Here are a few things you might find useful when making a smoked sausage.

Digital Smokers (I use the model 4D Pro-series WiFi)
Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
Kamado Ceramic Grill
High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
Non Fat Dry Milk (Binder for better texture and moisture retention)
Potato Starch (Binder for better texture and moisture retention)
Insta Cure #1
Eco Cure #1 (A Nitrite free alternative to curing your meat)
Cure Accelerator
Thermapen ONE (Accurate Thermometer)
Sausage Pricker
Kotai Chef Knife
Sausage Stuffers
Meat Grinder
Meat Mixers
Stuffing Horn Cleaner
Butcher Twine & Dispenser
Small accurate Scale for spices
Large Capacity Scale (33 pounds)
Drying rack and tray
Custom Cutting Board
Jende Lapping plate for sharpening our grinder plates and knife

Enjoy the video and the recipe. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away.

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Print Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Smoked Whiskey Bacon Sausage

A savory sausage with whiskey notes

Prep Time1 30

Cook Time6

How much do you want to make? 1000 grams

Ingredients

Metric – US Customary

400 g lean pork
300 g lean beef
300 g pork back fat
13 g salt
2.5 g cure #1
5 g black pepper
7 g minced garlic
100 g crispy bacon
150 g onions diced
15 g dark brown sugar
4 g smoked paprika
10 g mustard seeds
2.5 g cayenne pepper to taste
5 ml worcestershire sauce 5ml = 1tsp
150 g whiskey
25 g honey
50 g water
25 g potato starch

Instructions

Prepare the casings

Rinse off the salt and flush the casings with some cool water. Place the cleaned casings in some fresh water with some baking soda in it (I use 1 tsp per quart of water) and place in the refrigerator. If you let your casings soak for at least 12 hours, they will be nice and tender by the time you use them.

Prepare the Meat, Vegetables, Bacon, & Spices

Start by caramelizing the diced onions. place the onions in a skillet with a little oil and over a medium heat begin the slow process of caramelizing. Watch that the fire isn't too hot, so the onions don't burn and after 10 or so minutes add a pinch or 2 of salt over the onions to help them sweat out any moisture. Once the onions are caramelized, add the whiskey and let the alcohol cook out of it. This usually takes a few minutes and i will normally cook it till the liquid reduces by half. I like to tilt my pan and allow that whiskey to catch fire, this helps the alcohol burn out a bit faster. If you chose to do this make sure you are in a well ventilated area and please be careful. Once the alcohol has cooked out and the Whiskey has been reduced by half, remove from the stove top.
This next part is optional, but I like to add the cayenne pepper, honey, water, and the Worcestershire sauce to the onion mixture while it is cooling. this will help infuse the flavors into the onion whiskey mix.
Prepare the bacon by frying it till it's ultra crispy. The recipe calls for cooked weight, so you'll have to cook at least 4x the amount of bacon the recipe calls for. So, if you want 100g of crispy bacon you'll need to cook 400-450grams of raw bacon
Clean meat from any silver skin and arteries. Cut into pieces that can fit onto your grinder. Chill the meat and the fat so that the temperature is below 34f (1.1c)
Grind chilled beef on a 10mm plate and the chilled pork and fat on a 6mm plate. Rechill. Keep the temp under 34f (1.1c). You can grind everything on a 6mm plate if you prefer to do that.
Combine all of the ingredients (spices, liquids, binder, bacon, cooled onion mixture) and mix till the meat turns into a sticky batter. The meat mixture will stick to your hand when you grab a small handful of it and turn your hand upside down.
Stuff mixture in your casings and link them to your desired size. If you notice any air pockets, be sure to prick them out
Place the sausage in your refrigerator overnight so that the cure can do its job
The next day, smoke the sausage using incremental adjustments in temperature to slowly bring the sausage up to a core temperature of 145f (62.7c) – 150F (65.5c).

If you have a convection smoker:

1 hour at 100f (37.7c) with the fan on at 50%. This dries out the sausage.
1 hour at 125f (51.6c) start adding smoke. Fan still on at 50%
Bump up the temp to 175f (79.4c) till the internal temperature of your sausage reaches 145f (62.7c). Once you hit your target internal, let the sausage remain there for 3-5 minutes for proper pasteurization.

If you have a digital smoker this is a great cooking schedule:

1.5 hours at 100f (37.7c) – this dries out the sausage (leave the dampers wide open and leave the door slightly ajar)
1 hour at 125f (51.6c) – this is when I start applying smoke
1 hour at 155f (68.3c)
1 hour at 175f (79.4c)
then I bump up to 200f (93.3c) until I reach an internal of 145f (62.7c). Make sure you let the sausage cook for at least 3-5 minutes once you hit the 145f (62.7c) temperature to achieve proper pasteurization.

If you are cooking on a pit or offset:

on indirect heat start smoking sausages while the pit is at 150f (65.5c) and smoke for 3 hours.
Increase the temperature to 250f (121.1c) and cook till you get to an internal of 150f (65.5c)

Once finished

After your sausage has finished cooking, place them in a cold-water bath till the internal temp gets below 100f (37.7c). Then place the sausage on a rack or hang them at room temp for 3-4 hours to bloom. After they bloom, refrigerate and enjoy

Storage Instructions

For long term storage, place the smoked sausages in a vacuum sealed bag and freeze. They will last up to a year in the freezer.

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