Hey Guys I am a new member not only to this site but this is the first forum I have ever joined. My new found addiction to smoking knows no bounds. I am an avid hunter and have allways wanted to take on more of my home processing. My self I like venison in all its forms but of course as many guys can relate to my wife is not a big fan of a deer steak . But she does enjoy cured and smoked venison. So this year I decided to venture outside my comfort zone of venison jerky and try my hand at summer sausage. The end result was fantastic. All the credit for my success has to be given to this forum and all the information I gleaned from its members. Here are some photos
This is just a quick shot of my smoker. I made it out of tounge and groove pine. I used old oven racks, and I run 3 1000watt hot plates for heat or if it gets really cold I put a 30,000btu propane burner in the bottom. It works great and the capacity really makes doing large batches much easier.
Here they are right after they sat in the fridge for 24hrs post smoke.
Here is the money shot. They turned out great. It was a 15lb batch (10lbs venison and 5lbs pork trim). I used high country seasoning as my base spice profile. From there I made 4 flavours , original recipe, cracked black pepper, chedder with cracked black pepper, and chedder with crushed red chilies. I took some to work with a box of Breton crackers and a brick of old chedder and it got good reviews. Not sure how they even tasted it because it was gone so fast ha ha. Here is my documentation of the process. As you will see it took a very long time due to some really low ambient temps. Thanks again to all those people who take the time to post all the helpful info on this forum. I look forward to learning and sharing more with all of you.
Summer Sausage Method
Dec 14,2015, ambient temp at 5:30 am was -8•C expected high of -5•C
5:10am sausage hanging @ 125•F
6:30am smoke chips added, temp increased to 140•F-150•F
11:00am Temp holding at 148•
12:30pm still holding. Smoking time increased due to inconsistent/thin smoke production
1:00pm smoke complete. Increased box temp to 160•. IT is 117•(I added water to the pan to prevent premature drying of the casing)
2:00pm Box temp is 165• IT is 122•
3:30pm IT is 130• (added more water to pan)
5:00pm Box temp increased to 170-175 IT is at 133• ( IT seems to be stalling out at this point )
6:00pm Box is 175• and IT is 137•
7:00pm IT is 141•
8:00pm IT is 144•
10:00pm IT is 146•
11:00pm IT is 148•
2:00am yikes IT Dropped to 140•
(Ambient temp dropped to -21•C) Took out and finished in the oven. Convection bake at 225• sausage got to a IT of 155• in about 40min. Immediately put into a ice bath for 40min
Hung up to bloom for 1.5hrs
Put in the fridge for 24hrs before packing.
Summer Sausage Method
Dec 14,2015, ambient temp at 5:30 am was -8•C expected high of -5•C
5:10am sausage hanging @ 125•F
6:30am smoke chips added, temp increased to 140•F-150•F
11:00am Temp holding at 148•
12:30pm still holding. Smoking time increased due to inconsistent/thin smoke production
1:00pm smoke complete. Increased box temp to 160•. IT is 117•(I added water to the pan to prevent premature drying of the casing)
2:00pm Box temp is 165• IT is 122•
3:30pm IT is 130• (added more water to pan)
5:00pm Box temp increased to 170-175 IT is at 133• ( IT seems to be stalling out at this point )
6:00pm Box is 175• and IT is 137•
7:00pm IT is 141•
8:00pm IT is 144•
10:00pm IT is 146•
11:00pm IT is 148•
2:00am yikes IT Dropped to 140•
(Ambient temp dropped to -21•C) Took out and finished in the oven. Convection bake at 225• sausage got to a IT of 155• in about 40min. Immediately put into a ice bath for 40min
Hung up to bloom for 1.5hrs
Put in the fridge for 24hrs before packing.
