Does anyone make a lot of linked sausages and have any guidance on cold smoking, and the need for a dedicated smoker? I made 20 lbs of linked sausages this weekend and it was very hard for me to keep my big offset smoker below 150 degrees for an extended period of time.

Any recommendations on smokers that folks use when they make sausage? Wife might freak out if I got another smoker but I want to make a lot of snack sticks and various sausages, and want to be consistent on the cold smoking part of it. Thanks.

If you can get a cardboard box for a refrigerator from a big box store, you can smoke a lot of sausage in one with a hot plate and some wooden dowel rods.

schmellba99 said:

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We make 500lbs-1000lbs every year, give or take. Buddy has a large dedicated smoker though. Another buddy of mine just built a smaller one that I'm contemplating copying so I can do some smaller batches at the house here and there. I'll see if I can't find the pictures of it and post them up here if I can.

Just keep in mind that it doesn't need to be complicated - a simple wood box with a heat source you can control, couple of thermostats so you know where the temps are, and then following the procedure of increasing heat every hour until you hit 152 internal.

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Thank you. I'd love to see some pics. Hard to spend thousands of dollars on one when I know there's a way to do it without dedicated smoker.

HTownAg98 said:

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If you can get a cardboard box for a refrigerator from a big box store, you can smoke a lot of sausage in one with a hot plate and some wooden dowel rods.

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There's a couple of episodes of Good Eats where Alton Brown does this. Worth a watch if someone is interested.

Do you know what kind of smoker your other buddy has? I'm considering a dedicated smoker now that I've done several batches. Thanks.

superunknown said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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If you can get a cardboard box for a refrigerator from a big box store, you can smoke a lot of sausage in one with a hot plate and some wooden dowel rods.

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There's a couple of episodes of Good Eats where Alton Brown does this. Worth a watch if someone is interested.

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That's where I got it from. I used one to make jerky when I lived in an apartment. Only did it once, as I got a nastygram from the apartment management, and people showed up at my front door thinking my apartment was on fire.

I definitely want to try it out, just haven't had the stones to jump in on buying a grinder/stuffer/etc.

superunknown said:

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I definitely want to try it out, just haven't had the stones to jump in on buying a grinder/stuffer/etc.

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Man I've been a hunter and a big bbq/cooking guy for 15 years and made the jump last year when I spent about $2K on processing deer (killed a lot of them!). It's a lot of work, but it's so much fun being able to make your own breakfast sausage, mix your ground beef with the exact amount of fat you want, make various sausages, etc. I was nervous too at first but now I have friends that are asking if they can buy bunch of pork butts and beer and come over to the house on the weekend to make stuff. Pretty fun.

For you and Htown...do you have recommendations on grinder/stuffers? I am not a hunter (nothing against it at all btw) by any stretch so I probably don't have the need for anything massive. I also do not have a kitchenaid type mixer. Not opposed to those either.

Any recommendations at several price points? I definitely don't want to spend thousands because I won't get the usage out of it but I don't want something thats essentially useless either.

superunknown said:

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For you and Htown...do you have recommendations on grinder/stuffers? I am not a hunter (nothing against it at all btw) by any stretch so I probably don't have the need for anything massive. I also do not have a kitchenaid type mixer. Not opposed to those either.

Any recommendations at several price points? I definitely don't want to spend thousands because I won't get the usage out of it but I don't want something thats essentially useless either.

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The whole hunter vs non-hunter doesn't really matter when it comes to this situation IMO. My ROI is just quicker because I kill a lot of deer! It's really about what you want to do. If you want to make a lot of meats (ground meat, breakfast sausages, linked sausages, etc.) then it should pay itself off pretty quickly if you eat a lot of meat. My setup is below and I love it, even if I didn't shoot any animals. Grab pork butts on sale and make your own sausages!

LEM #12 Big Bit Meat Grinder

25 lb. Big Bite Tilt Meat Mixer

10 lb. Dual Gear Stuffer

Vacmaster VP230

These are NOT where I bought these from and not the prices I paid. Just put together a quick post to share what I got. If you're doing much smaller quantities there are plenty of videos out there of people using their kitchenaids to do this stuff too for much cheaper.

#22 grinder .....bigger is better when grinding meat
15# stuffer ......bigger is better when stuffing sausage casings

Thanks for the tips! If anything I wish I was more of a hunter specifically for this purpose but yeah my thought process has been pork shoulder when it's on sale, plus I've been vac sealing brisket trimmings etc and freezing them for...one day. Soon. I hope.

