Smoking Fresh Sausage

Wise One

A friend is giving me about 20 pounds of fresh sausage in casings. I plan to try smoking it this weekend. Any suggestions as to how I should smoke it so that I can freeze the smoked product and then just pull out some lengths to reheat for a breakfast treat? Methods, times and temps would be most appreciated, otherwise I'm just going to wing it.

Unknown

Wise One,
I make hot links sausage all the time. I buy fresh spicy Italian sausage and I put a good rub on 'em like JJ's or Gilded Splinters. I smoke them at around 250F dome temp for around 2 hours. I paint some bbq sauce on the links during the last 1/2 hour. I vacuum freeze them whole (in individual servings) with a little extra bbq sauce in the bag. Just nuke-em and eat-em.[p]lns

ColoradoCook

Wise One,[p]Try this site: http://sausagemaker2.buffnet.net/pages/recipes.html?article=smoked.venison.breakfast.sausage

Unknown

Wise One,[p]One caution. If the fresh sausage is not cured, be careful about smoking it. Without a cure, low temperature smoking, say less than 200 degrees, is just asking for food poisioning.[p]Smoking at a higher temperature, actually cooking it at 250 or so as lo n' slo suggests, should be fine. 90 to 150 is the danger zone for Botulism growth. You want to get the food through the danger zone as quickly as possible.[p]Adding a cure, generally sodium nitrite for things you smoke right away, releases nitric oxide ( NO ) when heated. This, in turn, inhibits bacteria growth.[p]

Wise One

Kevin Nolish, thanks. That's about as easy a description of that issue as I've ever seen. I am going to cook it. I'm not sure the sodium nitrate was added. I'll take no chances.