Homemade sausage

[NYBowhunter]

2 minutes ago, Belo said:

ok yeah i'm sorry i read that after i posted. I'm not a dry sausage guy (yeah haha) so I'm not sure I'd go that route. What kind of smoker are you using?

An electric masterbuilt with digital display. No need to dry if thats ypur preference (which is knid of weird to me)..lol..who doesnt love dry sausage!!!

But yeah once they are done smoking and you achieved an internal temp. of 155f then at that point you can eat them as is and freeze the rest. At that point they would have the consistency like a pepperoni. 

[Five Seasons]

i guess i'm thinking of breakfast, summer, snack sticks. I like some moisture. idk haha.

[NYBowhunter]

35 minutes ago, Belo said:

i guess i'm thinking of breakfast, summer, snack sticks. I like some moisture. idk haha.

Thats fine then skip  the drying part, smoke for 12 hours, they are just as delicious this way. I even took one link right out of the smoker, cut it up and fryed in a pan and the family had that for breakfast with eggs.  Was delicious, with 4 kids lets just say a link doesnt go very far...lol..thats why i have 30 links drying, kids love them as a snack.

[Five Seasons]

2 hours ago, NYBowhunter said:

Thats fine then skip  the drying part, smoke for 12 hours, they are just as delicious this way. I even took one link right out of the smoker, cut it up and fryed in a pan and the family had that for breakfast with eggs.  Was delicious, with 4 kids lets just say a link doesnt go very far...lol..thats why i have 30 links drying, kids love them as a snack.

oh i know. that's why i wanted that late season doe i never got haha. 2 just don't last long with a family of 5. especially when you start making jerky and sausage. 

[NYBowhunter]

35 minutes ago, Belo said:

oh i know. that's why i wanted that late season doe i never got haha. 2 just don't last long with a family of 5. especially when you start making jerky and sausage. 

Yep thats why i have to shoot for 4 deer a year, with 2 teenage boys and 2 younger ones it goes fast. Like you said, once you start making jerky and sausage 2 deer just dont cut it.

[NYBowhunter]

After a few days of drying, taste great. Just needs couple more weeks to fully dry

[ATbuckhunter]

On 1/15/2019 at 10:50 AM, NYBowhunter said:

I guess you could but the purpose of me using the smoker is two fold, to cook the meat to speed up the drying period  without burning the casings and also to infuse a smokey taste. Using an oven i would imagine will burn the casings, which you want to avoid. The smoker doesn't burn the casings, it just cooks them by heat/smoke.

I can get the oven down to 170 so maybe it wont burn the casing? Ill shorten the cooking time by an hour or two just in case

[NYBowhunter]

7 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

I can get the oven down to 170 so maybe it wont burn the casing? Ill shorten the cooking time by an hour or two just in case

I would think even at 170  they would burn if laid on thier side in a pan, i think if you suspend  them from the rack without touching any metal they might not burn. Never did it that way so you would need to keep a close eye on it. In the oven you wont get that smokey taste, but thats fine. If you give it a go let me know how it turns out.

[Five Seasons]

9 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

I can get the oven down to 170 so maybe it wont burn the casing? Ill shorten the cooking time by an hour or two just in case

i'm in the same boat and after reading and researching I've concluded that you really should do what you can to try and smoke them. If money is tight, you can get a basic charcoal smoker for under $100 and might even get lucky via craigslist. 

[Chef]

i'm in the same boat and after reading and researching I've concluded that you really should do what you can to try and smoke them. If money is tight, you can get a basic charcoal smoker for under $100 and might even get lucky via craigslist. 

Yes smoke also has anit microbial properties and is part of what keeps the drying process safe


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[Five Seasons]

1 minute ago, chefhunter86 said:

Yes smoke also has anit microbial properties and is part of what keeps the drying process safe


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good point. I will add that snack sticks and jerky can be done easily in the oven. But if you can smoke anything in a 19mm casing and up, you probably should. 

[NYBowhunter]

The prague powder #1 is what keeps this all safe and cures the meat.  Alot of other methods of making dry sausage requires no cooking or smoking. I only smoke mine before they are hung to speed up the drying process,  get  that smokey flavor and i just feel better knowing they are fully cooked before i hang.  But realistically if you hung them raw the prague powder keeps this safe, assuming you also have them hung in a cold dry place. But to be honest, i would not go through all this trouble to make dry sausage if i didnt have the means to smoke them beforehand. 

[Robhuntandfish]

50 minutes ago, NYBowhunter said:

The prague powder #1 is what keeps this all safe and cures the meat.  Alot of other methods of making dry sausage requires no cooking or smoking. I only smoke mine before they are hung to speed up the drying process,  get  that smokey flavor and i just feel better knowing they are fully cooked before i hang.  But realistically if you hung them raw the prague powder keeps this safe, assuming you also have them hung in a cold dry place. But to be honest, i would not go through all this trouble to make dry sausage if i didnt have the means to smoke them beforehand. 

is the Prague powder the same as morton tenderquick?  I use that in snack sticks, corning etc 

[NYBowhunter]

If im not mistaken the pargue powder is similar but more potent. Most all curing of meat recipes will call for Prague powder when curing raw meats.

