Smoking fresh sausage and getting good smoke flavor

Powak

I've bought fresh sausages, no cure, from the butcher down the road and smoked em in the egg at 250 until they reached 165/170 internal (about 90 minutes). One time I used applewood and other time mesquite. The applewood seemed to penetrate the skins a little better but neither of my sausages came out real smokey like when I've made them on the WSM. What's the trick to smoking them on the egg? Higher ratio of wood? Lower temps? I know at 235-250 on the WSM for 1.5-2 hours those sausages come out nice and smokey.

Lit

Throw some hickory in there or cherry gives nice color and a little more flavor

Theophan

Different people on this forum seem to have quite different experiences with how to make foods more smoky.  Some suggest mixing wood chips and/or chunks throughout the lump.  For me, what has worked the best for those foods I want as smoky as possible, has been:

• At least 250° dome temperature.  Below that I don't get as much smoke.
• I get the fire going, lighting it only in the center, with no added wood, no plate setter, wait for the white smoke to clear, have it at about the right temperature and stable, and only then
• add 4-5 wood chunks kind of radially around the fire, so as it spreads out, it will move into more and more wood.  Put in the plate setter, add the meat.
• The temp goes down, but usually not a lot, and pretty quickly it's back up to temp, and I adjust the vents to keep it there.

That way seems to work for me, anyway, to have good wood smoke, and to keep it for a long while.  Others may offer ways that work better for them. It's worth experimenting to see what works the best for you.

Powak

That sounds like a good method. Very similar to how I did it on my weber. I've tried layering and mixing the wood chunks in with the lump and that didn't do a whole lot. It worked good for my 20 hour brisket smoke but that was about it.

Powak

I'm also thinking about using large pieces of hickory. Like half-mini logs

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead

Smoke flavor can be a strange thing...Too much! Not enough! How did I get that? Can I do it again?
Remember that the "smoke flavor" is mostly a build up on a surface. Yes, it may penetrate some, but it is a build up no matter. So the longer the smoke, the more smoke flavor.
I am an advocate of low, low and slow, slow smoking. Even a "cold smoke" to start with, especially with fish is a great way to go. I also feel that starting with a cold "whatever" will take on more flavor. I have no science here, just a feeling.
Again, I'm not sure of the science...BUT, I also think that the casing on a sausage may have a factor here. From my years of smoking sausage I think that a natural casing will absorb/carry/penetrate more flavor.

bhedges1987

You stated before you used briquettes in your wsm. Go buy some kings ford competition briquettes and use those in your egg with hickory chips and a chunk or 2. You will get the flavor profile your looking for. 

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead

My question may be too simple...BUT, why use any briquettes at all when we can use lump? Unless you can't get the REAL thing?

Focker

Egg vs WSM
2 different designs, with a hotter fire and more airflow in the WSM.  Egg is lump only.  WSM can use both lump and briquettes, or what I prefer, a mixture of both. 

Comp K will burn like lump, not a solution.

If convenience, and wind/weather tolerance are not priorities, go back to smoking them on your WSM.  The only time I use the egg for Q is when I'm in a rush, or the weather sucks.  For overall Q flavor, the WSM wins at the house here by reviews, hands down.   

bhedges1987

Focker said:

Egg vs WSM
2 different designs, with a hotter fire and more airflow in the WSM.  Egg is lump only.  WSM can use both lump and briquettes, or what I prefer, a mixture of both. 

Comp K will burn like lump, not a solution.

If convenience, and wind/weather tolerance are not priorities, go back to smoking them on your WSM.  The only time I use the egg for Q is when I'm in a rush, or the weather sucks.  For overall Q flavor, the WSM wins at the house here by reviews, hands down.   

I have used briquettes a lot in my egg. 

bhedges1987

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead said:

My question may be too simple...BUT, why use any briquettes at all when we can use lump? Unless you can't get the REAL thing?

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead said:

My question may be too simple...BUT, why use any briquettes at all when we can use lump? Unless you can't get the REAL thing?

Because he has been struggling to find his wsm smoke flavor. He always used briquettes and has been unhappy with his smoke taste thus far. It was my solution to my family members preferring their old charcoal grill taste over my egg. It wasn't the smoke, they enjoyed the taste of the briquettes they were classifying as a "stronger smoke flavor." 

Powak

bhedges1987 said:

Because he has been struggling to find his wsm smoke flavor. He always used briquettes and has been unhappy with his smoke taste thus far. It was my solution to my family members preferring their old charcoal grill taste over my egg. It wasn't the smoke, they enjoyed the taste of the briquettes they were classifying as a "stronger smoke flavor." 

There's definitely something to the briquettes as far as taste goes but there's also definitely something to how the smoke woods burn when used with charcoal and it's a visable difference. Even when I've loaded up the egg with a  60/40 mix of lump to wood, it's smokes for the first 5-10 minutes before the meat goes on and while the temp stabilizes, then quickly goes clear after. Throwing 3-4 chunks of smoke wood on briquettes in the WSM makes for 2 solid hours or more of thick visable smoke. 

Powak

I'm also finding that water serves different purposes in the egg than the WSM. In the egg is becomes more of a steamer or grease catch. In the WSM it steams but it works with the smoke to make it stick to the meat 

Focker

FWIW, water's biggest virtue is heat sink.  You will burn more fuel/BTUs to maintain desired temp.  Helps with temp control when starting out.

My brother, buddy, and I have done the Piedmont Pan mod.  (2 Brinkmann charcoal pans fastened with spacers, bolts, and wing nuts) 
No water, much more efficient.  Have used sand in the pan before doing the mod, cover the top with foil to keep the grease out of it.  A clay saucer or pizza stone would work as a heat shield too.

I have used a small amount of water in the drip pan of the egg(indirect wings, and finishing up pork shoulders, ribs) to keep the grease from burning.  

Powak

Focker said:

FWIW, water's biggest virtue is heat sink.  You will burn more fuel/BTUs to maintain desired temp.  Helps with temp control when starting out.

My brother, buddy, and I have done the Piedmont Pan mod.  (2 Brinkmann charcoal pans fastened with spacers, bolts, and wing nuts) 
No water, much more efficient.  Have used sand in the pan before doing the mod, cover the top with foil to keep the grease out of it.  A clay saucer or pizza stone would work as a heat shield too.

I have used a small amount of water in the drip pan of the egg(indirect wings, and finishing up pork shoulders, ribs) to keep the grease from burning.  

Did you guys use the Piedmont pan in the egg or a chimney smoker?

Focker

18" WSMs