Cold Smoked Texas Sausage

Prepare the meat:

-Place the beef, pork, and beef fat in the freezer for about 30 minutes to chill.

-Once chilled, pass the meat through a meat grinder.

Prepare the spice mix:

-In a bowl, combine the salt, pink curing salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, mustard powder, paprika, garlic powder, and milk powder. Mix well.

-Add the spice mix to the ground meat and mix thoroughly using your hands or a meat mixer for a couple of minutes.

-Gradually add water while mixing until the mixture becomes well combined and slightly sticky. -Mix for an additional 5 minutes.

Stuff the sausages:

-Use a sausage stuffer to fill the mixture into standard-size hog casings, making sausages of your desired size. Ensure the sausages are plump without breaking the casing.

-Once all the sausages are linked, let them dry for about 15-20 minutes.

-Snip each link to separate them and hang the sausages at room temperature overnight to dry.

Cold smoke the sausages:

-Set up a cold smoker on your grill.

-Hang the sausages in the smoker and close the lid.

-Let the sausages smoke at a temperature of about 80-100 degrees Fahrenheit (27-38 degrees Celsius) for the next 12-24 hours.

-After cold smoking, immerse the sausages in an ice bath briefly to clean them off.

-Hang the sausages for another 10-15 minutes to allow them to dry and develop a nice color.

-At this point, you can vacuum seal and freeze the sausages for later use.

Cooking the sausages:

-Preheat your grill or pit to 250-275 degrees Fahrenheit (121-135 degrees Celsius).

-Place the sausages on the grill and cook for about 30 minutes, or until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius).

-Dive in!

Note: Cold smoking should be done using a proper cold smoker setup to ensure food safety. Monitor the internal temperature of the sausages during the cooking process to ensure they are fully cooked.