- Dec 3, 2012
- 84
- 83
I have quite a few questions, and have read through lot's of posts, but I can't either find the answers or I'm not quite clear on them.
#1 In making a venison summer sausage mixed with pork is there a difference in using pork fat vs a boston butt for texture? Last year I made some with fat and it came out crumbly which I didn't know if it was because of the fat or my cooking temperatures?
#2 If I start my smoker at 120 for a summer sausage about what temperature should the SS be before I bump up the heat? Last year I waited for a long time for it to get to 110 before I bumped it up and I wondered if I slowly cooked the fat out is the reason I had the crumbly texture?
#3 Unrelated to the smoker, but I also wonder when putting in a starter culture for fermenting do you put the cure in with the spices or after the starter culture has worked for a day or so? It seems like everyone on here throws everything together, but my question is why doesn't the cure kill/inhibit the starter culture? I read where too much acid can create a crumbly texture.
I've got 25 lbs in the smoker right now so will learn some of the answers, but if you have any insight I'd greatly appreciate it. I used beef suet at 26% with a commercial spice blend, and started the smoker at 120 and when the SS got to 85 I increased the smoker to 130. I'm into it about 1 hour.
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