Can I smoke sausage in an Akorn?

[Pandaconda]

Want to get into making sausage, really like the standard jalapeno Cheddar sausage that lots of bbq places have (mission bbq is not the best but just to get an idea of the style I'm looking for). I see a lot of resources that you need a low temp (150-175) for that, and I'm not sure if the Akorn is capable of holding a temp that low. Also for this style do you have to cure them? I don't have a ton of fridge space to leave sausages in the open in the fridge. Any insight on Sausage in these types of grills would be great!

[LA Pork Butt]

If you want to try to keep a low temperature start with a small fire. If your fire is too large you won’t be able to maintained those temps. You could do a test run before you try it withe sausage. Remember when you put the cold sausage on the temp is going to drop, so don’t panic and give it too much oxygen. I can’t answer the question about curing although my guess is the answer is no as to is it necessary.

[Oak Smoke]

I presume that since an Akron is so similar to a kamado that you should be able to smoke sausage in it. I’ve never had great luck holding a very low temp in my kamados. If you can get by with 200 F or so you will get better smoke. I’d start with a small fire and try to control it early. A larger fire starved for air will give you less than optimal smoke.

[RickyBobby]

If I’m going to smoke sausage that low, I absolutely cure it given the time it spends in the danger zone. I have done it several times with great results, but I have also had great success smoking hot guts a little warmer without curing. One trick that you can use (which I do from time to time) for the colder smoke is to just fill an Amaze-N-Tube with a combination of pellets/wood chips, light it, and sent it in your cooker with out actually firing up the whole cooker. I don’t have an Akron, but I have used my gasser in this manner for both cheese and sausage. Basically fill the tube, light the tube, set the tube in the cook chamber with the sausage and let it ride. Again, I would be remiss if I didn’t stress the importance of curing at the right ratios for food safety. Other than that, have fun!!! Sausage is a lot of fun to make, but it is a deep rabbit hole to go down since your options are pretty limitless. Really looking forward to seeing your results!

[58limited]

Yes, cure it if smoking at low temps.

[SheilaAnn]

58limited and realdocBBQ

[58limited]

I have used an Amaze-N-Tube for cold smoking and it works. You really need to cure your sausage unless you want to hot smoke them. Here is my method:

I low smoke at about 150^o for an hour or so then I bump the temperature up to about 200^o - 225^o until the sausages are at 155^o internal temperature. This is a case when not so clean smoke is OK to get a good smoke flavor in a short amount of time. When the IT is 155^o I pull the sausage and toss into an ice bath to stop cooking. Remove from the bath and gently wipe off the smoke residue then let them sit on a rack to dry and bloom for a couple of hours. Vacuum seal and freeze.

To reheat: Get the smoker to 275^o and cook until the IT is 155^o again, you should have a nice snap in the casings.

[Jerod Broussard]

I typically smoke at 200 +/-. Ain't going back to anything lower.

[TripleB]

I agree with Jerod Broussard that low temp is not the preference. I smoke up to 200-225. It takes awhile for my little smoker to get up to that. You just have to keep a close eye the temp of the sausage. You go over 165 and the fat renders. Personally, I smoke to 125, then steam to 152, then into an ice bath.

[Jerod Broussard]

We typically stop at 160 and my bad self built a stand to hang the racks on to hose them down right off the smoker.