Is is possible to fix undercooked summer sausage?

[doongie]

I realize this question raises a LOT of other questions, but for discussions sake, let’s say you thought you had a good quality control process, and get to the end and find undercooked summer sausage.
Is it possible to fix it?
How?

I did not make the sausage, but did taste it. It was quite close to the consistency of raw ground meat. It is a mix of venison and something else, I suspect pork. I may be able to answer some other questions, but don’t have all the details.
It was smoked, in fibrous casing, which appeared somewhat wrinkled, indicating at least some shrinkage during the smoking/cooking process.

I can immediately realize a thorough review of the entire process is needed, to find the root cause for undercooked product. I guess since I didn’t make it I’m not terribly concerned about speculating how it happened.

However, it did happen, so I wonder if any of you have experience or direct knowledge about if it’s salvageable and how.

 

[pineywoods]

Was it cured? How long ago did this smoke take place?
chef jimmyj probably has some answers

 

[chef jimmyj]

Thanks for the heads-up Sir Woods...

Modern Summer Sausage recipes all use Cure. If it is under cooked...The center will be softer that the Sides.
If the whole thing is mushy, its likely fully cooked but an unusual recipe.
If you wish to smoke it longer, have at it. 170°F to an IT of 150 to 160, and you will know it is Thoroughly Cooked...JJ

 

[indaswamp]

Using citric acid in place of encapsulated citric acid for the tang will cause a very mushy summer sausage. The two are not interchangeable.

 

[zwiller]

I struggled with this and I think the issue is low IT. There is a wicked stall before you get up to mid 150F IT. If you rest the sausage at room temps a few hours-overnight it helps. That said, to answer your question, you CAN fix by either waterbath or SV and have done this a few times. There are a few guys that even say the results are actually better this way...

 

[daveomak]

Place it in your oven with the temp set to 150 ish.... It will probably take 6-8 hours to get the stick to 135-140 IT... Leave it there for several hours until the stick starts to firm up... Then you will know the interior is cooking....
Following the pasteurization table below will show you the stick is safe to eat....

Ground meat has lots of bacteria infused inside it.... Who knows what bacteria are hiding in there....
That is why is use the poultry table... Poultry bacteria could be living in that stick and they are harder to kill that other bacteria....
When the IT gets to say 137F, I hold the stick at that temp for 2-3 hours... More time kills more bacteria... The temp is not high enough to cause fat out and ruin the salami...
If the meat stick feels soft when you squeeze it, leave it in the oven...
I judge the doneness of my salami by the squeeze once it has been up to temp long enough to kill all the bad stuff....
I like a fairly firm salami to slice on crackers with cheese....
Test a salami at the grocery store for the feel to get the stick you like....

Below is a pasteurization table for poultry....
Temperature........ Time .............Time
°F...... (°C) ...........1% fat ...........12% fat
136 (57.8)........... 64 min......... 81.4 min
137 (58.3) .........51.9 min....... 65.5 min
138 (58.9)......... 42.2 min....... 52.9 min
139 (59.4) ........34.4 min........ 43 min
140 (60.0)....... 28.1 min ........35 min
141 (60.6)....... 23 min ............28.7 min
142 (61.1)..... 18.9 min........... 23.7 min
143 (61.7) .....15.5 min.......... 19.8 min
144 (62.2) .....12.8 min.......... 16.6 min
145 (62.8)..... 10.5 min .........13.8 min
146 (63.3) .....8.7 min ...........11.5 min
148 (64.4) .....5.8 min............7.7 min
150 (65.6) ......3.8 min ..........4.9 min
152 (66.7) ......2.3 min.......... 2.8 min
154 (67.8) .......1.5 min .........1.6 min
156 (68.9) ........59 sec............ 1 min
166 (74.4) ..........0 sec ............0 sec
Table C.2: Pasteurization times for a 7D reduction in Salmonella for chicken and turkey (FSIS, 2005).