Anyone have experience using a dedicated electric sausage smoker like below? I make a lot of sausages and my big offset is a pain in the ass to cook snack sticks and linked sausages that are supposed to be cold smoked, and I can only cook about 20 lbs. PS: Not interested in building a smokehouse. Want to be able to set the temp and walk away, so was curious about these. Thanks.

I just finished up building a smokehouse. It isn't electric though, propane burner for controlled heat with a cast iron stove piped in to provide smoke.

I would link a picture, but the texags instagram filter is jacked up and they won't post for whatever reason. Here is a link.

Link

That's awesome. All of the smokers with the capacity of what I'm trying to do are out of stock, so I'm leaning toward doing something like that as well. How much did all the components run you? I'm sure it's much cheaper than the electrical ones.

agcrock2005 said:

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That's awesome. All of the smokers with the capacity of what I'm trying to do are out of stock, so I'm leaning toward doing something like that as well. How much did all the components run you? I'm sure it's much cheaper than the electrical ones.

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Somebody else asked me that, and honestly I don't know. Maybe $750-$800?

I readily admit that I made it more expensive than it needed to be by using the cedar pickets and the more decorative hardware. I already had the roof material, bought the stove used off of marketplace and had some of the framing material on hand already.

Rough guesses:

4x4 posts - $35
2x4 framing - $20
Plywood for floor and roof - $20
Cedar Pickets - $215
Roof Vent - $10
Louver for Roof Vent - $20
Stove - $200
Chimney Pipe - $60
Chimney pipe damper - $10
Burner - $40
Door Hardware - $80
Screws, nails, etc. - $30
Door temp gauge - $20
Thermopro 4 probe digital gauge (what will actually be used to measure temps) - $30
Diffuser plate for burner - free
Roof tin - free
Insulation - free

Had I made it more utilitarian and used plywood for the walls, cheaper hardware, etc. I could have probably cut that in half. But I wanted a certain look and was willing to spend a little more to get there.

Not to derail the thread but what are you using for a grinder? I don't want to spend a ton up front on a grinder and wind up never using it. I'm also limited by storage so keeping a large appliance in the house that gets used a couple times a year is not idea.

Streetfighter 02 said:

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Not to derail the thread but what are you using for a grinder? I don't want to spend a ton up front on a grinder and wind up never using it. I'm also limited by storage so keeping a large appliance in the house that gets used a couple times a year is not idea.

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I have a LEM 3/4 HP grinder

If you are doing any more than about 5lbs, you want a dedicated grinder. Hand grinding is OK, the attachments for the Kitchenaid mixers is limited in capabilities.

I hand ground about 125lbs from an elk I shot one time. I had an electric grinder a week later.

I've been eyeing one of the kitchen aid attachments but figure it will be a huge pain to make it work and I'll wind up more irritated than if I had a dedicated machine.

I have the LEM #12 as well and it's awesome, but definitely not necessary if you're doing 5LB batches every 6 months. I think the equipment depends on how much you want to make and how often.

5 lb batch couple times a year and maybe some uncased breakfast sausage.

Streetfighter 02 said:

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5 lb batch couple times a year and maybe some uncased breakfast sausage.

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Then I wouldn't be worrying about a grinder. I'd just get grinder attachment for Kitchenaid. I've seen plenty of videos of people using them for sausage grinding and stuffing and they work fine for that amount.

I've used it several times - the KitchenAid grinder attachment works well if you're not taking on >10lbs.

Making your own blend of hamburger meat, or making 5-10 lbs of sausage - it works very well.

Also, collagen sausage casings are the way to go if you want to make your own sausage.

Kitchen aid brand or Amazon special?

The kitchen-aid stuffer attachment is garbage. Even for five pound batches, a dedicated stuffer is worth every dime. Whatever you do, don't cheap out and get one with nylon gears. Make sure they are metal.

