Newbie Sausager mess up?

[RJ98]

Hi-I am a complete rookie at sausage making. Today was the first time I made sausages. I made some kielbasa and everything turned out ok in the grinding and stuffing process. I then threw them into my smoker and had turned up to about 250f mainly to get the smoke going quickly. I threw the sausages in and turned it down to about 160. But the smoke stopped, so I turned it back up to 250 for 15 minutes about every hour or so. I think the sausages started to drip fat. I read on here that moisture coming out of the sausages is a bad thing. Is this basically a ruined batch?

OK pulled them out. Smoked for 7 hours, but meat temp kept hanging around 130-135. So for the entire last hour I kept smoker on 250. Meat hit 152 in an hour. Rinsed them immediately. They look terrible. Some are shriveled. Some have grease between the casing and the meat. Some have loose casing, like it's supposed to be peeled or something. They'll probably go in the trash. Lesson learned for next time. If I can just figure out what I did wrong.

[DanMcG]

Never let your smoker get above 170-175.

[RJ98]

Thanks-so I would be looking at 12 hours for about 5 lbs of sausage? I know time doesn't matter, but at the rate I was going, I believe they would have hit 152 in about 12 hours if I kept smoker on 165. I just was concerned that I did something wrong and 12 hours would be too long for kielbasa sized sausages, so I cranked the temp up to 250.

[Jogeephus]

12 hours?!? Your not cooking a whole boston butt only an inch thick sausage that weighs 8 or so ounces. Read up on how to smoke sausages. Lots of good info out there. No need to waste meat.

[DanMcG]

You might want to check your thermometers and make sure they are accurate. Place the tip of the probe in boiling water and it should read 212°f (100 c)

[RJ98]

Thanks for responding. I've been smoking for many years-boston butts, ribs, brisket, etc...but I've never stuffed my own sausage and I was perplexed at how long it was taking. I can smoke a brisket in 12 hours, but that's at 225, which is what I smoke all my meats at. I wasn't sure if 165 degrees was the reason the sausage was taking so long. I'm pretty sure my thermom works b/c I just smoked a BB last week. But thanks for the advice-I will check it again. Now I know that 12 hours is out of the ordinary because of your responses. I also noticed that the normal amount of wood I use for BB or brisket was a little overpowering for sausage. Thanks again.