I contemplated the food board for this one, but figured the Outdoors folks might be more knowledgable on this. I make a lot of sausage but I've never done a dried version. Any pointers on how to do it safely without one of those chamber things controlling humidity and temp? Thanks.

1. You must use a curing salt. Insta-Cure #1 or Prague Powder #1 is what you want. The proper ratio is 0.25% by weight of meat, or 4 ounces of cure for 100# of meat. You do not want cure #2, because it won't complete the nitrate curing cycle in the short period of time that it takes to make dried sausage.
2. Your total salt percentage should be no less than 2%. Ideally, it should be around 2.25%. This is to make sure the salt content is high enough for food safety purposes.
3. When you stuff the sausage it needs to be firm with minimal air pockets. Pop any air pockets with a pin.
4. A long stretch of dry days with low humidity is not ideal, but neither is a rainy stretch. Try to do this when the weather isn't one of those extremes.
5. You can hang the sausage just about anywhere. I've made dried sausage in everything from a dedicated smokehouse to a cattle trailer. Your garage will work as long as you can keep vermin and pets away from it, and you aren't storing your vehicle in the garage.
6. It's generally ready when the sausage loses 30% of its wet weight. Weigh a couple of the fresh sausages, tag them, and write down the starting weight and finishing weight. When they hit the finishing weight, they are done. This can take anywhere from 10-20 days.
7. If the sausage at its end weight feels hard on the outside, but looks raw in the middle, congratulations, you've got case hardening, and it happens to just about everyone that makes dried sausage at home. The fix is to vacuum seal it and leave it in the freezer for a month. It will even out over time.

ETA: if you want to smoke it, you only need to cold smoke it once for 3-4 hours. Once the casing starts to dry, it won't take anymore smoke. Also, a small fan will help with air circulation and promote even drying.

If you have any other questions, ask them.

Ive looked into making dried sausage as well and just been a too leery of managing all the factors to keep it food safe by just using a room in the house. I figure you're looking to keep your costs low, but will throw this option out there, you can get this device for $600 and turn a regular cooler into a drying chamber that controls for both temp and humidity. Yeah 600 bucks isn't cheap, but its a lot cheaper than those dedicated drying units that can run $1500+. Thinking I may pick one of these up within the next year or two.

CELR-12 Cooler Module

Thanks but really trying to learn the old school way of doing it without a specialized piece of equipment. I have way too many cooking devices already.

agfan2013 said:

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Ive looked into making dried sausage as well and just been a too leery of managing all the factors to keep it food safe by just using a room in the house. I figure you're looking to keep your costs low, but will throw this option out there, you can get this device for $600 and turn a regular cooler into a drying chamber that controls for both temp and humidity. Yeah 600 bucks isn't cheap, but its a lot cheaper than those dedicated drying units that can run $1500+. Thinking I may pick one of these up within the next year or two.

CELR-12 Cooler Module

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I use an Inkbird temp contoller and an Inkbird humidity controller in an old spare fridge we had. Put in a humidifier and a dehumidifier. It wasn't that expensive and works great.

I've made small batches in my fridge. I put a few pieces of normal smoked sausage in a brown paper lunch bag and let it dry in the back of my fridge for a week or 2 (I can't remember exactly how long). I've used it on long hiking trips.

I might be rolling the dice for food safety, I have no idea on that. But I will say I've done it a dozen times and still here.

HTownAg98 said:

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1. You must use a curing salt. Insta-Cure #1 or Prague Powder #1 is what you want. The proper ratio is 0.25% by weight of meat, or 4 ounces of cure for 100# of meat. You do not want cure #2, because it won't complete the nitrate curing cycle in the short period of time that it takes to make dried sausage.
2. Your total salt percentage should be no less than 2%. Ideally, it should be around 2.25%. This is to make sure the salt content is high enough for food safety purposes.
3. When you stuff the sausage it needs to be firm with minimal air pockets. Pop any air pockets with a pin.
4. A long stretch of dry days with low humidity is not ideal, but neither is a rainy stretch. Try to do this when the weather isn't one of those extremes.
5. You can hang the sausage just about anywhere. I've made dried sausage in everything from a dedicated smokehouse to a cattle trailer. Your garage will work as long as you can keep vermin and pets away from it, and you aren't storing your vehicle in the garage.
6. It's generally ready when the sausage loses 30% of its wet weight. Weigh a couple of the fresh sausages, tag them, and write down the starting weight and finishing weight. When they hit the finishing weight, they are done. This can take anywhere from 10-20 days.
7. If the sausage at its end weight feels hard on the outside, but looks raw in the middle, congratulations, you've got case hardening, and it happens to just about everyone that makes dried sausage at home. The fix is to vacuum seal it and leave it in the freezer for a month. It will even out over time.

ETA: if you want to smoke it, you only need to cold smoke it once for 3-4 hours. Once the casing starts to dry, it won't take anymore smoke. Also, a small fan will help with air circulation and promote even drying.

If you have any other questions, ask them.

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What do you smoke it with? I use live oak bark and really like the flavor results. The old Germans around here have been using it for years. It's free and there's plenty of it.

Green pecan wood. It's the closest I can easily get to hickory.

college of AG said:

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I've made small batches in my fridge. I put a few pieces of normal smoked sausage in a brown paper lunch bag and let it dry in the back of my fridge for a week or 2 (I can't remember exactly how long). I've used it on long hiking trips.

I might be rolling the dice for food safety, I have no idea on that. But I will say I've done it a dozen times and still here.

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I think folks would be surprised at what the human body can handle if one doesn't live an "over sanitized" life.
We leave butter out on the counter all the time. I've used milk and half and half that's 3 or 4 weeks past the discard date. I eat raw hamburger meat and steak. I've purposely left Feta cheese to further "ripen" because it tastes better.