HTownAg98 said:

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The kitchen-aid stuffer attachment is garbage. Even for five pound batches, a dedicated stuffer is worth every dime. Whatever you do, don't cheap out and get one with nylon gears. Make sure they are metal.

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I agree they're garbage, but he said he makes 5 lb batches twice a year. A dedicated grinder for that amount seems like a waste unless they don't have a budget.

EDIT: I didn't realize you said the stuffer is garbage. You're probably right. Haven't used that attachment.

The kitchen aid brand with the metal gears

HTownAg98 said:

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The kitchen-aid stuffer attachment is garbage. Even for five pound batches, a dedicated stuffer is worth every dime. Whatever you do, don't cheap out and get one with nylon gears. Make sure they are metal.

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Stuffer =/= grinder

The kitchenaid grinder is probably just fine for a few times a year with small batches of grinding. It won't have the oomph to grind through silverskin, so make sure you remove as much of that and tendon type material as possible prior to grinding.

Additionally, you'll have to figure out what level of near frozen your machine can tolerate without tripping or binding up.

Never use a grinding machine to stuff, that is asking for things to be infinitely harder than they need to be. if you are goin to make sausage, even small amounts, get a dedicated stuffer. LEM makes on that holds 5 lbs of meat that is about $150 or so and isn't huge. Get it and don't mess around with trying to use something that isn't designed to stuff as a stuffer. You'll not want to mess with sausage if you do.

schmellba99 said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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The kitchen-aid stuffer attachment is garbage. Even for five pound batches, a dedicated stuffer is worth every dime. Whatever you do, don't cheap out and get one with nylon gears. Make sure they are metal.

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Never use a grinding machine to stuff, that is asking for things to be infinitely harder than they need to be. if you are goin to make sausage, even small amounts, get a dedicated stuffer. LEM makes on that holds 5 lbs of meat that is about $150 or so and isn't huge. Get it and don't mess around with trying to use something that isn't designed to stuff as a stuffer. You'll not want to mess with sausage if you do.

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Agreed...I used my grinder as a stuffer exactly 1 time. Never again.

You seem knowledgeable on the subject...have you ever made the dried snack sticks like the picture below. I can't find anything on YouTube on how to make them. Was considering throwing some of my normal snack sticks into a dehydrator, but wasn't sure if that's how they're made.

schmellba99 said:

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HTownAg98 said:

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The kitchen-aid stuffer attachment is garbage. Even for five pound batches, a dedicated stuffer is worth every dime. Whatever you do, don't cheap out and get one with nylon gears. Make sure they are metal.

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Stuffer =/= grinder

The kitchenaid grinder is probably just fine for a few times a year with small batches of grinding. It won't have the oomph to grind through silverskin, so make sure you remove as much of that and tendon type material as possible prior to grinding.

Additionally, you'll have to figure out what level of near frozen your machine can tolerate without tripping or binding up.

Never use a grinding machine to stuff, that is asking for things to be infinitely harder than they need to be. if you are goin to make sausage, even small amounts, get a dedicated stuffer. LEM makes on that holds 5 lbs of meat that is about $150 or so and isn't huge. Get it and don't mess around with trying to use something that isn't designed to stuff as a stuffer. You'll not want to mess with sausage if you do.

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I said the stuffer attachment is garbage, not the grinder. The plastic kitchen-aid grinder is fine, but the metal one is better. Using it as a stuffer is painful because you can't get the air out of the meat, so your sausage will have a lot of air pockets. Plus, the meat tends to come around the plunger, making stuffing slow and tedious.

agcrock2005 said:

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You seem knowledgeable on the subject...have you ever made the dried snack sticks like the picture below. I can't find anything on YouTube on how to make them. Was considering throwing some of my normal snack sticks into a dehydrator, but wasn't sure if that's how they're made.

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Nope, have never made those.

Dry curing is a little bit different process than smoking. Most recipes call for it to be smoked for 3-4 hours initially until internal temp is 152 (temp at which bacteria will die off, very important). Then it is usually dried in a low temp/high humidity type environment. Some makers smoke again after the initial drying stage. 4 days to 2 weeks to dry out, depending on environment, meat constitution and what you like as far as dryness and texture.

