Venison Summer Sausage Tips

[jrsdws2]

Hey all. I've recently took the plunge into the world of smoked sausages with my first attempt being deer summer sausage. I bought a kit online from a vendor I've used for some fresh sausage seasonings. This was a 25lb kit but I cut it into 5ths to start with a 5lb batch.

On this first attempt, I used 80% deer (was ground with some beef tallow in it) and 20% pork. After an overnight in the fridge cure period, I hung the chubs up for an hour at room temperature then put them in the GMG pellet grill with just the cold smoke tube and for about 4hours. I fired up the grill which defaults to it's lowest temp of 150. I left them at 150 for 2hrs then bumped to finishing temp of 170. Internal temp of the sausages were rising what seemed to be way too fast. I threw my Maverick probe in and sure enough the dang thing was over firing by about 60 degrees!! I turned it back down to 150....which was still more like 210 and kept an eye on IT...took them to 152 and into the water bath. After cooling them I hung them up to bloom for 4hrs and they looked perfect. I put them in the fridge overnight again, anxious to enjoy one with Sunday football. Next day around noon I slice into one and was quite surprised at how "wet" it was. The smoke was there, the flavor was ok...slightly bland...but man it was moist. It seemed like just a step above mushy to me. I didn't know what to do so I put one in the oven with a meat probe and took it to 160 IT....cooled it...bloomed and waited a day. No change. I ended up hanging the chubs again at room temp until the fibrous casing just slightly started to pull away from the sausage. The meat tasted the same and had dried out to what I wanted. The critique from friends matched mine. Good smoke, a little bland, and the texture seemed a little different.

I have decided that with my next batch, I will bump the pork up to a 30% ratio and maybe only do 9lbs of meat with what should enough seasonings for 10lbs? I also wonder if 2 nights in the fridge prior to smoking would make a difference? I don't know the ingredients in the purchased seasoning kit so I don't know if it would matter.

I also wonder if what I might add to the seasoning to zing it up a little? I dont' necessarily want hot this time....just more flavor. I was considering adding mustard seeds and some garlic powder, but I don't know how much.

I also bought a 30" MES so I can hang the sausages in there at 120 degrees-ish for several hours to dry them out before finishing them. The GMG is fixed and I'll still primarily use it for most of my smoking, but I think the MES might be perfect for sausage smoking.

Thanks in advance for your tips and suggestions. Later on I will likely move away from buying the premixed seasonings and making my own. Man I'll have a lot of questions then!!!

 

[Mauritius]

Hi there! I'm in the same boat as a summer sausage newbie, except I went straight to mixing my own seasoning. I haven't tried venison yet, I wanted to get my technique down before I risked any of that hard-earned meat. I have a few points that might help, or at least give you someone to compare against -

• I left mine in the fridge for 2 days, but I think I'll just do 1 next time. The flavors get better the longer it stays in the fridge after smoking.
• I used 60% beef chuck and 40% pork shoulder, roughly 25% fat, which I will cut down to under 20% when I use venison because it really didn't need that much fat. Most folks seem to go leaner on summer sausage than fresh sausage.
• I also had trouble with a smoker that I couldn't control. I didn't want to over cook it and risk a fat-out so I kept things fairly cold and used an AMNPS for a few hours then finished the sausage with a sous vide. You might not have those gadgets, but they sure saved my bacon (summer sausage).
• Many people use a MES for smoking sausage, you'll find lots of info on these forums. The key issues to overcome are a lack of smoke at low temps (same issue any electric smoker has) and a lack of air to keep a secondary smoke source lit for long enough. The mailbox mod and an AMNPS are the common solution to both problems.
• I liked grinding with a 3/16" plate, I tried 1/8" and 1/4" but thought 3/16" was the best texture. I tried grinding 3/8" and then 3/16" vs one grind at 3/16" and didn't notice a difference. The important thing is to keep the meat super cold, chunk it up and freeze it on trays for 30 minutes before you grind it. And put any metal parts from your grinder in the freezer. Mushing the fat and meat together will definitely wreck the texture, I've been there and it's no fun.

Here's the recipe I came up with for my seasoning. It's definitely heavy on the flavor! I also did a spicy version by adding 2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp crushed red pepper and .5 tsp cayenne. Didn't come out super spicy, it had more of a pepperoni taste to it.

1 lb meat
1.5 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp coarse pepper
1 tsp mustard seed
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp fresh garlic
1 tsp crushed coriander
0.5 tsp brown sugar
0.5 tsp mustard powder
0.5 tsp garlic powder
0.5 tsp onion powder
0.25 tsp nutmeg
0.25 tsp allspice
3 tbsp nonfat milk powder
0.2 tsp cure #1
3 tbsp ice water

 

[BGKYSmoker]

You should up that cure amount to 1/4 tsp

 

[Mauritius]

I thought it was 1 tsp per 5 lbs? I usually do 1/4 tsp per pound if I'm making really small batches, but I put .2 because my typical batches are 5 or 10lbs. Thanks!

