wrote on Apr 7^th, 2006 at 1:42am:

What time at temperature would you recommend for sausage so that it would be safe to keep at ambient temperatures?

I would start with somewhere between 3 and 4 hours for a load of links in the smoker. The important thing is to get the temperature of the links to 170 degrees F to be sure the nasties are dead. Be sure to use a full water pan to keep from getting sausage crisps (don't ask how I know that). If they get too dry, use less time, but a higher heat to get to 170F faster. If they seem too wet, add some more time (after you get to 170F you could back off the heat some).

After all of that, I would handle the links with tongs, etc, to keep them clean. When  I smoke meat, I let it cool down in the smoker a bit, then pack it with as little air in the packs as possible, then freeze it until I am ready to use it.

I have taken the commercial packaged smoked sausage links (which do not require refrigeration) and smoked venison chunks on two week trips with no spoilage problems, but I am careful not to handle the links that I am not eating. I would expect properly smoked (to 170F) links to last just as long.


wrote on Apr 7^th, 2006 at 1:42am:

As for pickleing, I just don't have a good sense of how long the meat would be safe to eat when it is not cold.  Do you have any idea?

I don't have much experience here having only pickled vegetables and smelt (packed uncooked and very good, by the way, similar to the herring at the grocery). The commercial Red Hots are packed in brine and also do not require refrigeration. I would expect that links that are properly cooked, pickled, and packed (keep the air away and/or keep them in some brine) would easily keep for weeks.

(BTW, thanks to your thread, I will put this to the test on my next trip by packing Red Hots and see how they do. I will probably pack them separately in twos (can't eat just one) so unused sausages will remain in sealed packs with a little bit of brine to keep them wet).

-aj