Teach me what you know about smoking meat. How long it takes to the methods used. Thanks

I built a smoke house a couple years ago. It’s about 4 feet square 5 foot tall in the front about 4 foot in the back. I hang whatever I want to smoke in it. Salami, brats, sausage, bacon, sticks. I’ve got an old square wash tub that I build a small fire in. Typically ash or apple wood that sits in the bottom of the smoker. Over that I have a square piece of sheet metal that is about 10 inches above the fire. I cover the sheet metal with water soaked wood chips typically hickory. I just smoked some bacon a couple weeks ago it took about an hour and 45 minutes. The only way I regulate temperature is keeping the fire small and cracking the door if it flares up. When I smoke/cook salami it typically takes about 3-4 hours. It will cook it completely, with brats and sausage I just want smoke flavor so an hour or so is all I do. We have always smoked sausage this way. You have to be committed to babysitting it.

I usually cold smoke in my smokehouse, 150° or less, but only cured stuff. Bacon, sausages, tasso and loins, deer or pork. I have an electric smoker to use to get internal temps up for all the uncured meats. I have an old wheel rim with screen in it for a fire pit. Charcoal with wetted pecan or plum wood. Cover the rim with sheet metal with a few holes Drilled in it to keep it from flaming up. Bacon and sausages usually takes 2-3 hours. Tasso goes a little longer.



My smokehouse, don't mind that little imp in front of it, just my grandson..

Sounds like a nice setup. I have been doing some research on the process of meat smoking and doesn't sound like it is too complicated. I have started to build one out of rock with the fire pit and a cavity above for hanging the meat. Thanks for the info and I guess getting some smoking done I will learn along the way the dos and don'ts.

I’ve got a bunch of stuff to make in the next couple weeks I’ll try and get some pictures and more info

I like smoking fish
My brine is a cup of pickling salt to a gallon of water.
Temperature is 160°F to 180°F max for 9 to 12 hours depending on thickness of fish
I mostly smoke steelhead between 6 and 10 pounds
They get cut into 3 pieces before being put in the brine and put on expanded metal racks in the smoker
Smoker is a wood box with a small wood stove piped in the side.
I use cherry, apple and a mix of hardwood.

I typically make 300-500 pounds of sausage (Kielbasa Wedzona, Biala Kielbasa, Brats, Salameats, deer sticks, and more) and 100 pounds of Buckboard and Canadian bacon annually. I helped my brother build a 4x4x7' tall smokehouse, and plan to build one for myself soon. I do all my smoking in a large propane smoker at the moment. I prefer cherry wood for smoking the polish sausage, hickory for the deer sausage, and the bacon gets cuttings from my fruit trees, maple, hickory, or cherry.

Buckboard bacon in the smoker


sliced and packaged black pepper buckboard bacon.


Kielbasa Wedzona being smoked with cherry.


Kielbasa


My Kielbasa Wedzona usually takes about 3-4hrs in this smoker. It's hard to regulate the temp as low as I would like. But we always get a good color and flavor. This Kielbasa Wedzona is ready to eat from the smoker, so it can be used as a snack without having to cook it. Our bacon typically goes about 3-4 hrs on our lowest setting before it is ready. Again, with my current smoker, I can't "cold smoke" as the temp will not go that low without the flame going out. So, I have to make do for the time being. Obviously, the bacon is not fully cooked and will need to be fried to be safe to consume. A good quality digital thermometer or 2 really makes life easier. I can set a desired temp on the thermometer and know by the alarm when it's time to pull the meat. All our smoked sausages get an ice water bath to stop the cooking process, then they are hung up and allowed to bloom for several hours.

Interesting!!! What is the biggest hurdle for a beginner to want to do some smoking? A first time out easy smoke product for a beginner to do?

I remember grown up, in the fall early winter the smell from those smokers in the area was an attention getter. A lot of people were smoking meat for the winter month and through till the next fall.