 

[swampsmoker]

What kit did you use? What plates did you use to grind? I've used the cabelas kits and Owens bbq kits with great success. We never had an issue with using either. We just made 25 lbs of jalapeño summer sausage using 15lbs venison and 10 lbs of pork came out awesome! They to were smoked on a GMG. I just got a MES 40 today to smoke bacon, sausage, snack sticks, and anything else I can think of.

 

[jrsdws2]

The kit was from Curley's. I didn't grind anything. I used deer burger that was ground at the locker and plain ground pork from the grocery store. I guess you would say they were both a medium grind? The instructions called for what seemed like a lot of water. For 5lbs of meat, it ended up calling for 1.2 cups of water. It firmed up as I mixed, however, and ran through the stuffer well.

 

[crazymoon]

J2, My VSS hangs in the smoker with the dampers WIDE open for an hour + at 120* just to dry a bit. Maybe yours was wet due to moisture being held in your pellet grill?

 

[swampsmoker]

The kit was from Curley's. I didn't grind anything. I used deer burger that was ground at the locker and plain ground pork from the grocery store. I guess you would say they were both a medium grind? The instructions called for what seemed like a lot of water. For 5lbs of meat, it ended up calling for 1.2 cups of water. It firmed up as I mixed, however, and ran through the stuffer well.

Was the meat tacky or more mushy?
That seems like it could have been to much water. The kits I’ve done is only 2-3 cups per 25 lbs. I’ve usually grind through medium plate then mix seasonings n mixer then freezer to firm up then back through a small plate. Comes out better IMO. But yours has to be the amount of water used.

 

[jrsdws2]

Too much water I think. The MES will allow me to dry them out more before smoke.

The meat was mushy to me, but was becoming more tacky as I mixed. This mix calls for 6 cups of cold water for 25lbs of meat. I think I will try cutting it in half.

Could the blandness taste come from too much water also?

 

[swampsmoker]

Too much water I think. The MES will allow me to dry them out more before smoke.

The meat was mushy to me, but was becoming more tacky as I mixed. This mix calls for 6 cups of cold water for 25lbs of meat. I think I will try cutting it in half.

Could the blandness taste come from too much water also?

It’s gotta be to much water. When I mix it never looks mushy. Yea too much water could thin out the seasoning resulting in a bland taste. That’s the good thing about this, we learn from mistakes so next time we can produce a better product. I made beer brats last year with vension and used waaaayyy to much beer and no one liked em. Lol

 

[jrsdws2]

LOL....thanks SS. I will try another 5lb batch but with a 70/30 deer to pork ratio and mix to instructions except for water. I might add mustard seed and perhaps just a little garlic.

Next step is to buy a grinder. Although this is my first go at Summer Sausage, I've been making brats and such for a couple of years.

 

[fullsmoke]

I use 3# of water for a 25# batch

 

[fullsmoke]

I use 3# of water for a 25# batch

15# deer 10# pork

 

[jrsdws2]

15# deer 10# pork

Well dang....that's 6 cups like the instructions said.

 

[swampsmoker]

LOL....thanks SS. I will try another 5lb batch but with a 70/30 deer to pork ratio and mix to instructions except for water. I might add mustard seed and perhaps just a little garlic.

Next step is to buy a grinder. Although this is my first go at Summer Sausage, I've been making brats and such for a couple of years.

Cabelas has some good deals on their 3/4 n 1 HP grinders.

 

[jrsdws2]

I mixed up my 2nd batch of summer sausage on Friday last week, cased it and let it sit in the fridge until Sunday morning. I went to a 60/40 deer to pork ration and added a teaspoon of garlic powder to the 5lbs of meat. I reduced the water from 1.2 cups to 3/4 cup. I stuffed half of the meat, then added 1/4 cup NFDM and 1/4 cup dried powdered buttermilk and enough water to mix and make it easy to stuff.

New smoking process using the new MES30 this time. Hung in smoker at 120 with vents open and door cracked to dry sausages for 2 hours. Turned up to 150 and added smoke through mailbox mod for 3 hours. Increased temp 10 degrees every hour until 170 as the smoke slowed down and waited for IT to raise. It was getting late on in the day so I ended up at 180 to get my IT to 153. Ice water bath for 30 minutes then dry and hang to inside to bloom for 4 hours. Overnight in the fridge and taste tested yesterday afternoon.

