Venison Summer Sausage.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Venison Summer Sausage

17#  very well trimmed and chunked venison
4.5#  beef fat (very cold)
4 tsps. granulated garlic
3/4 cup Kosher salt
4 tbsps.  Granulate onion or onion powder
3/4 cup  coarse ground black pepper
½ cup  paprika
3 tbsps. Whole mustard seed
4.5 tsps.  Prague powder #1 or Instacure #1
6 tsps. Cayenne pepper
2 # block  Sharp cheddar cheese chunked into 1” cubes (optional)
1 cup sliced jalapeno peppers top off cup with the juice.  (optional)
4 cup Ice water (reduced to 3 if using the pepper liquid above)

In a bowl mix all dry ingredients with the water.  Reduce water by 1 cup if you are adding the jalapenos.

Grind venison, beef fat, Jalapenos and cheese if you are using it, in alternate handfuls as you feed into the grinder.  Coarse plate.  (3’16”)
Pour water/spice combination over the meat mixture and thoroughly mix (I use a 20# paddle mixer, it works great is you have a buddy with you…lol

Place covered in the refrigerator overnight or up to 2 days.

Remove and remix. It is ready for stuffing. More water may be added, the consistency should be firm but tacky. Stuff into 3# brown summer sausage casings. Leave enough empty casings to get a good tight knot.   I tie the ends closed with a cotton string and leave enough length to use the line to hang in the smoker. Hang from rack on upper most setting.

I use mesquite wood for this recipe.

Smoke at 200-220.  Flip sausage end for end at internal temp of 100-110, finish cooking to internal temp is 160 in the very center.
Allow to cool at room temp. I slice ½ inch off each end because so much fat gathers there. I cut into thirds (1# sticks) and vacuum seal. Freeze.

Great cold as snacks with cheese, crackers and spicy mustard, dices for chili and we love to fry 3/8” slices to make egg Mc Muffin sandwiches at camp.  This is about the equivalent of a medium chicken wing sauce for how hot is tastes. Adjust cayenne pepper and peppers type accordingly.

If you are planning on using it in hot dishes, skip the cheddar cheese. Is will just cook out of the sausage anyway. (no need for expensive high temp cheese if you use sharp or extra sharp cheddar

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Just checked my notes. I have used hickory before and only leave smoke on until I flip them.

[thphm]

Since I do not like hot sausage, What would happen if I used regular store bought sweet pork sausage meat and mixed ground venison into it ?.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Since I do not like hot sausage, What would happen if I used regular store bought sweet pork sausage meat and mixed ground venison into it ?.

just eliminate the cayenne pepper and jalapenos. and cut the coarse black pepper in half.  That is where the spice is.

 

To be honest I like beef fat much better than pork fat for smoked sausage, but only one way to find out. Try it. Might be onto something awesome. 

Edited January 20, 2015 by Culvercreek hunt club

[2012_taco]

Culver, is prague powder/ instacure the same as Morton's tender quick?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Culver, is prague powder/ instacure the same as Morton's tender quick?

The magic chemical is sodium nitrite (6.25%) and added at 1 tsp per every 5 lbs of meat for the listed ingredients. I see that Morton's has 6.25% so theoretically it should be fine. But it also has sodium nitrate and sugar. There could be a taste variance but I can't imagine much. the preserving chemical is there so it should be fine. I would add it at the recommended rate on the instructions and maybe back off of some of the Kosher salt until you get the taste as you like it.

 

One thing we do when working up a recipe /modifying one we found, is fry up (with no oil or butter) a half dollar patty to test. Remember, you can always add but once you add it you are stuck. start low and move up. It won't have the same exact taste but enough so you can pick out a lacking ingredient or an over powering one.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

For those of you with no smoker or stuffer, I came across this when looking for a good base recipe a few years back. It allows you to make sausage in your oven. And no casing to peel...lol

 

Form 2" diameter logs with the cured venison. Cover the logs in foil, shiny side in and lightly coated with Pam, and poke a few holes in several places to allow drainage. Place covered rolls on a rack over a drip pan and bake in the oven Cook for an hour and a half at 350. Internal tem of at least 160. take out of oven and uncover. soak up any reaming fats and rewrap and allow to cool.

[2012_taco]

Thanks, I thought it would be the  same or at least close enough. As for testing a new recipe, I usually take a tablespoon of the mix and make a small meatball put it in a coffee cup and microwave for 15 secs. It is not the same texture but you can get a sample of the taste. I often find that the mix is too salty, so I usually cut back on the salt in all my batches.