Smoking sausage - cold smoke - for cold appetizer questions please

[jjdbike]

Hello fellow pit masters,

We're attending an. event this coming Saturday & I'm bring the appetizer. I'm smoking some cheese and tuna. I'd like to add some cold, sliced smoked sausage & fruit to that plate.

I'm planning on running the smoker at its lowest setting of 185 for the tuna and cheese..

I'm looking for advice on the smoked sausage please.

Can I start with already cooked sausage & just smoke it white the tuna and cheese without worrying about drying it out?

Can I start with raw sausage and cook it in the 185 smoker to maximize smoke flavor without drying it out?

Any suggestions on types of sausage? Our new fave is chicken w/ gouda and apple, I forget what brand. It has the lowest sodium content of the sausages the store carries. The sodium content on those things can get pretty outragous.

Thanks in advance!

JD

[Jerod Broussard]

I'd go with already cooked sausage. It's a looooong smoke to do raw at 185.

[58limited]

What he said. I might start raw sausage at 185 but only if there is curing salt in it. I finish the sausage at 275, it comes up to an IT of about 155 much quicker at 275. I'd be very mindful of the tuna if smoking from raw, at 185 it might be in the temperature danger zone for an extended period.

[texastweeter]

Yep

[Draznnl]

What they said.

[jjdbike]

I'd go with already cooked sausage. It's a looooong smoke to do raw at 185.

Thanks Jerod Broussard ,

I agree, I don't have a loooong time. I'll start with cooked. It's make it a lot easier.

Also, 58limited,

My goal is to maximize smoke penetration / adherence. The tuna will be brined overnight and cut into relatively small pieces. It cooks faster than one thinks. My challenge is not over cooking and drying it out. In sake of food safety, once it goes at 185 for an hour, I can kick it up to 225 to finish it.

58limited, would you feel comfortable with that plan for the tuna, food safety wise?

Respectfully,
JD

[58limited]

I think so, especially if brined. I've done true cold smoke before with salted fish fillets: cold, almost frozen, smoked at 80 degrees. When the fish (Haddock) warmed to 40 degrees I put it back into the freezer and repeated several times. I did this in the winter. This was not to cook the fish but to cold smoke it. The fish was frozen and I use it in Finnan Haddie, a Scottish chowder.

[jjdbike]

Thanks @58limited!

I love and miss catching fresh haddock. I moved from the North East to SoCal 4 yrs ago My neighbor from Liverpool tells me how much she likes smoked haddock in Kedgeree. I wonder if Californoia Sheephead, or our local rockfish would be a suitable substitute?

I am certainly going to look up Finnan Haddie! I'll bet it's delicious!

Best regards!
JD

[texastweeter]

For the sausage, go with pre cooked. Ideally something that has been cured with nitrates. Also for the cheese especially, it needs a few weeks to mellow and the smoke to penetrate after smoking. If you eat it immediately it often is acrid tasting. I smoke over 100lbs of cheese a year in the winter and probably make over 300lbs of wild game sausage a year.

[Ace]

+1 on cold holding cheese until it develops and mellows. 👍

[Murdy]

When you hold the cheese, do you vacuum pack it? Or somehow else?

[texastweeter]

Murdy wax paper on the counter for a few hours, then in fridge over night, then vac sealed to age.

[jjdbike]

For the sausage, go with pre cooked. Ideally something that has been cured with nitrates. Also for the cheese especially, it needs a few weeks to mellow and the smoke to penetrate after smoking. If you eat it immediately it often is acrid tasting. I smoke over 100lbs of cheese a year in the winter and probably make over 300lbs of wild game sausage a year.

Thanks so much texastweeter and Ace ,

I would have never known this if you had not posted it. Knowing this, I will smoke cream cheese (I know, it's not really cheese). Scored, pre-seasoned, smoked, and topped with/ hot pepper jelly, rib candy, or fig for cherry preserves turns out well.

I will def go with pre-cooked cured sausage.

Cheers!
JD

[texastweeter]

Cream cheese will work, as would queso.

[fzxdoc]

This sounds like a much safer option all around.

Kathryn

[jjdbike]

Thanks everyone,

I wound up getting two different types of sausages from Wildfork Foods to smoke and serve with my smoked tuna and smoked cream cheese.

I got "wild boar and pork sausage with cranberry and red wine", and "bison hickory smoked sausage". I may also get some spicy hot smoked sausages.

Cheers!
JD

[Ace]

Sounds yummy... 👍👍

You might consider trying a small sample of the pre-smoked items before adding more smoke, just incase more smoke would make those items unpalatable.
Cheers... 😊

[Murdy]

jjdbike -- If you think of the brand of the gouda and apple sausage with the lower sodium, would you let me know, please?

[jjdbike]

jjdbike -- If you think of the brand of the gouda and apple sausage with the lower sodium, would you let me know, please?

Hello Murdy,

Of course. It is "Amylu". Don't get me wrong, they still have a significant amount of sodium, in the 600's, but still the lowest my local grocery caries. Plus, they're pretty darn good, in our opinion.

Respectfully,
JD

[Murdy]

Thanks much

[jjdbike]

For the sausage, go with pre cooked. Ideally something that has been cured with nitrates. Also for the cheese especially, it needs a few weeks to mellow and the smoke to penetrate after smoking. If you eat it immediately it often is acrid tasting. I smoke over 100lbs of cheese a year in the winter and probably make over 300lbs of wild game sausage a year.

Thanks texastweeter and Ace ,

May I assume that everything I'm smoking, i.e. tuna, precooked sausages, and cream cheese would improve, mellow, with a wrapped rest in the fridge over night of 24 hours?


JD

[texastweeter]

Cream cheese, probably; sausage, again probably. Tuna, have NO idea, lol.

[jjdbike]

Thanks gents!

[cruiseplanner1]

I usually put all of my smoked fish in a paper grocery bag lined with newspaper and sit in the fridge for a few days before vac sealing them and freezing. I do fairly large amounts so we cannot eat it all at once. Resting in the fridge does something to them and if I don't the bags will blow up. Must be some gas working in them yet.

[jjdbike]

Sooooo,

I provided the appetizers for a church book club dinner.

I smoked up a storm.
Plate 1.

• Smoked bluefin tuna loin, lemon pepper, glazed with honey, fresh squeezed lemon juice, lemon zest & fresh cracked black pepper
• Smoked cream cheese w/ Heath Riles Apple BBQ rub, glazed w/ sweet apple cherry rib candy & topped w/ dried cranberries.
• Smoked wild boar sausage w/ cranberries & red wine.

Plate 2.

• Smoked bluefin belly, habanero honey rub, lightly glazed w/ habanero mano jelly, finely diced fresh habanero.
• Smoked cream cheese w/ habanero honey rub, habanero mango glaze.
• Smoked chicken sausage w/ habanero and mango.

The sausages were sliced at a cattycorner bias so the smoke on the skin was minimized while the mead was maximized.

Rave reviews. See pics.

Cheers!
JD

[58limited]

Looks good!

[Ace]

Once again you've made some great looking trays. Very nicely done sir... 👍😎👍