Big Daddy's Sausage question to ponder

Big Daddy, I love your sausage and am SO addicted to your Suicide Dawgs. I cry with happiness when I eat them and then I cry again later. They make me so happy. :-)

Here is a Stupid Consumer Question that has been bugging me for years, ever since I bought a smoked turkey one Thanksgiving. But especially now that I am such an aficionado of your SD's, which have been proven by a non-scientific study by MainCoon to be more addicting than heroin.

How does a person know if a sausage needs to be fully cooked before eating? If they say "smoked" does that mean they can just be warmed, or eaten straight from the package? Do they have to say "fully-smoked" to do that? Are all sausages the same? Some clearly look like raw meat, others it's hard to tell.

Your package does not warn us "cook before eating!" so you know us stupid Americans, we will want to sue you if we die of our own stupidity. It also does not say "do not freeze and then beat your wife on the head with it!" or "do not use as a hockey puck!" or anything else that we are accustomed to.

I am trying to cure my dreadful ignorance by going directly to the source. I've been cooking them well to crispy, but that is such an effort you know, I have to rest for about half a day afterwards.

Please elucidate for us!
Merry

A very good question...Before he died a few years back, my good buddy Tom used to have a pizza & barbeque joint at the far west end of Jocotepec. He would serve Corona brand Chorizo sausage as a Texas hot link, but only after cooking it in his pit. I told him they were pre-cooked, but he swore they were fresh (most Mexican chorizo is.) So I grabbed one out of the pack, broke it in half, and started eating it. He took a bite out of the other half & got the "well, I'll be damned" look on his face. I like to put them in my smoker & hit 'em for about 40 minutes over cool applewood smoke.

Point is, If I were selling sausage, I'd label the cooked ones, "just heat and eat", the fresh ones, "cook thoroughly before serving."

GBATRUCKS wrote:A very good question...Before he died a few years back, my good buddy Tom used to have a pizza & barbeque joint at the far west end of Jocotepec. He would serve Corona brand Chorizo sausage as a Texas hot link, but only after cooking it in his pit. I told him they were pre-cooked, but he swore they were fresh (most Mexican chorizo is.) So I grabbed one out of the pack, broke it in half, and started eating it. He took a bite out of the other half & got the "well, I'll be damned" look on his face. I like to put them in my smoker & hit 'em for about 40 minutes over cool applewood smoke.

Point is, If I were selling sausage, I'd label the cooked ones, "just heat and eat", the fresh ones, "cook thoroughly before serving."

GBA, you say before he died, he ate the sausage... I hope the events were not connected.

I realize we are a from crazy, knee-jerk, warning-happy culture, but how to tell the "heat and eats" from the "cook thoroughly" is a subject I musta slept through back in home ec.

Merry

CanuckBob wrote:I am sure BD will correct me if needed but I believe all his smoked sausages can be eaten right out of the package.

Especially if you've got the munchies.
Love those suicide dawgs!

viajero wrote:

CanuckBob wrote:I am sure BD will correct me if needed but I believe all his smoked sausages can be eaten right out of the package.

Especially if you've got the munchies.
Love those suicide dawgs!

Me too for the suicide dawgs.

Z

Hola,
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you Merry. Been working hard today.

The sausages that say that they are smoked on the package, have been smoked for at least 3 hours at a low heat of around 140 F to 155 F. Then the heat is slightly increased to around 165 F until the sausages have an internal temperature of 155 F.

We try and take special care to make sure that this temperature is reached to assure they are fully cooked.

Because of the amount of fresh Jalapenos and habaneros that we put in the Suicide Dawgs, it appears that they might not be cooked. We have just purchased a new meat mixer to allow our meat to be fully mixed before we make the sausages. Thos should solve this appearance problem.

We are try everyday to make a better sausage.

Thanks for your feedback.

If at anytime you are not satisfied with our sausage or unsure if it is cooked, simply return it to me and you will receive a full refund plus receive another package of sausage at no cost.

Big Daddy

Big Daddy Mexico wrote:The sausages that say that they are smoked on the package, have been smoked for at least 3 hours at a low heat of around 140 F to 155 F. Then the heat is slightly increased to around 165 F until the sausages have an internal temperature of 155 F.We try and take special care to make sure that this temperature is reached to assure they are fully cooked...

BD, I think saying smoked on the package is the source of my confusion. Are ALL smoked foods safe to eat straight from the package? As I mentioned, my utter confusion about whether smoked=safe to eat started when I bought a smoked turkey one year and I found much conflicting information on the web about YES! IT IS SAFE! and NO! IT IS NOT!!!

I was charring the Suicide Dawgs before eating just to be sure, but now I plan to just pulverize them with a spatula and cook them in scrambled eggs.

==> Your Suicide Dawgs are one of the best things on earth. :-)

Merry

Tried your sausage (Suicide Dawgs) for 1st time and they were excellent!

Coming from a family of kielbasa makers, I also judge a sausage by its casing and your casings are perfecto...don't burst on the grill, crisp up great and have the right 'bite.'

Thanks Binky. Enjoy them.

We are just smoking some Polish Kielbasa done in smaller casing so they can be enjoyed on a bun.

To answer your qustion Merry regarding Smoked = safe, for our sausages that are smoked, they are also cured which helps prevent any bacteria to form. However, all meat is better enjoyed when it is heated because it releases the juices, so simple heating them on a grill or stove for 5 to 10 minutes and then let them rest for 2 minutes, then enjoy.

For the fresh sausage, it is required that they are cooked till an internal temperature of 155 F is reached, which will take longer than 5-10 minutes. Usually they take 15-20 minutes at medium/high heat.

Smoking food is done a couple of ways,

Cold Smoking, adds smoke to food with very low temperatures. The food is then sometimes cooked to the right temperature or frozen and then has to be cooked later. This is done mainly for flavor.

