mine, then into the oven on 160 degrees....very slowly up to internal temp of 152 degrees, then icewater bath. Works perfectly for me; you can actually see the white fat in it, like a commercial sausage.

Yeah it needs all that fat in there for sure. Cooked out the Flavor and ruined the texture. It’ll still get eaten it’s not terrible but it has room to improve for sure. 

[n2horns]

Love this post, who would have thought that Sous Vide would make it on CWT.  I would email Scott Leysath the sporting chef.

[n2horns]

4 hours ago, Rag Horn said:

When I pulled my sausage....

Sorry, just couldn't let this one go.

[brademan76]

48 minutes ago, n2horns said:

Love this post, who would have thought that Sous Vide would make it on CWT.  I would email Scott Leysath the sporting chef.

It's not close the first time. Look under the cooking wild foods forum.

[mbiewer]

what cheese do you guys use?