Gel on Venison Summer Sausage

[bones1948]

When my venison summer sausage is finished there is a fat gel on the outside of the sausage when I take the casing off.  I do not raise the temperature past 170 so I know it is not a fat out.  The final temperature set is 170 until the internal temperature reaches 152.  I then remove the sausage from the smoker and give it an ice bath for 30 minutes.  I then hang it for 2 hours then put it in the refrigerator overnight.  When I cut into it the next day there is a gel on the outside.  I mix 11lbs of venison with 4 lbs of pork fat.  The casing is also wrinkled not smooth like in the stores.  What am I doing wrong?  Other then that the sausage tastes great.

Bones

 

[crazymoon]

B1948, your fat to meat ratio seems a bit high,you are close to 40% fat. Try cutting back to about 4:1. I go 25 to 30% with my venison SS BUT I use pork loin or butt meat not pure pork fat . Also your casing shouldn't be shriveled, are your thermometers calibrated ?/

 

[shelton573]

We do what crazymoon does.  We cut up pork but and grind in with it.  Is it a yellowish brown color gel?  I have personally never made a stick of dear sausage that did not wrinkle.  All we do is pull them out of the smoker and let them hang in a cool room over night.  We also take our sausage to 160 IT.

Shelton

 

[ctonello]

I had the same problem. For me it was the wrong pork fat. I used belly fat which apparently can not handle 170, so I was still having fat out at that temperature.