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Summer sausage


2012_taco
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I'm going to try my hand at making Venison Jalapeno and cheese summer sausage this weekend. I've never made it before but I've read up on it, there is a lot if info out there! I've made Italian sausage before and I make snack sticks quite often so I thought I would give it a try. My question to you all (especially the local WNY guys) is, does anyone use a sausage stuffer? I've always used my jerky shooter with tube attachments to stuff the sausage in the past. It's a slow process but it works.  With summer sausage being so large I was wondering if it's  worth the expense of purchasing a stuffer? Especially if it only gets used once or twice a year? Any chance there is a local guy that has a stuffer I could borrow to see how much better they are? Or maybe we could schedule another SAUSAGE FEST in the 716? !! 

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I don't have a dedicated stuffer. I've looked into them but to your point, it would only get used once or twice a year. I use the sausage attachments that attach right to the front of the grinder I use. Based on a recommendation from here, I ended getting a pedal for it so I can control it hands free now. Do you have a grinder already?

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8 minutes ago, Bolt action said:

I don't have a dedicated stuffer. I've looked into them but to your point, it would only get used once or twice a year. I use the sausage attachments that attach right to the front of the grinder I use. Based on a recommendation from here, I ended getting a pedal for it so I can control it hands free now. Do you have a grinder already?

Yes I do have a grinder and it does have tubes for sausage stuffing, but I read that its hard to work with a grinder, especially by yourself. Although the petal would probably help a lot? I see where a lot of guys grind the seasoned chunks directly into the casings, but I am using ground venison and adding pork that I will grind and hand mix. I think the grinder is harder to work when the meat is already ground? I could be wrong?

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I cut up all the meat the I plan to process. Usually it's trimmed venison and either cubed beef or pork with the fat from either. I put all the meat that I plan to work with in a large mixing bowl and season it. Then I feed it through with the course grinding plate. When it comes out, I'll hand mix it to make sure I get the desired distribution. Then I'll make a little patty and pan fry it to sample it. Tweak the seasonings if needed. When I'm happy with the flavor, I'll roll a bunch of little meatballs that I can just drop into the hopper as needed.  From there, I'll run it through the grinder again, but without a grinding plate, and load it into the tubes and casings. The flavor comes out where I want it, but I'm still working on the texture. 

Here's the foot pedal I bought. It made using the grinder for sausage making a lot easier with the hands free operation.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BZX4XGY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Every time meat gets wheeled through the grinder (with or without cutting blades and/or plates) adds friction and heat to the meat. Keeping your fat as solid as possible and your cheese from melting or crumbling is the challenge with a cheddar summer sausage. I bought the 5 pound hand crank sausage stuffer (relatively cheap) and like anything else using the right tool for the job makes the job better and easier.

This is recipe is on deck for me (maybe this weekend)

https://griffinsgrub.wordpress.com/2013/03/25/venison-jalapeno-cheese-sausage/


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2 minutes ago, land 1 said:

me and two buddies did about 200lbs of brats and sausage yesterday bout 10 hrs job but 1st time doing it , everything came out great did about 6 different flavors no summer sausage or sticks thats for next go around....

Wow, how much beer would you guys have consumed in 10 hours?!?!?

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5 hours ago, 2012_taco said:

I'm going to try my hand at making Venison Jalapeno and cheese summer sausage this weekend. I've never made it before but I've read up on it, there is a lot if info out there! I've made Italian sausage before and I make snack sticks quite often so I thought I would give it a try. My question to you all (especially the local WNY guys) is, does anyone use a sausage stuffer? I've always used my jerky shooter with tube attachments to stuff the sausage in the past. It's a slow process but it works.  With summer sausage being so large I was wondering if it's  worth the expense of purchasing a stuffer? Especially if it only gets used once or twice a year? Any chance there is a local guy that has a stuffer I could borrow to see how much better they are? Or maybe we could schedule another SAUSAGE FEST in the 716? !! 

Hickory Farms isn’t a bad option…..

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me and two buddies did about 200lbs of brats and sausage yesterday bout 10 hrs job but 1st time doing it , everything came out great did about 6 different flavors no summer sausage or sticks thats for next go around....

Wow…what flavors? All pork or was some venison?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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16 hours ago, land 1 said:

me and two buddies did about 200lbs of brats and sausage yesterday bout 10 hrs job but 1st time doing it , everything came out great did about 6 different flavors no summer sausage or sticks thats for next go around....

What no pics?

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Not 200 lbs but about 6 lbs ready for the smoker.  I  used my jerky shooter withe a 5/8" tube. Wasn't too bad but if I was doing 25lbs I would definitely look into getting a stuffer. We'll see how they taste and if it's something I'd like to do again on nass quantities I'll get a dedicated stuffer.

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20220115_100634.jpg

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2 minutes ago, 2012_taco said:

Not 200 lbs but about 6 lbs ready for the smoker.  I  used my jerky shooter withe a 5/8" tube. Wasn't too bad but if I was doing 25lbs I would definitely look into getting a stuffer. We'll see how they taste and if it's something I'd like to do again on nass quantities I'll get a dedicated stuffer.

20220115_103716.jpg

20220115_100634.jpg

I can almost smell it from my house!!!

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I have a question for someone with more smoking experience than me. My summer sausage has a consistency of liver worst.  I may have smoked it at too high a temp (225). I pulled them at internal temp of 155, did the ice bath, hung to bloom for 4hrs, and put in fridge over night. Do you think it might help if I put them in a water pot at 170 until I get internal temp of 160? Or maybe just keep a few more days in the fridge? 

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Your gonna want to scale up your temps.  Start at a lower temp and work your way up.  I was reading about this some the other day. Do an hour at lower temp like 120/130 then an hour at 140 then up to 170 to bring to temp.  

Also did you pack the casings by running it thru the grinder again?  If so that might make it more dense and grainy.  Or if the meat got warm and the fat started to break down too soon. 

This site explains it pretty well on temps. Love this meatgistics site. https://meatgistics.waltonsinc.com/topic/208/how-to-make-homemade-summer-sausage-recipe

Edited by Robhuntandfish
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40 minutes ago, 2012_taco said:

I have a question for someone with more smoking experience than me. My summer sausage has a consistency of liver worst.  I may have smoked it at too high a temp (225). I pulled them at internal temp of 155, did the ice bath, hung to bloom for 4hrs, and put in fridge over night. Do you think it might help if I put them in a water pot at 170 until I get internal temp of 160? Or maybe just keep a few more days in the fridge? 

I would think over ground possibly or too much fat. 225° is a good temp internal temp 165°+ is safe. I dont know much about liverwurst but you could read a little about it and see what the major differences are jn the process to avoid it. 155 is a little danger zone I would hate to see you get sick, not sure if smoking it again would do anything negative. Good luck ?

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