Fat Substitute??? UPDATED with pic

[cfoxtrot]

Hello all,

 I am new to the world of smoking, I just made some venison SS with 100% venison, no pork or fat added. I knew that it would be dry but I wanted to give it a try to see what I would be dealing with. The flavor to me is great, just looking to add some moisture without adding fat.

I was wondering if you think adding olive oil to the meat mixture would work? 

Any other suggestions? Not really looking to get it as moist as SS made with 30% fat but just a decent amount of moisture would be great.

This is what I did...

Mixed 2 lbs of ground venison with LEM Backwoods SS seasoning/cure as per LEM directions

Added about 1/2 tsp of garlic powder

Added about 1 tsp coarse ground pepper

Stuffed meat into 2 1lb fibrous sausage casings and put in fridge for 24 hours.

Started them in the smoker(with smoke) at 130 degrees for the first hour, then increasing the temp of the smoker by 10 degrees every hour until 170 degrees.

Once the IT reached 152 degrees I pulled the sausage out and put it into the ice bath to cool.

Then paper towel dried and hung the sausage at room temp for a few hours.Then refrigerated.

They turned out great other than needing more moisture.

 

[boykjo]

I have never added oil to sausage but I would assume it would not be a good binder so you would still have dry sausage with oily meat. Did you take any pics
 

 

[cfoxtrot]

Here are a couple of pics of the final product, like I said it taste great just a little too dry(almost crumbly).

Thanks for any thoughts...

IMG_0314.jpg

• cfoxtrot
• Dec 31, 2012

IMG_0315.jpg

• cfoxtrot
• Dec 31, 2012

 

[boykjo]

Looks good....  I would try to add a binder like some soy protien concentrate to retain moisture...  Do a test...Just mix a little up and and form a log and cook it in the oven before going all out
 

 

[cfoxtrot]

Looks good....  I would try to add a binder like some soy protien concentrate to retain moisture...  Do a test...Just mix a little up and and form a log and cook it in the oven before going all out
 

Thanks for the advice, I will surely give that a try!

 

[cfoxtrot]

Looks good....  I would try to add a binder like some soy protien concentrate to retain moisture...  Do a test...Just mix a little up and and form a log and cook it in the oven before going all out
 

The binder did the trick! I ordered some "Special Meat Binder" from Butcher-packer.com

Added 1/2 tsp per/lb as well as an additional 3oz of water. The moisture, texture and taste are just what I was looking for!

While I was at it I made up one stick with some smoked colby jack cheese (a big hit).

From left to right, 1- binder and water added,  2- binder, water and cheese added, 3- no binder or additional water added

IMG_0339.JPG

• cfoxtrot
• Jan 13, 2013

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Looks Great! I'll have to look into the soy binder as my Fiancee doesn't do pork, so adding pork fat isn't an option for sausages I make for her!