New guy thinking of a #3

NJtuna

NJtuna

New member
Hi, I'm looking into purchasing a #3 but the only thing holding up my decision is the ability to hang homemade sausage, dogs, pork roll, etc. I couldn't be more impressed by all the positive reviews and what appears to be top-notch, solid, build quality. I have a lot of smoking experience as I've owned a Bradley, Weber kettles 2-22.5", WSM 22.5", 2 Char-Griller Akorns, Bayou Classic Cypress Ceramic, several gas grills, etc...all to be sold off except the 2 Akorns and a 22.5" kettle to use my giant Paella pan on. So my concern is my ability to hang and smoke sausages. How many pounds can you guys comfortably hang and what length before it's too low, close to the heat source? I would rather have the height of the #4, but just can't justify the $850.+ for an additional 8". (I know it's still a great deal with the PID included but not for me at the moment) Can you hang double links of 6" sausage (so about 14-15"), or 7" dogs (16-17") without the bottoms over cooking?
 
Hey Tuna!  You're in luck!  We have some real sausage gurus around here!  I'm sure Pork Belly, ND Koze, or Digging Dog Farm will chime-in on this question!  You've come to the right place.
 
When my family smokes sausage we do so in such big batches (100-200lbs), we have our small town meat market smoke it for us. But, I do regularly smoke snack sticks in 25lb batches in my #3. I think 25lbs would be pretty close to the max for snack stick sized sausages (21mm).

In my opinion, there really isn't enough room to hang sausages longer than 6 inches or so without them cooking unevenly. I lay mine horizontally on the rack and then rotate the trays front to back and top to bottom a couple of times during the smoke. This actually works very well and I don't mind not being able to hang them.

Also it is very important to have a James Jerky Dryer or something similar to remove the moisture that builds up in the smoker. This moisture is great for rib/butt/brisket/poultry smokes but is too moist of an environment for sausage.
 
I guess I have to settle with laying them on racks. Not such a big deal if I'm able to smoke 20-25 lbs at such low temps that I can't pull off with the eggs (Akorns). I'll also be getting an A-Maze-N for true cold smoking. I'm itching to make a 10 lb Pork Roll and 20 lbs of homemade Bacon! Some Cheddar Hot Dogs, pepperoni's, Hot Sticks...
 
They look great Gregg! I would think that Jerky Dryer would help move the air around to prevent hot spots. Maybe try starting it from the beginning to prevent the burnt ends? This thread reminded me of the Jalapeno, cheddar, bacon, beef/pork Dogs (I know, I got carried away), I had in my freezer chest so I just boiled up 5 for my boys and me! I'll get around to adding pics w/ my posts soon. Posts are sooo much better with pics!
 
I let this batch get away from me so there were a couple burnt ends. But I think it was only 3-4 ends if I remember right.

I think the dryer instructions recommend to not run the dryer during the main smoking phase because all that extra air flow would ignite the wood chunks.
 
I ran many pounds of meat through a borrowed Bradley before I bought my #3. I had that guys Bradley for a year. I have done hanging sausage in an old charcoal smoker several years ago with good results. I do all sausage on racks now, its not an issue. Short of commercial production I would not buy a #4, coming from a Bradley you will love a #3.
 
I pulled the trigger on a #3! Can't wait for this beast of a smoker. Looking forward to making Bacon and Pork Roll! Those will be my first big smokes as I've been holding off from doing them on my Akorns.
 
Welcome Bryan...if you see smoke emanating from a back yard in Basking Ridge, stop in and say hello!!  I got the #2 and hope to smoke some Lebanon bologna chubs, snack sticks, etc....still waiting for the glacial ice to thaw so I can get to the patio!!!

P2B
 
Hey Bryan. You made a great decision. You mentioned the Amazen. You might want to do a search on the forum to see what kind of issues others have had.
 
Yes, I read through that last night. I tried cold smoking the bellies Saturday using A-maze-n and CookinPellets Perfect Mix blend. I lit it up, and ran it sitting on the rails without the smoke box or drip pan. I "had to" run out to join some buddies on a deer hunt. I kept in contact with my son to keep checking for smoke and the internal temp from my Maverick. Well it kept going out. He had to relight it using a torch a couple of times until I got back. When I got home it was just about out again so I really blasted it with the torch and let it flame for a good 5+ minutes. I had constant smoke from then on and an IT around 85 deg. My goal was to smoke for approx. 8 hours but since it kept going out, I had it in there for 12 hours. I bagged them in zip-locks and had them sitting in the fridge since late 11:30pm Sat night. Today my meat slicer will be delivered, so I pulled two out of four bags to check on them. To be honest...They smell way too smokey and kind of sooty. Not a clean smoke. I got nervous I ruined about 10+ lbs of belly so I soaked the two slabs in cold water, flushing and rinsing as best I could. I took a knife and scraped the fat sides, shaving off just the surface to attempt to get any off flavor out. I'll probably do the same with the other two slabs. I'm afraid this batch may be ruined.

Update: After trimming the exposed surface I wrapped it in saran and put back in the fridge for 1 week. Sliced up one section and fried it up and it was very good! I ate about 1/2 lb before slicing all the rest and bagging. Sure glad I didn't give up on it and throw it away.
 
I put the jerky dryer on when I got home too for a little while (15-20 minutes). When I came down to check on it, it was smoking way too much and figured it would just ignite the pellets so I took it off. I ordered a variable speed control for the fan, so that might be a good fix in the future. 
 
I like the variable speed controller idea. Do you have a link for the one you ordered?

I too worried about too much air flow moving through the smoker. I also worried about the fan drying out the meat, but it really didn't in my case.

BTW, my last belly bacon that I smoked, was pretty smoky after 12 hours of smoke too. I let it sit in the fridge wrapped in plastic wrap for two weeks before testing and it was MUCH better, in fact very good. I then vacuum packed.
 
I bought this one that doesn't have a case, figured i'd have fun fabricating something. http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Controller-Control-Electric-Stepless/dp/B00CGXJSNY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678300&sr=8-1&keywords=DROK+pwm For a $3. more they have with a case but it'e not all closed or protected. http://www.amazon.com/DROK-Controller-Modulation-Stepless-Governor/dp/B00C46O4YG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678300&sr=8-2&keywords=DROK+pwm
 
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