Smoking meats and sausages is one of the oldest methods of meat preservation

Smoking meats and sausages is one of the oldest methods of meat preservation. Climactic differences were a significant factor in the development of different methods of smoking, drying, and preserving meat products. The best air-dried hams originated in the South (Spanish Serrano, Italian Parma). The best known smoked sausages came to be known in the North (German and Polish Smoked Sausages). In early times, meat preservation was the primary concern and internal moisture was the enemy. Before 2200 B.C., the Chinese discovered that salting meat was an effective way of preserving it. By 1500 B.C., the Egyptians were using this technique and the Greeks and Romans were curing meats before the Christ era. The Italian name for sausage was “salsus” which was derived from the Latin word “sal” for salt. The Nomadic tribes of North and Central Europe suffered harsh winters. Fire was their way of coping; it provided warmth and was the center of social activities. Those regions became famous for the smoking art they developed and even today 60 % of all meats sold in Germany and Poland are smoked.


XVIII century smokehouses in Virginia. Those smokehouses doubled up as storage facilities where meats after being smoked for two weeks were kept inside for up to two years		Checking hams for quality. Photos courtesy The Colonial Williamsburgh Foundation

Smoking offers many improvements for meat. Besides enhancing the taste and look, it also increases its longevity, and helps preserve the meat by slowing down the spoilage of fat and growth of bacteria. Smoking meat longer leads to more water loss, and results in a saltier and drier product, which naturally increases its shelf life.Man discovered that in addition to salting and curing meat with nitrates, smoking was a very effective tool in preserving meats..

Smoked fish develops a beautiful golden color. The meat on the outside becomes a light brown, red, or almost black depending on the type of wood used, heating temperatures, and total time smoking. Originally, curing and smoking was used solely for preservation purposes; today it’s done for the love of its flavor.

The smell in an ethnic meat store specializing in smoked products can be overwhelming. This experience is not shared with our supermarkets since their products are rarely properly smoked and they are vacuum-sealed to prolong shelf life. Certain classical sausages are smoked for up to 3 days and in today’s era it is hard to imagine a manufacturer that will do that. It would be economical suicide. To survive the frantic pace of today’s market, water is pumped into the meat, chemicals are added for aesthetic and preservation reasons, and smoking is virtually eliminated by adding liquid smoke. As long as the ingredients are not on the list of chemicals that present danger to us, the Food and Drug Administration does not care what goes into the meat. Taste plays a secondary role, as long as the price is good people will buy the product and supermarkets will keep renewing orders.

Smoking to preserve meat’s keeping qualities is of less importance today because we can keep the product in a refrigerator or almost indefinitely in a freezer. We smoke meats because:

Smoking temperature is one of the most important factors in deciding quality. When smoking, the inside temperature of the smoker cannot exceed 170° F (78° C) for any extended time. At this temperature, fat starts to melt quickly. It acts like glue, holding the meat fragments together, giving them a proper consistency and taste. Once it melts, the sausage inside will be a mass of bread crumbs, greasy outside, will lose its shine, and will have an inferior taste.

It means that the internal temperature of the sausage was too high during smoking or cooking.

The inside temperature of the smoker is of utmost importance; it has a direct effect on the quality and appearance of the finished product. Determining temperate is as easy as inserting a stem thermometer through the wall or the door of the smoker, but unfortunately many smoke meats without it. Estimating the temperature by touching the smoker or inserting a hand is lucky at best. And of course when things go wrong we start looking for the culprits because it wasn’t our fault.

Another significant factor is the high temperature of smoking, and it should be kept below 160° F (72° C). In most cases we don’t exceed 140° F (60° C), even when hot smoking. Once when the smoking is complete, we can cook the product to a safe temperature of 152° – 160° F (66° - 72° C). To do so, we raise the temperature to about 170° F (76° C) and hold it there.

Pork	82° – 104° F (28° – 40° C)
Melting temperatures of some fats
Beef	104° – 122° F (40° – 50° C)
Lamb	110° – 130° F (44° – 55° C)

The fats start to melt at very low temperatures and we don’t want them to boil and leak through the casings. When faced with excessive temperatures, it begins to melt, and there is no way to undo the damage.

Types of Smoking

Cold smoking – 52° - 72° F (12° - 22° C), from 1 - 14 days, applying thin smoke with occasional breaks in between, is the oldest and still the best smoking method. It is obvious that you cannot produce cold smoke if the outside temperature is 90° F (32° C), unless you can cool it down, which is what some industrial smokers do. Cold smoking assures us of total smoke penetration inside of the meat. The loss of moisture also is uniform in all areas and the total weight loss falls within 5 – 20 % depending largely on the smoking time. Cold smoking is not a continuous process, it is stopped (no smoke) a few times to allow fresh air into the smoker. In XVIII century brick built smokehouses a fire was started every morning. It smoldered as long as it could and nobody cared if it stopped altogether; it would be restarted again the following morning.

Cold smoked meats prevent or slow down the spoilage of fats, which increases their shelf life. The product is drier, saltier, with a more pronounced smoky flavor and very long shelf life. The color varies from yellow to dark brown on the surface and dark red inside. Cold smoked products are not submitted to the cooking process. If you want to cold smoke your meats bear in mind that with the exception of people living in Alaska, it will have to be done in the winter months just as it was done 500 years ago. In most areas of the USA it is limited to months with the letter “r” in its name : October, November, December, January, February, March, and April.