We don't hunt either (not against & just bought 32 acres of timber, so we might get back into it) but we do like to grind our own hamburger meat (usually when briskets are on sale) and we've made several small batches of various sausages.

We have the LEM #12 and it works great for our small projects. We just did about 10 pounds of hamburger (some plain & some we add smoked poblano & high temp cheddar chunks), about 10 pounds of a jalapeno/cheddar link sausages and about 10 pound of breakfast sausage. For both of those we use Leggs spice mixes. We've also mixed our own spices in the past, but these are super easy and we like them just fine.

We don't have a stuffer because we make so little and can't justify the cost, but have borrowed a neighbors before and they are really great and make the process much easier. You can stuff with the LEM #12, but it's a 2 person job, for sure. It works fine, you just have to get used to the "flow" of the meat being pushed thru.

Overall, it's a fun project. Cleaning the machine is the worst part.

agcrock2005 said:

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superunknown said:

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For you and Htown...do you have recommendations on grinder/stuffers? I am not a hunter (nothing against it at all btw) by any stretch so I probably don't have the need for anything massive. I also do not have a kitchenaid type mixer. Not opposed to those either.

Any recommendations at several price points? I definitely don't want to spend thousands because I won't get the usage out of it but I don't want something thats essentially useless either.

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The whole hunter vs non-hunter doesn't really matter when it comes to this situation IMO. My ROI is just quicker because I kill a lot of deer! It's really about what you want to do. If you want to make a lot of meats (ground meat, breakfast sausages, linked sausages, etc.) then it should pay itself off pretty quickly if you eat a lot of meat. My setup is below and I love it, even if I didn't shoot any animals. Grab pork butts on sale and make your own sausages!

LEM #12 Big Bit Meat Grinder

25 lb. Big Bite Tilt Meat Mixer

10 lb. Dual Gear Stuffer

Vacmaster VP230

These are NOT where I bought these from and not the prices I paid. Just put together a quick post to share what I got. If you're doing much smaller quantities there are plenty of videos out there of people using their kitchenaids to do this stuff too for much cheaper.

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That is all solid equipment. If you're looking to keep the cost down somewhat, do away with the meat mixer. They are handy if you're doing this by yourself, but if you have two people, you can mix by hand rather quickly. Plus, if you progressive grind and aren't adding any garnishes like cheese or peppers, you really don't need to mix much; the second grind will get your bind developed properly. If you're worried about your hands getting too cold, buy some thin cotton gloves to wear under your latex gloves.

Here's a smaller stuffer if you're not going to be making batches over 25-30 pounds. The only thing I don't like about it is where the handle is; it's easier if you're making it by yourself to have the handle on the side.
https://www.sausagemaker.com/Heavy-Duty-5-sausage-stuffer-p/18-1024.htm

If you want to go cheaper on the grinder, buy an all metal kitchenaid attachment. They do a pretty good job grinding, but they're slow and a gigantic pain if you're trying to grind meat twice. Don't even try to stuff sausage with one; it will lead to much frustration and cursing.

Rattler12 said:

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#22 grinder .....bigger is better when grinding meat
15# stuffer ......bigger is better when stuffing sausage casings

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I'm sure the #22 is badass but I don't see most people needing something that big unless they're commercial meat processors. If you trim your meat correctly and keep it at the right temp (partially frozen) then you can get a lot of meat through a smaller grinder. I put 14 lbs of pork butt and 6 lbs of brisket through mine in 13 minutes this morning. Weighed out meat yesterday then cut into pieces that would easily fit in my grinder and then froze for about an hour. Now having a bigger stuffer...you can't ever have one big enough! Love my 10 lb but wish it was electric and 30 lbs!

agcrock2005 said:

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Do you know what kind of smoker your other buddy has? I'm considering a dedicated smoker now that I've done several batches. Thanks.

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Crap, just saw this, sorry for the late response.

The big smoker is an old outdoor electrical room - galvanized exterior, about 12 feet long, probably 5 feet wide and 8 feet high at the eaves with a shallow pitch to maybe 9 feet in the center. He insulated it and lined it with plywood, added some rails to hold the dowel rods and a couple of vents/stacks on top with dampers.

Heat source is a ribbon burner with a thermostat that allows him to control the heat automatically. Fed by a 20lb propane bottle. Large diffuser plate on top that is I think 1/2" plate. Smoke is piped in via a separate wood burning stove, only for the smoke and not used for any heat aspect.

We have I believe 4 ports to run probes for our digital temp monitors through, usually run 1 into the unit jus to know where we are on internal temp, and the other 3 are put into links so we know where we are on meat temp.