Venison sausage recipe I'll share.

[BobT]

I tweaked my venison sausage recipe a little today and I think it turned out pretty good. Thought I'd share for anyone that's interested.

A big part of this is in the preparation before mixing in the spices.

I got my deer at about 7:30am Monday morning. I skinned it as soon as I could and didn't process it until the next day. This is important because you want to first remove the hide so it can cool more rapidly and evenly and then don't butcher it until the muscles relax from rigor.

I don't have a walk in cooler so I put the meat in covered containers and placed them in a refrigerator to age for a week. This morning I ground (twice) what meat will be ground and then mixed it with 80% lean ground pork at a ratio of 60% venison. Believe it or not, the aging really enhances the flavor and texture of the ground venison.

Here's my recipe.

1 lb. ground meat (60-40 Venison/Beef or Pork)

1/2 - 3/4 tsp. Tender Quick

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp. Course Ground Black Pepper

1-1/2 tsp. Mustard Seed

Water as needed. The meat should be nice and soft, easy to mix, and not sticky.

Let it stand in the refrigerator for at least four hours to allow the meat to absorb the spices before tasting.

Enjoy.

Bob

[Realtor Boy]

Is this for the summer sausage???

[Deitz Dittrich]

Looks to me like a b-fast sausage or just like sausage patties.

[BobT]

Honestly, I just made it up so you can call it what you want. I liken it more to a breakfast blend but the pepper certainly gives it a summer sausage slant. You might even find that it is a little shy on salt. I'm still tweaking.

Bob

[Surface Tension]

Looks like a summer sausage recipe.

Stuff into 2.5" fibrous casing. Smoker at 170 degrees till an internal temp of 152 degrees. Cold water shower till the temp drops to 100 degrees.

[traveler]

Frank, whats with the cold water shower? Been smoking fish forever, last year was the first time we made/smoked our own venison sausage (polish style) We didn't do anything too special, and it turned out good (great, actually:) But I'm always looking for new ideas. I've never heard of a cold water shower, what does it do, and is it recommended for all smoked sausage?

[Jim Almquist]

Quote:

But I'm always looking for new ideas. I've never heard of a cold water shower, what does it do, and is it recommended for all smoked sausage?

Traveler It will stop the cooking process so you will not cook them over 155 to 160 and dry your sausage out.

[Surface Tension]

Jims, got it.

Temp control is real important. I should have said to increase the smoker temp in stages too. Start out at 120, 140 and then 170. Most smokers aren't able to get that precise with the temp control let alone maintain those temps for hours but you can still end up with a good end result. So just try and stay at 170 and get a meat thermometer. I build my smokers. The electric one is actually and old dishwasher. I'm using the heat element from that and added a thermostat and relay.

If you go beyond an internal temp of 152 your going to start dripping fat and dry everything out.

A note on the tender quick. It has the sodium nitrate in there that you need for salami. I use a non iodized salt and add the sodium nitrate. Its a cure and what makes the meat pink instead of brown.

Anyway the above recipe looks like it be good for summer sausage.

[traveler]

I figured it was to cool it quickly, like blanching veggies. last year my old frig smoker gave up and i got a new one with a heating element and temp gauge, so I can be much more precise with temp control. I loved our sausage last year, but it was a little dry...maybe from loss of fat?? So how do you go about the shower?

[Jim Almquist]

Traveler it is just a way or method to cool the meat as fast as possible whether you put it on ice or run cold water over the sausage. Some will put ice in a tub of water and submerge the sausage till cool but in Minnesota we are lucky cause we can just put it outside and in a matter of minutes it will cool When the internal temp is 150-155 pull and cool.

[KEN W]

The cold shower is done to summer sausage and salami to keep it from shrinking.It also allows the meat to pull away from the casing easily when it is sliced.

[Professional Edge]

If a recipe calls for 10-12 hours of cooking do you apply smoke that entire time?

I have a Bradley smoker that takes the disks.

Do you guys hang the sausage or let it sit on the racks?

[Surface Tension]

You wouldn't apply smoke the entire time, just at first after the casing has dried. In fact you don't have to add any smoke. Its up to you and what you making.

I have plenty of height so I'll hang my sausages. If you don't that clearance from heat source then racks are fine.

[KEN W]

If you are making summer sausage,it all depends on the diameter of the casings.With 2 1/2 in,the most common,I smoke it for 3 hours.Then leave it in or put in an oven until an internal temp of 150 degrees is reached.

Set the smoker at 175 gegrees,DO NOT TURN UP THE TEMP TO GET IT DONE FASTER.All the fat will run out onto the bottom of the smoker and the sum saus will crumble when sliced.

The recipe above looks more like a salami recipe.It doesn't have a fermenter like citric acid or fermento to give it the tangy summer sausage taste.I suggest you mix the onion and garlic powder with the water to get even distribution.Salami basically has a garlic-smoke-pepper flavor.

If you are making a smoked breakfast type sausage......smoke for 1 hour.then let it in the smoker for another hour.

Good advice to put the sausage in the smoker for 1/2 hour before applying the smoke to let the casings dry.Smoke will not penetrate wet casings.I lay mine on racks in the smoker.

[FishHawk11]

I have used the Eastman Outdoors SS recipe and added some chunks of sharp cheddar. Smoked it for 4 hours at 160. Cut the logs in half about 1 foot long. Wrapped them in saran wrap and then in freezer paper. I let them sit in the freezer about a week. I turend my bar fridge down to about 40-45 degrees and hung them from one of the racks and let them dry for about two weeks. This turns them into a hard salami. Let me tell you this meat wont last long at the hunting shack or fish house. Enjoy!!