Venison Summer Sausage questions

[pikestabber]

I have a ten pound batch of meat curing and chilling as we speak (new recipe I doctored up, so I'm not going all out with 50-100 lbs). I have made about everything under the sun, save summer sausage, so I had few questions:

First, by the time this hits the smoker it will have chilled for about 19 hours. Is that enough? I see some recipes call for 3-5 days in the fridge. What am I sacrificing by doing this tonight versus waiting a few days?

Second, I thought I was out of casings, so I chilled the meat in a meat tub covered in foil and plan to roll these up into one pound logs and smoke them as is. Bad idea, or can this work? I say I thought I was out of casings, but realized this morning that I do have some 1lb mahogany casings. Is it okay to skip them and try it as planned, or do I fight tough, tacky meat that has been cured and try to stuff them anyways? I know it can be difficult to stuff at this point, but would a 5lb vertical stuffer handle the meat, or is it too set up by this point?

Third, when they hit the right internal temp, can I drop the logs into an ice bath as is, or would I need to wrap them in foil first?

Finally, my plan was moderate to heavy smoke the whole time, about 175 degrees, until my internal temp is 155. Is that about right, or way off? I can't smoke a whole lot lower than that... How many hours might I be looking at with one pound logs? 4-6?

Thanks in advance for answers or other tips.

[reinhard1]

i must of missed this post yesterday. i usualy let my mix with the cure sit overnight. no reason to go longer for summer sausage. you should have no problem stuffing this from your 5 pound verticle stuffer into your nonedible casings. i have a 5 pound verticle stuffer and am very happy with it for i do 25 pound batch's or less anyway.

as far as temp goes, i do mine at 220. i pull them when they reach 160 deg and give them a cold bath right after taking them out. between 180 and 200 deg is probably the most common temp for a smoker for stick sausage or any other smoked sausage for that matter. i would not give the summer a cold bath without the casings. hope this helps. good luck.

[pikestabber]

Thanks, Reinhard. I didn't get to your response until after the fact, but I am very pleased with how it turned out. I smoked at about 225 until the internal temp was 155 (it was actually closer to 160 by the time I pulled them). I skipped the casings this time around, and I skipped the ice bath, too, and they came out fantastic. Without the casing they developed a nice smoke bark that really make for a nice product. I would definitely do it this way again with a bigger batch.

[reinhard1]

anytime. sounds like everything turned out fine. good luck.

[DonBo]

pikestabber. Thinking about trying this for the first time. Interested in giving up your new recipe? Don't have a stuffer, so looking for some advice on how to make this without the casing.

Anyone else have a good recipe?

[blue_healer_guy]

me 2

[pikestabber]

Hey, Donbo. Didn't see your post until today. Here is the recipe I use and it disappears quicker than I can make it now... You could definitely cut back on the heat ingredients, but it really isn't that spicy even as listed here. I included a listing for both 10 pound or 25 pound batches.

10 lbs Venison Summer Sausage

• 7lbs. venison

• 3lbs. pork

• ½ cup + 1 T. of TenderQuick

• ¼ cup course ground black pepper

• 2 T. mustard seed

• 1 T. Cajun powder

• 1 T. Louisiana Cajun Salt

• 1 T. crushed red pepper

• 1 T. onion powder

• 1 T. garlic powder

• 1 C. water

25 lbs Venison Summer Sausage

• 17.5lbs. venison

• 7.5lbs. pork

• 1 3/8 cup of TenderQuick

• ½ cup + 2 T. course ground black pepper

• 5 T. mustard seed

• 2.5 T. Cajun powder

• 2.5 T. Louisiana Cajun Salt

• 2.5 T. crushed red pepper

• 2.5 T. onion powder

• 2.5 T. garlic powder

• 3 C. water

Coarse grind venison and pork. Mix remaining ingredients with water until well blended and dissolved, then mix into the meat until well incorporated. Regrind all through a fine plate. Refrigerate overnight in a plastic tub covered in tinfoil. Roll into logs of about 1lb each. Smoke (heavy smoke) at 225 degrees for 4 hours, give or take (until internal temp reaches 155 degrees). Wrap in foil and allow cooling to happen naturally. Eat or refrigerate in a week, or freeze in vacuum bags.

NOTE: I did weigh these out at 1lb each and made them all a uniform shape (for uniform cooking). My "logs" were actually flat on each side...more like an evenly formed rectangle...which made them easier to keep on the racks. I rotated the racks probably once an hour. You can run heavy smoke for about two hours and just let it dry after that.