[Chef]

The prague powder #1 is what keeps this all safe and cures the meat.  Alot of other methods of making dry sausage requires no cooking or smoking. I only smoke mine before they are hung to speed up the drying process,  get  that smokey flavor and i just feel better knowing they are fully cooked before i hang.  But realistically if you hung them raw the prague powder keeps this safe, assuming you also have them hung in a cold dry place. But to be honest, i would not go through all this trouble to make dry sausage if i didnt have the means to smoke them beforehand. 

Thinking about what you just said I’m curious. I know Prague #1 is for cooked products and 2 is for raw long hanging products..

I wonder what you should be using for cooked hanging. I’m sure you’re doing it right but just curious


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[tarheel95]

Thinking about what you just said I’m curious. I know Prague #1 is for cooked products and 2 is for raw long hanging products..

I wonder what you should be using for cooked hanging. I’m sure you’re doing it right but just curious


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If fully cooked, I believe Prague #1 is fine. No additional cure is needed during hanging, you are just reducing the moisture content (assuming you are hanging in a cool dry place). Prague #2 has nitrates that will slowly turn to nitrites and be available to cure the meat as it hangs. Since additional curing isn't needed for cooked, I don't think it is necessary. I don't have chef in my name, though, so I tend to follow recipes pretty closely for whatever they advise .

I think someone else asked about tender quick. I believe that it also has sugar added to it's mix and has nitrites in much lower concentration. It is not interchangeable at the same concentration with the Prague powders.

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[Chef]

If fully cooked, I believe Prague #1 is fine. No additional cure is needed during hanging, you are just reducing the moisture content (assuming you are hanging in a cool dry place). Prague #2 has nitrates that will slowly turn to nitrites and be available to cure the meat as it hangs. Since additional curing isn't needed for cooked, I don't think it is necessary. I don't have chef in my name, though, so I tend to follow recipes pretty closely for whatever they advise .

I think someone else asked about tender quick. I believe that it also has sugar added to it's mix and has nitrites in much lower concentration. It is not interchangeable at the same concentration with the Prague powders.

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Yes I believe you to be right. Although I am trained chef charcuterie is not my strong suit.


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[NYBowhunter]

1 hour ago, chefhunter86 said:

Yes I believe you to be right. Although I am trained chef charcuterie is not my strong suit.


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When out of the smoker they are fully cooked,  the prague #1 has worked great in my application for drying out.  I have never tried drying sausauge from a raw product, so yes prague # 2 would be needed as you suggested. Again, in both instances you need a cold dry place to make this all work.

[tarheel95]

Yes I believe you to be right. Although I am trained chef charcuterie is not my strong suit.


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Rinella got me in to it with some of his recipes. Gives an additional option for the prep of venison. I am going to try some soppresata (spelling?) this winter.

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[blackradio]

These are similar to the sausages I've had in Slovakia/Czech Republic. They are great.

What size grinding plate do you use?

I've made a similar recipe a few times but I grinded the meat way too much, the inside has a hotdog consistency.

[Uncle Nicky]

I've made sopressata & pepperoni in the past, but in the recipes I has used the meat was raw, I used Prague powder #2, and was VERY specific about temperature & humidity....I know for a fact if this wasn't followed correctly the sausage wouldn't dry correctly and there would be "air pockets", which aren't good. I gave it up when I moved to a house that didn't have a basement.

But this looks to be much simpler. I follow the recipes & techniques you have posted, the only questions I have are:

1). At the risk of sounding dense, this works using only Prague Powder #1 as a curing agent?

2). Do you dry the sausage at room temperature?

3). Do you have any problems with flies or mice showing up inside?

Thanks for any input in advance.

[airedale]

I made up about 20 lbs using a modified breakfast sausage recipe, I go the bulk route and do up 1 1/2 lb vacuum sealed packages.

I use a 2 to 1 venison to bacon ratio for the meat and the ingredients in the proper proportions below. The finished result tastes nothing like breakfast sausage it has a flavor all it's own and I must say it is very good.

Al

[moog5050]

That looks really good NYbowhunter.  I may just try it this year.  I think the kiddos would go bonkers for it.

[landtracdeerhunter]

Holy smokes; this is an old thread. Bet that sausage by OP is long gone! LOL.

[NYBowhunter]

1 hour ago, moog5050 said:

That looks really good NYbowhunter.  I may just try it this year.  I think the kiddos would go bonkers for it.

I cant cut it fast enough ...lol..my kids devour it, but so do i..lol