Cold smoked venison sausage

[Rick Westfall]

I have an issue with my venison sausage. Sometimes I will get some 'hollowing" in the center of the sticks? The sticks are 2 lbs and I really don't believe it is because they are not packed tight enough. We use perforated plastic casings and will even bust a few because we pack them to tight. It seems to me that for some reason they pull apart. Our process is about 5 to 7 days in the smoke house at 60 degrees or so and then I hang them in my garage (about 50 degrees in there) for about 4 to 5 days to let the smoke draw through. We do not raise the temp to 165 because then they become a hot smoked sausage. We like the raw sausage and use curing salt. Have been doing it in our family for 100 yrs and haven't lost a man yet. LOL
My thoughts are
1) maybe to lean (we do 30% pork shoulder)
2) we add water and maybe they dry out
Hoping someone has had the same issue and knows whats wrong.

 

[mike243]

I cant help but with CWD being in a lot of states I myself would never make a cold smoked sausage out of deer, its not crossed the species barrier but they are very worried that it can and will

 

[indaswamp]

Are you using a dedicated sausage stuffer or are you using a grinder with a stuffer tube to stuff the links?

 

[Rick Westfall]

I am using a 15 lb sausage press. I have been doing some reading and I may be getting air in the press and that would be why it is in the sticks?

 

[Widowmaker]

Quite possibly..but also if it dried too fast you could get the dreaded hollow center. Is your humidity level up high enough?

 

[indaswamp]

I am using a 15 lb sausage press. I have been doing some reading and I may be getting air in the press and that would be why it is in the sticks?

yes, care must be taken when filling the sausage stuffer can. I fill 1/4 full and them press down on the meat with a rubber spatula, then continue filling in this manner until full.

When filling the casings, a little back pressure towards the stuffer horn will force the air away from the link and towards the horn....