Summer Sausage

Hi Brenda, I'm not sure what type of casings you are using but I have only made summer sausage in cotton \ muslin bags. It sounds like you are using natural or synthetic casings and cooking the sausage. If that is the case what size casings are you using? I cure and cold smoke the sausage so it is not cooked.

These links my be of help to you.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/176286/summer-sausage-in-muslin-bags

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/156914/cloth-summer-sausage-bags

Brenda1 said:

We are using synthetic clings and a convection oven. When we take them out they look beautiful...we lay them out on a table to cool down and the casing starts wrinkling up. I think they look ugly to give a customer. What is going wrong?

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Soaking in regular hot water is fine.  Around 100° is good, not boiling hot.

When you take them out of the oven, drop them into an ice water bath.  This stops the cooking action and helps prevent the wrinkling.

Also, if you're using a cure, you'll still be within the USDA guidlines if you only cook to an IT of 160°, 180° may be a bit much and start to melt fat..  This will help prevent them from drying out.

What temp are you cooking at?

I pieced together this recipe from here at SMF.  My suggested changes are in blue.  I thought it should have been spicier.

For 10 lbs. of ground beef, add:

• ¼ cup plus 1 Tbls Morton’s Tender Quick cure
• 10 tsp (or 3 Tbls and 1 tsp) granulated garlic (add at least 2 more Tbls)
• 10 tsp (or 3 Tbls and 1 tsp) cracked black pepper (add at least 3 more Tbls)
• 3 tsp (1 Tbls) cayenne pepper
• 2 oz dried buttermilk
• 2 Tbls whole mustard seed (double this)
• 1 Tbls whole peppercorns (leave this but definitely add more CBP)
• 1 cup cold water (hold the water if you don’t use casings)

Dissolve the Tender Quick in 1 cup of cold water. In a large bowl, add the TQ water to the ground beef with all of the other ingredients and mix for 10 minutes or until the mixture gets really sticky.  Stuff into 1 or 3 lb mahogany fibrous casings.  Stuff them tight.  If you’re not using casings, shape the meat into little meat loafs. 

Smoke the summer sausage using your favorite wood (hickory, oak or pecan are good ones for this recipe).  Start your smoker at a low temp, around 140 degrees.  Increase the temp 10 degrees every hour until you reach 180 degrees.  You want an internal meat temperature of 155-160 degrees.  It took me around 6 hours for the 1 lb casings and about 8 for the 3 lb ones.  Remove the summer sausage from the smoker and cool immediately in the refrigerator for several hours.  Vacuum pack and put in the freezer.

My kids highly recommend adding some cheese to this recipe!!!

Brenda1 said:

We have soaked the casings in hot water, in salted hot water. Cooked @ 160 internal deg and put in cold water when we take out of oven and they still wrinkle. I'm at a loss as to what to do.

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Could be a few things.

What temperature are you cooking at?  >180° could cause fat out.

How long in the ice water, not cold water?

Are your casing stuffed REALLY well?

What is the fat content of the mix?

CrankyBuzzard said:

 
Could be a few things.

What temperature are you cooking at?  >180° could cause fat out.

How long in the ice water, not cold water?

Are your casing stuffed REALLY well?

What is the fat content of the mix?

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 X2 CB Has you covered 

A full smoker is a happy smoker 

DS