Warm Slow smoking is the process of smoking the food with a temp between 140-160 for several hours then continuing to cook the food without smoke until an internal temp of 155 F is reached. This is the age old classic of preserving food that was done in the past. This is the method we use.

Hot Smoking is when food is smoked with a temperature over 200 F for a couple of hours. The food is generally eaten right away or is frozen to preserve for later. Smoked Turkey is usually done this way. So, if it is eaten right out of the smoker like at Disney World, it is great. If you are buying it in a store, it needs to have been smoked in the last few days if it is fresh, or if it is frozen, then it should be recooked for a short period of time. Cooking it too long will dry it out.

Pepperoni and Salami are preserved in a totally different manner. We are going to start making a couiple of varieties of Salami and Pepperoni in the near future and with Beef Jerkey.

I hope this helps with some of the confusion.

We will also have on sale at the Monday Market, Marinated Pork Medalions, Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin, Rib Eye Steaks, T-Bone Steaks and Arrachera

This is an excellent answer, Big Daddy; I really appreciate your taking time to answer.

Merry

I dunno...I'm still confused...got some Suicide Dawgs at El Torito, gonna eat some tonight....Label all in Spanish...nothing about being smoked...Wait...What's that in the small print at the bottom? Totalmente Cocido...Go to google translate.. AH HAA! Means Fully Cooked!..think it should be clearer.

GBA, is that you pulling my leg?

Merry

merry wrote:GBA, is that you pulling my leg?

Merry

Not at all Merry...Re-read my post earlier on this thread. I've got several years in the Bar-B-Q restaurant & catering business, & the clearer & less confusing you can make things to the customer, the better. BTW did you get my PM about jerky?

GBATRUCKS wrote:

merry wrote:GBA, is that you pulling my leg?

Not at all Merry...Re-read my post earlier on this thread. I've got several years in the Bar-B-Q restaurant & catering business, & the clearer & less confusing you can make things to the customer, the better. BTW did you get my PM about jerky?

Well that was the reason I started this post... I'm addicted to the suicide dawgs but the package was not clear to me and I did not want them to be literal suicide, see my OP.

BD seemed to clear it up some when he talked about some foods being only smoked versus others being CURED, and there's also like hard smoked or soft smoked, but if it's cured then it's cool to eat from the pack. Then he recommended cooking to bring out the juices... anyway my takeaway was cured = cool. Smoked might or might not = cool. Si?

Then he announced an upcoming advanced lesson about pepperonis and salamis being different, and I had to mentally sign off... hopefully I will have absorbed it all by the time that class rolls around.

Merry

p.s. Yes please sign me up for the jerky beta testing.

GBATRUCKS wrote:

merry wrote:GBA, is that you pulling my leg?

Merry

Not at all Merry...Re-read my post earlier on this thread. I've got several years in the Bar-B-Q restaurant & catering business, & the clearer & less confusing you can make things to the customer, the better. BTW did you get my PM about jerky?

Hola GBATRUCKS,

Because we are try to become federally certified, all lables must be in Spanish. However, it is pretty clear in Spanish, right above Suicide Dawg, that is says, Salchichas Ahumadas. Which translated means Smoked Sausages.

It has taken forever to get our labels finally done correctly for the Spanish. Now our back labels, which are in total English, should be ready in the next few weeks. I hope you can appreciate that getting things done the right way sometimes takes longer than we want.

I also believe the clearer the better for the customer is the right way to do things. Thats why we are doing the back label for the people that do not understand Spanish while living and vacationing in Mexico. But for the 12 stores that we have our products in Guadalajara, it has been very clear for them.

The sausages have been selling very well.

This Monday at the Monday Market we will be offerring a discount to anybody that says they are from Inside Lakeside.

We will also be having some specials including Arrachera, Bacon Wrapped Beef Tenderloin, Marinated Pork Medalions, Rib Steaks and T-Bone Steaks.

Plus we will have free samples of our BBQ Polish Kielbasa on a bun with Mustard and Sauerkraut.

Come by and check it out between 10 and 12:30

So Big Daddy, many moons ago, I queried how long it would be before you were making reservations for the "HA-HA Hotel" when responding to all of these helpful suggestions. Are you now extending the length of your reservation?

CheenaGringo wrote:So Big Daddy, many moons ago, I queried how long it would be before you were making reservations for the "HA-HA Hotel" when responding to all of these helpful suggestions. Are you now extending the length of your reservation?

All is good, i bought a time share. LOL

I always appreciate constructive criticisim and like to answer as many questions as I can.

This hobby of mine has become a full fledged business. We have to work everyday to make sure that the quality of our sausages and meatballs are very high. That is why we make all our products in small batches to maintain that intergity.

Thanks.

Wow, BD,

That is SOME NEW AVATAR you've got! Where did you get that?

Merry

merry wrote:Wow, BD,

That is SOME NEW AVATAR you've got! Where did you get that?

Merry

It was made by LMarkoya from the board when talking about drag racing.

I love it.

Who carries your products in Guadalajara?

seisdedos wrote:Who carries your products in Guadalajara?

We are in Goiti Deli, La Cabana, the Sonora's Meat locations, Puerta del Sol Carneceria, a few mini supers and next week we will have our products in La Cabana, Aladinos, Lolis 2 locations and Bon Appetite plus some more in the following weeks. Have to pick up production before we spread too thin.

Have you talked to the people at La Casita on Terranova?

seisdedos wrote:Have you talked to the people at La Casita on Terranova?

Ya, sorry, the second name on my list should have been La Casita. I repeated La Cabana twice.

La Casita has been our top producer for the last 2 or three months now. Great place, people are nice.