[DonBo]

Thanks a bunch! I'm gonna make a batch this weekend.

Called around to have some made and everything is SO expensive, plus no one would guarantee that I'd get my own meat back. I pride myself on the clean venison scraps I keep from deer and don't want anyone else's scrap mixed with mine.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again!

[pikestabber]

I hear ya... I don't bring anything in to get processed. I am very particular when I butcher deer, too, and I like to know what I am eating

Good luck. I hope it turns out great.

I didn't mention wood, but any of the "common" hardwoods are fine. I believe I used apple and cherry, but you can get a stronger, smokier flavor from hickory or mesquite. Maple is a good all around wood, too.

[pikestabber]

OOPS! Had to make an important tweak to the recipe...225 degrees, not 175 degrees. 175 would work, too, but it would take much longer to get there. 3-4 hours at 225.

[RumRiverRat]

Thanks a bunch! I'm gonna make a batch this weekend.

Called around to have some made and everything is SO expensive, plus no one would guarantee that I'd get my own meat back. I pride myself on the clean venison scraps I keep from deer and don't want anyone else's scrap mixed with mine.

I'll let you know how it turns out. Thanks again!

If they are not giving you back the meat you brought in they are violating all kinds of USDA and FDA rules, laws and regulations.

[DonBo]

If they are not giving you back the meat you brought in they are violating all kinds of USDA and FDA rules, laws and regulations.

Oh, you'll get your own back, but they mix it with others untill they get a batch large enough for them to deal with. Sorry, not for me. Most said they would do just mine with a minimum of 20 lbs AFTER the gun season when they are done with all their regular processing.

[hockeybc69]

McDonalds meats in Clear Lake made it clear.

Either you can have 10 lbs trimmings minimum per choice mixed with a large batch of bulk venison trimmings.

Or 15 lbs minimum trimmings if you want "special order" or in other words have just your meat made and gauranteed to get back only your own.

[DonBo]

Well I ground up and mixed a 10 lb batch of this yesterday. Probably gonna get it in the smoker yet today. I'll be sure to let you know how it turned out.

[delcecchi]

You could also try the Salami recipe from the Mile End Deli that I posted under the Mile End thread. Theirs is made with beef brisket. You could use venison with added beef fat.

[DonBo]

As promised, here's the finished product.

I was a bit leary of adding all the "hot stuff" ingredients in pikestabbers recipe, especially when he said "You could definitely cut back on the heat ingredients." but I wish I would have added all that and more. I was very happy with the consistancy and flavor, but next time I will add more spices, including I think a good amount of garlic salt.

Overall I was pretty happy with my first ever batch of sausage. Thanks to pikestabber and everyone else here who share all these great ideas on how to turn a freezer full of raw venison into some great eats!

[blue_healer_guy]

pike and donbo, thats for recipe and pictures. Made a batch last nite and i will never spend another dollar at a locker. the stuff was better than u can buy. even got the kids involved so that finalized the hunt a little. awesome!

[DonBo]

pike and donbo, thats for recipe and pictures. Made a batch last nite and i will never spend another dollar at a locker. the stuff was better than u can buy. even got the kids involved so that finalized the hunt a little. awesome!

yep, makes you feel good turning your own venison into a good finished product all by yourself, rather than relying on someone else. Glad you got the kids involved. That's a good lesson on where your food comes from.

[dirtking]

I'm with Blue - I made a batch this weekend and wow. I stuffed mine in casings using a jerky blaster with no end on it - turned out better than you can buy! Thanks for the recipe Pike - I substituted Coors for the water it called for - I am guessing that is why it was so good.

[DonBo]

Jerkey Blaster? Good idea.

[pikestabber]

Glad everyone had a good product in the end. Experimenting with different flavors, etc., is easy once you have a base recipe...if you are doing, say, a 12 lb batch, break it into four 3lb sections and do something different with each one...grind up onions and jalapenos for one, add bacon to another, add hi-temp cheese to another, maybe play with bold spices like curry, rosemary or even maple syrup. Skies the limit. Have fun and be brave . You never know what might become your next favorite flavor combination.

...and substituting beer for water is ALWAYS a good idea.

One final PS, I highly recommend keeping the logs whole and vacuum sealing. After they are frozen and thawed the texture is perhaps even better than before they were frozen. They keep great for a long time in the freezer, too, and thaw out overnight for game day, a day on the ice, or whenever you have a craving.