I found this video after I posted earlier. Says it's 7-8 days of blowing cool air on them giving them the shrinking look and texture they want. I'm going to have to give this a try one day.

schmellba,

I looked at the sausage smoker you built. Nice work. The pot belly stove caught my eye. I think it's the same model we've used on two deer leases in central Texas since 1974. Ours is from the Martin Range & Stove Company in Florence, Alabama. Cool stuff!

CajunAggie said:

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schmellba,

I looked at the sausage smoker you built. Nice work. The pot belly stove caught my eye. I think it's the same model we've used on two deer leases in central Texas since 1974. Ours is from the Martin Range & Stove Company in Florence, Alabama. Cool stuff!

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I honestly don't know what brand it is, bought it used specifically to provide smoke to the smokehouse. They are all essentially the same design though. I had a Vogelzang brand as my heat source for my house when I was at A&M, you can get a lot of heat out of them.

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you can get a lot of heat out of them.

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No doubt. I've spent many a cold night in our camphouse with that thing damn near glowing red. Our current building is 15x40, and we don't light it until the outside temp dips into the 20s.

CajunAggie said:

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you can get a lot of heat out of them.

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No doubt. I've spent many a cold night in our camphouse with that thing damn near glowing red. Our current building is 15x40, and we don't light it until the outside temp dips into the 20s.

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It wasn't uncommon for my house in college to have the stove going, but a window or two open to balance out the air some.

I think the first time I fired it up I just about stuffed the stove full of wood. Learning experience, for sure. A couple of logs was all it took to keep the casa fairly comfortable.

Knocked out 100lbs of deer sausage on Saturday. Buddy of mine did 50 jap/cheese, i did 50 of my German coarse recipe.

Have a few tweaks i want to make to the smokehouse, but all in all it worked extremely well and made fo a hell of a day, if not a long one.

https://instagr.am/p/CpZWuMjO_F2

Made 40 lbs of jalapeno snack sticks this past weekend. Turned out really well.

We got some sheep casings with the plastic tube in the inside to slide off, having trouble sliding them onto the spigot of the stuffer easy. Any tips for how to make this work easier? Are they supposed to soak 24 hrs? My dad is in a hurry to get this done we've been waiting 4 days for casings to come in
The casings are from Praseks but purchased locally at a mom and pop grocery store

Soak them in warm water first. Sheep casings are notoriously difficult to work with.

Yes we did that, but only since we got them at 10:30am today and started the stuffing around 11am. Does it just take time soaking to make them work better but still gonna be tedious? We got them soaking still and eating lunch so we'll see how they work after an hour. They've been trying to double over themselves when feeding onto the tube but these plastic inserts in them are making them not work as well also

schmellba99 said:

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agcrock2005 said:

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You seem knowledgeable on the subject...have you ever made the dried snack sticks like the picture below. I can't find anything on YouTube on how to make them. Was considering throwing some of my normal snack sticks into a dehydrator, but wasn't sure if that's how they're made.

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Nope, have never made those.

Dry curing is a little bit different process than smoking. Most recipes call for it to be smoked for 3-4 hours initially until internal temp is 152 (temp at which bacteria will die off, very important). Then it is usually dried in a low temp/high humidity type environment. Some makers smoke again after the initial drying stage. 4 days to 2 weeks to dry out, depending on environment, meat constitution and what you like as far as dryness and texture.

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Have you ever used pink salt in your mix, then cold smoke with no heat for 4 to 6 hours or so and then hang in a protected unheated area and let dry naturally? That seems to be the go to method for the German folks around our area and it produces a pretty good product. I built this and can go either way with it depending on outside temps. I also have a converted fridge with temp and humidity controls involved which works fine in warm weather.

I'd try to get them off the tubing first and then feed them onto the horn if possible.