Hello everyone, I know this is the place that can help me. My first attempt at making deer trail bologna was not my best. I used the last 4 1/2 pound of ground deer from last year in my freezer and mixed a 1/2 pound of sausage for fat. I started smoking at 230* (low as I could get my smoker, whole 'nother story) and immediately dumped them in ice water once the IT reached 165*. The sausage tastes good but was covered in grease when I cut off the casings. Now to possibly answer my own question, after cooking I realized last year I had pork fat added to my burger at the processor. Could me adding the other 1/2 pound of pork sausage be the cause of the grease? I've also read that it could also be because I cooked it at too high of a temp. My plans for the first batch of this years deer is to make sure I only have about a 80:20 mix of fat and to cook at about 110* in my oven for 2 hours, then a couple hours at 150* then finish at high smoke in my smokehouse until IT is 165*. Could this fix my problems? Not to throw too much into a single thread but I've also heard of guys only cooking until an IT of 152* is reached, is that safe? Any thoughts, recommendations? Thanks in advance and sorry for such a long thread!!