Biggest hurdle for me was being patient. Often times, meat will stall out at a certain temp. Be patient and let the smoker do its thing. I've had pork shoulders stall out for over 2-3 hours before the temp starts to rise again. In my experience, 8-10-pound pork shoulders are very forgiving. Prep it the evening before. I like mustard as a binder, then a simple rub. I use my own, but store bought are just as good. We then rest it in the fridge until ready to smoke. Stick the digital thermometer in the thickest part. I use wood harvested from my farm for smoking. Hickory, cherry, fruit woods, & maple are all good for smoking. Soak your wood chips in water. I like to soak the wood a minimum of 30 minutes, 4-6 hours is better IMO. A 10-pound shoulder will take about 11-12 hours to reach 200* on my smoker. I like to take them to 200* to make pulling easier. Let rest 1/2 hr covered in foil or 1 hr in a cooler then pull. The shoulder bone will slip right out clean as a whistle.

For a quicker smoke, whole chickens take about 3 hrs. I don't always brine, but you can. I prefer to put butter, garlic, and onions under the skin. Season the outside and stuff cavity with sliced lemon and rosemary.

I agree with the pork shoulder as the most forgiving, I’ve had some take 18 hours when they stall, when I get done I wrap it in aluminum foil and put towels around it and place in a cooler to let rest for about 45 minutes to a hour one problem with this is the bark get soft but it doesn’t bother me, something to remember as living in a northern climate when it gets cold without some insulation in the smoker it can take a lot of wood to maintain heat.

Just remember there’s smoking for flavor and smoking to cook. An easy one to start with is smoking brats or sausage to just add that smoke flavor.

To me there is grilling (with smoke), there is smoking meats like butts and briskets at 225 to 250 for the 12 hours or so it takes to get them up to temp, then there is cold / hot smoking sausage at no more than 150 to 160 for about 5 to 6 hours. Lastly, there is the hours or days long cold smoking of cured meats in a special built smokehouse. Not tried that one yet. I'm told the Bosnians in south St. Louis make some tasty stuff doing that.

But as for the sausages, very hard to do on conventional smokers as P Drake points out, hard to get those to throttle back low enough. My solution was a 55 gallon drum. Lid comes off the top......1 foot hole cut in the bottom. Elevate it up off the patio on fire bricks. Gas heat from a small, single burner Coleman gas stove. Throttled back to a simmer, it can regulate heat from 100 to 150 pretty easy. Smoke from an A-maz-N pellet smoker tray.

A standard issue smoked breakfast sausage.......forget all the fancy stuff.........this is just salt, pepper and sage. Served fresh in bulk, stuffed fresh into a casing or stuffed into a casing and smoked.




Recipe for 10 pounds..........technically 11 pounds.........

80 grams table or pickling salt
20 grams fine ground black pepper
10 grams ground sage
= 110 grams mixed

The basic recipe make 110 grams of spice mix. Use 10 grams per pound, so first 10 grams is mixed with 1 pound ground pork for taste test. Then remaining 100 grams (or as modified) is mixed with 10 pounds pork

You can then add ? cayenne pepper flakes for heat and appearance.........optional (suggested 1 to 2 teaspoons per 10 pounds to start)

For 10 pounds of sausage use 1 tsp per 5 pounds = 2 teaspoons pink salt / cure #1 - mix that in 1 to 2 cups ice water, then mix into meat before stuffing. Meat will turn from pink to a grayish brown color. A good thing.

Unless you have a death wish, do not smoke sausage at these low temps for several hours without cure. Botulism if you are wondering.

After stuffing, sausage is hung for a couple hours to dry. Then into smoker.......low temps to dry.....with smoke running. Light smoke is 2 to 3 hours. Heavy smoke flavor is 4 to 6 hours or more. A 'fully cooked" sausage that is ready to heat and eat is heated to 150 over several hours. Gets the cold water rinse or dip to stop the cooking, then hung and allowed to bloom.

To cook, put the sausage in a skillet with enough water to cover the bottom, then cover with a lid and simmer until water is cooked off. Let it brown a bit in it's own juice, then lets eat!