The texture and moisture were spot on for my liking. If anything, it might have dried on the outside a hair too much, but I like it. The taste was much improved over batch #1 too. While I couldn't necessarily nail down the garlic addition in the taste, these just weren't as bland. As for the binder, both myself and my buddy thought the sausage without the binder had more flavor. I expected this to be the opposite, but so far the proof is in the pudding....or sausage. I will take some with me today to share with others and get more blind taste tests.

Thinking ahead to next batch now and wondering if fresh minced garlic or garlic salt would be a better addition than the garlic powder?

 

[klutzyspuds]

jrsdws2,

I, by no means am an expert in the sausage world. But, I have been making my own venison sausage for about 3 years now. I have found I like Curley's Roasted garlic summer sausage a lot, so that's what I use for a kit. I add all 6 cups of water to a 25 pound batch, and generally end up with a very nice finished product. I mix and stuff one day, smoke either the next or two days later, depending on smoker availability. I dry for 2 hours at 120, then smoke for around 4 hours with my MES 40, bumping temps by 10 degrees every hour. Because of room in the smoker and the need to run a 25 pound batch in two sets, I usually finish them to 152 in a 170 degree oven. I ice bath, and then hang in my 43 degree garage for up to 48 hours to bloom, before vac sealing and freezing.

One other thing you may want to consider before just writing a recipe off as bland. IMHO, sausage really needs to age before it reaches full flavor. It is always better a month after it is made than it is fresh. Yes, I like fresh made too, but giving the flavors time to mature definitely makes for better sausage.

Hope my insights give you some food for thought, and help with the process.

Mark

 

[cristina johnston]

jrsdws2,

I, by no means am an expert in the sausage world. But, I have been making my own venison sausage for about 3 years now. I have found I like Curley's Roasted garlic summer sausage a lot, so that's what I use for a kit. I add all 6 cups of water to a 25 pound batch, and generally end up with a very nice finished product. I mix and stuff one day, smoke either the next or two days later, depending on smoker availability. I dry for 2 hours at 120, then smoke for around 4 hours with my MES 40, bumping temps by 10 degrees every hour. Because of room in the smoker and the need to run a 25 pound batch in two sets, I usually finish them to 152 in a 170 degree oven. I ice bath, and then hang in my 43 degree garage for up to 48 hours to bloom, before vac sealing and freezing.

One other thing you may want to consider before just writing a recipe off as bland. IMHO, sausage really needs to age before it reaches full flavor. It is always better a month after it is made than it is fresh. Yes, I like fresh made too, but giving the flavors time to mature definitely makes for better sausage.

Hope my insights give you some food for thought, and help with the process.

Mark

 

[cristina johnston]

I have never made summer sausage before. Since I have a LEM meat grinder for venison( i think it comes with sausage stuffer) for my pet poms and I own a Man 1 pellet smoker which I am very well versed with as I smoke brisket, pork butt, bluefish and ribs quite often), I thought I will try making venison summer sausage. It wil be my first attempt. I was given a young doe for my poms recently, used some of the ground venison to make venison burger. I thought this young doe taste better, less gamey than the other buck meat I received in the past. ( Live in Md where it is illegal to sell venison so, I usually get it as a gift from hunter friends who I give some off my smoked meat in return), then pay someone $85.00 to butcher and dress it up. Aside from the strap, and a few roast, I get some ground venison.

Thought perhaps I should use the ground venison first( I do not know whether it is medium or fine ground as I just give them to my dogs except for having 4 patties for hamburger) but if I have to, I will take a roast and grind it myself if you suggest that is best I was told that venison is very lean and would not taste good unless I add fat to it. Normally, the butcher adds beef fat to their ground venison but I requested him not to add fat to it bec both I and my poms do have to adhere to a low fat diet So, plan to add pork from the Italian deli ( 80/20 fat according to them) and buy their casing ( do not know what kind). The butcher that dresses my venison also make venison sausage but it really taste bad. I had to trash them, It was so dry and full of sage taste. I was given some spicy elk summer sausage that came from colorado once. Have been dreaming about that. Just ordered some spices from savory spice, ordered a their gun barrel sausage spice ( suggestion is 2 tbsp/ pound meat and a medium bottle ( 2 ounce) of their chimayo chorizo mix. They suggest adding 4 tbsp of this spice to 2 tbsp of cider or wine vinegar and 1 tbsp of water to every pound of meat, refrigerate for a couple of hours. So, my plan is to add both of these spices to the mixture of venison and pork (? ratio per your suggestion ) and perhaps some cheese? Do I have to use special high temp cheese to avoid waxy taste? how much cheese should I add per pound of meat? I will follow the advise of my Man 1 grill for smoking. Do I have to place the cooked sausage in water dry them out before refrigerating them and perhaps use it after 1 month as suggested? Thanks for your help