I had bought a pint of heavy cream at the HEB and put it in the fridge in the laundry room. Got it out of the back of the fridge later to use, pulled the tab and the carton was about 2/3 full. I'm like wth? There was a white semi solid in the pouring spout and I tasted it. It was great. It tasted like Creme Fraiche. I'm wondering what HEB sold me. I looked at the use by date on the carton and it was more than a year out of date. Look back in the fridge and there was the new carton I had just bought in the door.

Left in the fridge unopened and sealed that carton of heavy cream had actually turned into some of the best sour creme I've ever had. The wife wouldn't touch it but I used it up and enjoyed it.

I've joked with folks that my mom used to feed us a spoonful of dirt a day when we were youngsters just to build up our natural immunity

Gosh I hope I can remember this thread when I do this

I love dried sausage

Thanks

HTownAg98 said:

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3. When you stuff the sausage it needs to be firm with minimal air pockets. Pop any air pockets with a pin.


Also, a small fan will help with air circulation and promote even drying.

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HTownAg nailed it!! I think #3 is the one most people miss when they begin making sausage, air pockets are not inevitable but they are common enough. Keep good pressure on the casing and try to stuff the sausage as full as possible without blowing out the casing. Try to keep the fans from blowing directly on the casings. We normally hang the sausage head high and put fans in the corners when needed blowing underneath the sausage but not on it and helps the sausage dry more evenly.

AnScAggie said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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3. When you stuff the sausage it needs to be firm with minimal air pockets. Pop any air pockets with a pin.


Also, a small fan will help with air circulation and promote even drying.

---

HTownAg nailed it!! I think #3 is the one most people miss when they begin making sausage, air pockets are not inevitable but they are common enough. Keep good pressure on the casing and try to stuff the sausage as full as possible without blowing out the casing. Try to keep the fans from blowing directly on the casings. We normally hang the sausage head high and put fans in the corners when needed blowing underneath the sausage but not on it and helps the sausage dry more evenly.

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And what's your strategy on the timing of the year (IE temp and humidity)?

When I make pepperoni sticks I normally pull out of the smoker at internal of 152, no water bath and let them "air dry" in my house for 2-3 days until I like how dry they are. I imagine this process being similar but I'm a little more worried because the casings are much larger and they're not cooked to temp first.

Also, you guys using 29mm natural hog casings? Thanks!

We make sausage after deer season, in Feb/Mar. Temp and humidity is honestly whatever it is going to be because we will make 300-600 lbs of sausage at a time with several family members each doing 50-100 lbs and the weekend is usually planned out well in advance. We will smoke fresh sausage over night for ~20 hrs and leave the rest to dry for 10 days or so. The smoke room we use is very large and can easily accommodate 1000 lbs or more and the family that owns it see it used pretty heavy from Jan-Apr. Yes we use natural hog casings.

I like to use goat casings just easier to dry

What's your typical meat to fat ratio?

maddiedou said:

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Gosh I hope I can remember this thread when I do this

I love dried sausage

Thanks

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You have stars. Bookmark it.

agcrock2005 said:

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AnScAggie said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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3. When you stuff the sausage it needs to be firm with minimal air pockets. Pop any air pockets with a pin.


Also, a small fan will help with air circulation and promote even drying.

---

HTownAg nailed it!! I think #3 is the one most people miss when they begin making sausage, air pockets are not inevitable but they are common enough. Keep good pressure on the casing and try to stuff the sausage as full as possible without blowing out the casing. Try to keep the fans from blowing directly on the casings. We normally hang the sausage head high and put fans in the corners when needed blowing underneath the sausage but not on it and helps the sausage dry more evenly.

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And what's your strategy on the timing of the year (IE temp and humidity)?

When I make pepperoni sticks I normally pull out of the smoker at internal of 152, no water bath and let them "air dry" in my house for 2-3 days until I like how dry they are. I imagine this process being similar but I'm a little more worried because the casings are much larger and they're not cooked to temp first.

Also, you guys using 29mm natural hog casings? Thanks!

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We make sausage in January, so we can leave it in a smokehouse outside. We're more concerned about temperature than humidity, but we will leave a water pan in the smokehouse to up the humidity a little. We turn the fan off during the day, and turn it on at night to let the cold air circulate. And you don't have to worry about cooking to temp; that's what your cure is for.
Most dry-cured meats are cold smoked. That's to keep the fat from melting. You can usually tell who hot smokes and then dries sausage because it will have a slightly greasy texture because of the fat melting.
For casings, we use 32-35 natural hog casings. But if you're just making dried sausage, 29-32mm are the way to go. They'll dry faster.

Law361 said:

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What's your typical meat to fat ratio?

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80/20 meat to fat. If you go leaner, it makes a dried sausage with a chalky texture. And we double grind. Coarse die followed by a fine die.

Great information. Thanks.

So when making so much seemingly shelf-stable sausage, what do you do with it? Vac seal and freeze like normal sausages? I can't wait to try this.

Yes, we vacuum seal and freeze it. It is technically shelf-stable, but I think it keeps better sealed and in the freezer.

I make it and hang it in a spare bathroom that doesn't get used in the house. I put a oscillating fan in there to move the air. Perfect drying conditions for me, 68 degrees year round and humidity stable around 60% or so (I think). Takes about 2 weeks and the smoke smell permeates under the door so the dogs like to lie close by lol

My wife would kick my ass if I did that. She's never thrilled when I put jerky on the racks to dry in the kitchen, and that's just two days.

Did freak the maid out one time when she opened the shower curtain and saw rows of links hanging