Ideally, the meat should be smoked at 80 % relative humidity. If the humidity were increased, the intense smoke penetration would bring extra moisture inside. Extra moisture in the meat causes bacterial growth, which is exactly what we are trying to avoid. Extremely low humidity, such as in Arizona and New Mexico will cause excessive drying of the sausage casing or the surface of the ham. This will prevent internal moisture from escaping the meat. This humidity control plays an important role when making products that cure very slowly in open air. Not having humidity will produce meat that is still moist and raw on the inside and dry outside. Once the meat is cut, there will be two different noticeable shades.


Hot smoking dries out the surface of the meat or sausaa barrier for smoke penetration	Cold smoking allows us total smoke penetration inside of the meat.Very little hardening of the outside surface of the meat or casing occurs and smoke penetrates the meat easily.

Using dry wood is of utmost importance when cold smoking . We recommend keeping wood chips in a well defined single pile as they will have less contact with air and will smoke better without creating unnecessary flames and heat. By following these rules we achieve 75 – 85 % humidity, creating the best conditions for moisture removal. This in turn prevents the growth of bacteria. Once the moisture content drops low enough the salt present in meat will further inhibit the development of bacteria and the products can hang in the air for months losing more moisture as time goes by.

This is how we solved our refrigeration problem hundreds of years ago. What is even more significant is that the taste of these products is superior. Our favorite smoked salmon is prepared with cold smoke for an extended period of time. Applying hotter smoke (over 84° F, 28° C) will just cook the fish, the flavor will change and we will not be able to slice it so thin anymore. Cold smoking is a slow process and the hams, which lend themselves perfectly to this type of smoking, can be smoked from 2 to even 6 weeks. During smoking they will slowly be acquiring a golden color along with a smoky flavor. Cold smoking invites total smoke penetration for all parts of the meat.



Cold smoking at its best. No matter how many million dollars one could invest in the latest smokehouses and equipment, it would still be impossible to compete qualitywise with Waldemar Kozik who makes and smokes his products in the Catskill Mountains of New York.

Warm smoking - 73° – 104° F (23° – 40° C), continuous smoking from 4 – 48 hours depending on the diameter of the meat, humidity 80%, and medium smoke. The weight loss varies between 2-10 %, with the difference being largely dependent on time spent smoking. The surface of the product becomes quite dry but the inside remains raw. Because of the warm smoke, the product receives more smoke in its outside layers. This dry second skin helps increase shelf life, as well as prevent the loss of those delicious juices. The color ranges from yellow to brown and has a little shine due to some fat moving outwards. Think of it like putting some fat on your shoes; they will start to shine.

Hot Smoking - Continuous smoking at 105° - 140° F (41° – 60° C), 0.5 – 2 hours, 5 – 12 % weight loss, heavy smoke. This is not recommended for large pieces of meat. Although it is the fastest method, there is not enough time for adequate smoke penetration. This results in higher moisture content, reducing the product’s shelf life.

1. Drying out the surface of the meat for 10 - 40 min at 112°-130° F (45°-55° C), some very light smoke is acceptable, although not necessary. Besides drying out the surface of the meat, the temperature speeds up nitrite curing. Keep in mind that the draft controls must be fully opened to eliminate any moisture residing inside of the smoker.

Note: smoking at higher temperatures than 130° – 140° F (54 -60°C) will prematurely dry out casings or the surface of the meat and will create a barrier to smoke penetration.

2. This is the proper smoking stage at 112° - 140° F (45° - 60° C) for 30 - 90 min, using medium to heavy smoke. The color becomes a light yellow to dark brown with a shade of red. In this state, the natural casings become strong and fit snugly on the sausages.

3. About 10-20 min baking on the sausage surface at 140° - 176° F (60° - 80° C). Temperatures as high as 194° F (90° C) are permitted for a short period of time. Proteins are denatured in the outside layers of the product, but the inside remains raw with temperatures reaching only 104° F (40° C). Natural casings fit very snugly, become shiny, and develop a few wrinkles. This is a welcomed scenario; lots of smoked products are subsequently poached. Acting like a barrier, the drier and stronger casings prevent the loss of juices. This type of cooking (poaching) is more economical to baking (less weight loss).

If a smoker is used, the temperature in the last stages of the hot smoking process is increased to 167° - 194° F (75° - 90° C) until the inside of the meat reaches 152° - 160° F (66° - 72° C). This is the fastest and most common method of smoking. Because of a relatively short smoking time, hot smoked products should be kept in a refrigerator and consumed relatively quickly.

Wet smoking - any type of smoking that employs a water dish placed inside of the smoker to increase humidity levels. Dampening wood chips into water one hour before smoking will produce the same effect using any kind of smoker.

One reason small smokers need a water dish is their fuel, charcoal briquettes. When using wood, it always has about 20 % moisture, even when perfectly dried on the outside. During the first stage of combustion this wood dries out and any remaining moisture evaporates with the smoke into the chamber. Once the wood has burned out, the remaining charcoal has no water left, and in dry climates the product may be too dry. Ready made charcoal briquettes have no internal moisture, so we have to supply the water in a pan.

Another reason for the water pan is that most little factory made smokers are enclosed units that don't receive a steady supply of air. Fresh air contains moisture, which cools sausage casings or the surface of the meat. When smoking with an open fire, lots of fresh air enter the smoker and keep the meat from drying out. No matter how cute a small factory unit may be, it will not be able to perform the same duty without a little help from a water pan. As the water boils at the constant temperature of 212° F (100° C), placing water filled pan inside of a small smoker will help to control and maintain temperature at that level. Bear in mind that this is too high a temperature for smoking quality meats and sausages.

There is no steadfast rule that dictates exact temperature ranges for different types of smoking. Different books mention slightly different temperatures. A few degrees one way or the other should not create any problem as long as the hot smoking upper temperature limit is not crossed. Crossing this limit will significantly affect the look and the taste of the sausage.


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