EAST TEXAS HOG DOGGERS FORUM

I've been processing my own deer and pork for a long time now and I have always wanted to smoke some sausage but don't know how. I was wondering if any of y'all have a smoke house, how it is set up, what kind of fire box, anything you can think of that would help me build one. Also what do I need to do to the meat and what temp and how long do I leave it on for. I would like to start on it hear shortly so it will be ready for winter. Thanks.

check with marvin on here that hunts the dogos i forget his handle, but ive seen a pic of his set up.

I only smoke jerky and sausage during cooler weather because thats when my grandpa did it. So i'm not sure how this heat would affect the meat. I just use salt and pepper and smoke it off and on for a few days and then let it hang until it is dryed through. Get your fire established and then put on some wet logs to create a lot of smoke. I just use oak.

HAHA i'd say do a google search on how to smoke sausage,but other things you may not like will pop up  ;D

good advice just google old time smoke houses and plenty of sites will come up with plans and recipies i looked around in there the other day gotta build me a new one and was lookin at plans

Go to your local library and look for the Foxfire books. There is a lot of detailed instructions in those books.

I'm not going to smoke anything till winter. I figure if I started on it now I could have it put together by the time I need it, and it won't hit my bank account so hard.

Sausage is the easiest thing to do. Just grind your meat up and season it however you want. A lot of people will argue about how to mix your meat if your using deer. I have made straight pork sausage and straight deer sausage. Just don't put too much pork fat in it. I like straight pork sausage though and usually make jerky out of the deer. Tex Joy sausage seasoning is a good place to start with your seasoning. You can add to it though if you want. I like a really small smoke house because it's easier to control the heat. A 4'x4'x8' box would smoke anything you ever wanted to smoke and would be very easy to build with plywood or sheet metal. I would use sheet metal though and weld it. I like to get mine up around 250+ for a few minutes then back it down and smoke it for 6-8 hours. Just watch it and don't let it dry out. Red oak is about the best to smoke with. Anything else will be strong or hard to control the temperature. When it has cooled off I like to vacuum seal it and put in the freezer. It'll last forever like that.

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My dads is just a tin shed and hangs from the rafters on rods

If you're going to make a big smoke house, you can make your fire in a metal drum or wash tub and set on the floor. Keep a dolly handy so you can wheel the fire out when you have to go inside. It is a life saver. The smoke is hard on the eyes. If you're making a smaller one. You can get a wood burning stove and some stove pipe and run the pipe to the smoke house. You can make a good fire box out of a piece of pipe real easy too. There's a million ways to do it. Most important thing is to be able to keep the temp wherever you want it very easily with as little wood as possible.

Thanks for all the replies. I'm not going to build a bid house I want something big enough to handle what I put in it but small enough to control easy.

http://www.easttexashogdoggers.com/forum/index.php?topic=2860.0

http://www.easttexashogdoggers.com/forum/index.php?topic=12046.0

I've never used a smokehouse, but used everything else. Electric smoker, propane, small pit and a large pit.

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(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s280/mhawkins_01/smoke2.jpg)

(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s280/mhawkins_01/photo203.jpg)

(http://i154.photobucket.com/albums/s280/mhawkins_01/sasauge.jpg)

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Makin' me hungry