Greasy deer sausage

[smoothie]

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!!

 

[Bearcarver]

Too much heat will bring the fat to the surface.

Too much fat will make it too greasy all around.

I like my sausage about 80/20.

I like my Deerburger 50% Deer, 25% Beef, and 25% Pork.

Some guys smoke to 152*, but I take mine to at least 160*.

Bear

 

[smoothie]

Update:
Killed my first deer of the season a couple weeks ago and Sunday tried my first batch of trail bologna of this harvest. With what I learned, I allowed my meat to sit overnight in the casings blending flavors, then Sunday I preheated my smoker to 110 and hung up my sausage. I then seasoned the casings for 2 hours at 110, then 2 hours at 130, then 2 hours at 150, then finished to an IT of 160 and immediately dumped them into an ice water bath until IT reached 120. Then hung them to bloom at room temp for two hours and stuck em in the fridge til the morning. However the problem I was hoping to correct is still around, there's still a fair amount of grease coating the sausage. I used 4 pounds of venison and 1 pound of pork sausage. Does anyone have anymore suggestions as to why I'm getting the fat out? I sure figured cooking at lower temps over a longer period of time would have fixed it. Could it be my casings? Too much pork content? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[daveomak]

Use the sprayer on your sink faucet.... spray with hot tap water to rinse the fat from the casing.... then cool in ice water to 100 deg F... also if you cook/smoke your sausage at a max of 160 they shouldn't fat out... you may have to steam them or simmer in 160 deg water to get to final temp...

 

[smoothie]

Well I can't hardly spray them off, the fat isn't on the outside of the casings. I have been cutting off the casings and rinsing the meat off under the faucet.

 

[woodcutter]

It sounds like you did everything right. But, it also sounds like your temps were too high. Have you checked your thermometers for accuracy with ice water and boiling water? The fat starts to render around 180. Do you have any cut pictures of the sausage you could post?

 

[smoothie]

Actually I've never calibrated my smoker's thermometer or my leave in probe so I guess I could do that. I don't have any pics, already sealed and put away in the freezer. I'm actually not horribly disappointed, it actually tastes really good once you wash away the excess grease. Thank you for the suggestions, I'll calibrate both before the next batch.

 

[driedstick]

 
It sounds like you did everything right. But, it also sounds like your temps were too high. Have you checked your thermometers for accuracy with ice water and boiling water? The fat starts to render around 180. Do you have any cut pictures of the sausage you could post?