Bad texture on elk/pork summer sausage

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timpaul

Newbie
Original poster
Sep 30, 2015
4
10
West coast
This is my first time posting. I hope someone can help me. Made some summer sausage last weekend and the texture, the color and the flavor was not like the test patties we cooked up or previous attempts, which turned out GREAT! Followed the same recipe I'd made a year ago, so I'm not sure what happened. The dentsity and texture was not right and it was a bit mushy. Could this be from over mixing, or was the smoker temp to hot?
Here's how I made them:
First ground The elk and pork through a 3/8 inch die.
2. Mixed the pork and elk (50/50) together with cure, dry ingredients And some water with beef base.
3. Then we ran the mixture through a 1/4 inch die one last time.
4. Put the mixture in the refrigerator and let it set overnight .
5. The next day we stuffed into mahogany casings .
6. Hung sausage for 2 to 3 hours with the fan blowing on it to dry It.
7. Smoker at 120 for 2 to 3 hours heavy smoke then turned up to 170 no smoke and it took over 24 hours to reach 152° IT . (Actually had to turn temp up to 190 to get it done.)
8. Put sausage in icewater bath then let hang for several hours then put in fridge .
Any ideas what went wrong? The density/texture was just off and the outer edge of the summer sausage seemed very hard. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.
 
Well, first off that sucks!!! that is did not come out right,,,,, what size casings did you use? I go with 2 1/2" x 12or18" and I can get mine done in about 8hrs or so starting out at 120** also and going to 170 in smoker and IT of 152 so you are dead on with that. 

Did you check your smoker temp with a verified thermometer?? I am thinking either your smoker or Therm. is not accurate. 24hrs to get to 152, and smoker is at 170 just does not seam right. 

DS
 
 
I agree 24 hrs isnt right!  Was ther any gel or white gel at bottoms of casings if you hung them?  Or were the bottom in or 2 wrinkled and hard?
 
Thanks for the reply. The casing were 2 1/2 x 12. Wasn't greasy, no fat running out.. They were a little wrinkled, but not anymore that last years batch. As for the smoker temp, I didn't use a verified thermometer. But it was the same smoker as I used last year. I will ck that though before I try again. I'm just baffled.
 
this sounds like one of my SS batches. here is a thought... what cut of pork did you use and did you add any additional pork fat? such as from the belly (butter fat) , from the loin area or back fat? my failure was isolated to the butter fat I used (just not payng attention and grabbed the wrong bag)

Keep On Smokin,

Tom
 
freezer burnt meat, too much water in the mix, not enough fat, improper mixing, smear when grinding and cooking too fast can contribute to a poor texture. Always try to process you meat when its fresh...

Joe
 
Thanks for the reply Joe.

I don't think the meat was freezer burnt. And I just got brand new stainless steel knife  and plate and one knife for each plate.

The batch was 25lbs. We did put three cups of beef broth with our spices and cure. I did use a Lem meat mixer hooked up to the grinder which we used on the batch that turned out really good. I think I will start over with smaller batches to see if I can get back to same results.
 
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