Elk Summer Sausage

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eppbbq

Newbie
Original poster
Jul 21, 2014
17
12
Grand Rapids, MI
I got a new Smoke Hollow 44" gasser and broke it in Labor Day with a few chickens.  Everything went well, except it ran a little hot for sausage, so I added a needle valve.  Now I think I can run a steady 150F, so I thought I would prove it out with some Elk summer sausage.  I have been using a Nepas recipe, which is great.... but I can't leave well enough alone.  This time, I added 2T of red pepper flakes, and 1/2C of butter milk powder instead of the full 2C of powered milk.....Oh, and lots of minced garlic.

Anyhoo....here goes:

I ground 2lbs CSRs in the Kitchen Aid.



Then mixed all the dry stuff.



Then I mixed it all up with the meat.  I did 4 batches on LOW in the KA 2.5lbs at a time.


Then stuffed it in 4 logs....all different sizes.  2 pretty full and 2 half full.  I am always surprised that my Gander Mountain stuffer makes it though another batch.  It just feels like it's gonna fall apart any second.
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Into the fridge.  Smoke starts 1st thing in the morning.  We'll pick it up then.

Thanks,

e
 
So I take it that you have 8 pounds of elk and 2 pounds of pork?  Just asking because there is no elk mentioned in the post.  That 2 T of red pepper flakes should add some heat.  I'll have to try some of that buttermilk powder next time I make salami.  I use powdered milk as well as a binder.  I'll be watching as well.  good luck.
 
Yes!  Sorry about that.  The processer added 5% pork sausage to the Elk.  So I have 8 lbs of elk with a little sausage, and then I added 2lbs of CSRs.

So....I got the logs out this morning and let them sit at room temp for and hour.  Then at 9:00 into the smoker at 130-135 for an hour and a half.  Calm and chilly out, so I held 130 no problem.

Then I bumped up the temp to 150.  (I can actually float between 150-160)  and added smoke via my new AMNTS filled with apple pellets.  I also added some salmon at this point.  This smoker is HUGE!

IT right now is 99.  I'm gonna try to bump it up to 170 around 2 (Grand Rapids Time).

This is a pic of my Needle Valve Mod.  It is working GREAT!


Shot of the product


The AMNTS smoking along.  This is great.  My AMNPS would not stay lit in this smoker.  I know they don't work well in gassers due to the combustion of the LP robbing them of O.


So far so good.  I am very pleased with this latest set up.  Very versatile.

Hopefully pics of the final product tonight!

Thanks,

e
 
I finally finished at 3:00am.  I had to bump the temp up to 190 to get that last 3 degrees to 152.  The finished product is good, but a little dry....probably because is stayed at 149 IT for 4 hours...and that was after I bumped it up to 180.  Is it even possible to hit 152 IT when the cooking temp is 170?  I welcome any advice on that one.

The red pepper flakes were the perfect amount of heat.  I think this version of the recipe is the best yet.  But I have to figure out how to keep it from drying out, and finishing a little faster.  This total cook time was 16 hours for 2-1/2 diameter sticks.  Maybe I need to add a little more water?  I used 1/2 cup for 10 lbs.

Here is a pic of the finished product.  I brought it to work for our "bait pile" table in our office.  One stick lasted about 10 minutes.
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Our knife is very dull.  Would have been better to use a plastic butter knife.
 
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Thanks guys! I did some reading today and a lot of rytek recipes have 2 cups of water for 10lbs. That will be my tweak for the next batch.

E
 
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