Made smoked venison brats for the 1st time ever

[Outdoors Junkie]

My wife recently bought me a new Pit Boss Pro Series vertical smoker.

I also decided to try to make venison brats for the first time. So, why not test out the smoker and make brats for the first time? Since I have never done this before, I decided to make a smaller 5lbs batch. I used a recipe I found on Meateater.

Well, I had my challenges. Trying to use my grinder to load the casings became a two person job after about a minute. My wife wasn't all too excited to be loading and pushing the meat through the grinder but she did it without too much complaining. Then we were loading the casing too full and also had some air bubbles. We fought through it.

Then twisting the casing into 5-6" brats was a challenge (probably related to the casing being too full. They would spin back after I moved down the line. I decided to tie them with butchers twine. We had a couple causalities (broken casings).

I put them in the freezer to firm up while I got the smoker going. I had to do a 35-45 first burn off. It took me a couple YouTube videos to figure out how to do it correctly. I was also able to figure out how to download the Pit Boss app and connect to my new smoker with bluetooth and wifi. I did a recommended update and the smoker was ready to go.

I went and grabbed my 12 very big brats, set the smoker to 180 degrees, put the brats in and inserted a temp probe in one. Then I went along with the rest of my day...watching the app on my phone and occasionally checking the smoker.

After a few hours the internal temp of the brat reached over 150 degrees and I pulled the brats out. I put one on the grill and test tasted it and was happy with how they turned out. I learned a lot and will do better next time. I also went online (cyber-Monday) and ordered a 11 lbs stuffer. Excited for it to arrive in a few days. I will be making more brats and give making deer sticks a try now too.

You crafty venison sausage making guru's please feel free to give me some advice!

[LPS]

I love my 5 lb stuffer.  That 11 lber will be great!

[Steve-o]

Well done.  I reckon my bratwurst links would have turned into patties halfway thru the process.   

[KEN W]

Good for you.....1 suggestion I would make is.....when you remove them from the smoker you need to stop the cooking process. Put them in the sink full of ice cubes and water until they cool down. It keeps them from wrinkling.

[Scenic]

Good job.  About 15 years ago we started making sausage the exact same way.  The first couple of batches are part of the learning process. 

Stuffing them with a stuffer is a world easier. You can control the how tight they are much easier.  When you get close to the end of your casing crank it backwards about half a crank to stop it from continuing to flow.

Are those Collagen casings you used?   Like Ken mentioned when they hit the desired internal temp throw them in ice water. 

It really is a lot work but fun rewarding work.

[glenn57]

looks good....but it think you should send me a pack just to verify your work!!!!!

[deadeye]

Cool beans. I often thought about making brats etc but never jumped in with both feet like you did. 

[Leech~~]

My wife recently bought me a new Pit Boss Pro Series vertical smoker.

I also decided to try to make venison brats for the first time. So, why not test out the smoker and make brats for the first time? Since I have never done this before, I decided to make a smaller 5lbs batch. I used a recipe I found on Meateater.

Well, I had my challenges. Trying to use my grinder to load the casings became a two person job after about a minute. My wife wasn't all too excited to be loading and pushing the meat through the grinder but she did it without too much complaining. Then we were loading the casing too full and also had some air bubbles. We fought through it.

Then twisting the casing into 5-6" brats was a challenge (probably related to the casing being too full. They would spin back after I moved down the line. I decided to tie them with butchers twine. We had a couple causalities (broken casings).

I put them in the freezer to firm up while I got the smoker going. I had to do a 35-45 first burn off. It took me a couple YouTube videos to figure out how to do it correctly. I was also able to figure out how to download the Pit Boss app and connect to my new smoker with bluetooth and wifi. I did a recommended update and the smoker was ready to go.

I went and grabbed my 12 very big brats, set the smoker to 180 degrees, put the brats in and inserted a temp probe in one. Then I went along with the rest of my day...watching the app on my phone and occasionally checking the smoker.

After a few hours the internal temp of the brat reached over 150 degrees and I pulled the brats out. I put one on the grill and test tasted it and was happy with how they turned out. I learned a lot and will do better next time. I also went online (cyber-Monday) and ordered a 11 lbs stuffer. Excited for it to arrive in a few days. I will be making more brats and give making deer sticks a try now too.

You crafty venison sausage making guru's please feel free to give me some advice!

Did I miss it, is your new smoking electric or propane, pellets? 

[Outdoors Junkie]

[/quote]Did I miss it, is your new smoking electric or propane, pellets?
[/quote]

It is a pellet smoker and you plug it in to electricity (runs the fan and digital controls).

[Scenic]

The more I am using the vertical pellet smokers the more I am liking them.  For the most part set the temp and walk away. 

One major thing about sausage making.........keep notes.   Several times we made things that turned out really good.  Then we go...How did we make those last year? 

[FishThumper]

This is something I'd really like to get into someday. I think it would be fun and rewarding to make your own Brats, Sausage, and sticks.

[Scenic]

There is a fair amount of work in this but the end reward is well worth it.  You know what is in the sausage you make and you know it is your own meat.  It took us a couple years to get all the equipment we needed and then we updated some as well.   

You can really start with just a grinder if doing summer sausage or even brat style.   However I would suggest to make it go easier get a stuffer.  For sticks you will need a stuffer. 

[LPS]

We just have a 5 lb stuffer and it works so much better than using a grinder to do it.  We fill it 2 or 3 times.