Sausage color messed up

Ugh...the dreaded grey sausage. Been there done that. I noticed that I got grey sausage whenever my fire was too hot (im talking fire temp, independent of cook-chamber temps). Super hot wood fires in my offset tends to make very thin black/grey soot which will ruin the appearance of anything but pork butts and brisket. I’m sure it doesnt help the flavor either.
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The following advice might depend on the type of fuel and cooker to some degree....but grey sausages (and chicken) might be best avoided by making sure the fire is on the calm side. Symptoms of a fire that is too hot are roaring bright yellow flames, and/or if you notice backflash when opening the firebox door.

Before you put on the sausages, you should make sure the fire is well established, calm, and making most of it’s heat from embers (not flames). And avoid adding fresh splits while the sausage is cooking.

As far as salvaging greyed sausage, Im not sure. I’d be inclined to wipe off the grey soot, but not sure it would help any.

were they touching while they were smoking?

McSpazatron said:

Ugh...the dreaded grey sausage. Been there done that. I noticed that I got grey sausage whenever my fire was too hot (im talking fire temp, independent of cook-chamber temps). Super hot wood fires in my offset tends to make very thin black/grey soot which will ruin the appearance of anything but pork butts and brisket. I’m sure it doesnt help the flavor either.
..
The following advice might depend on the type of fuel and cooker to some degree....but grey sausages (and chicken) might be best avoided by making sure the fire is on the calm side. Symptoms of a fire that is too hot are roaring bright yellow flames, and/or if you notice backflash when opening the firebox door.

Before you put on the sausages, you should make sure the fire is well established, calm, and making most of it’s heat from embers (not flames). And avoid adding fresh splits while the sausage is cooking.

As far as salvaging greyed sausage, Im not sure. I’d be inclined to wipe off the grey soot, but not sure it would help any.

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Not to hijack but thanks for the tip. I did some chicken a few weeks ago and it had a tint of gray to it. I was puzzled because I had no dirty smoke at all. Sounds like I need to pay closer attention to my fires

Jokerswild said:

Not soot- just "casing color" Half are mahogany, Some look like Brats. Some are half and half.

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Were the sausage in a gradient that would suggest airflow/smokeflow was the issue? You may just need to find different spots in the cooker that get good smoke. Every cooker will have it's own unique dead airflow pockets.

Usually that beautiful shiney mahogany color is something that seems to set when the meat is in the process of cooking, so not sure that re-smoking cooked sausages will work. But, it's worth a try!


edit: as far as I recall, the mahogany color is like a smoke ring. The reddish color is not technically smoke per se, but rather the result of a chemical reaction that happens due gases created by the fuel used. Wood and charcoal happen to make those gases when burnt, so that is what causes the red. I think this happens to raw meat only.