Smoked Venison Summer Sausage

[pantherfan83]

I was talking about the summer sausage I was making in my post about encapsulated citric acid and Trapper asked me for the recipe. I told him I would do a full write-up with QView the next time I made some. Here it it is:

I think this is adapted from Rytek's book. I wrote the recipe down and can't remember where I got it from.

6 lbs venison
2 lbs pork butt
2 lbs fatback or pork trimmings
1 Tbs (8g) black pepper
6 Tbs (80g) kosher salt
4 Tbs (32g) dextrose
2 tsp (12g) DC salt #1
1 Tbs (4g) ground coriander
1 Tbs (6g) ground ginger
1 tsp (2g) ground mustard
1 tsp (4g) garlic powder
6 Tbs (72g) corn syrup solids
__________
17g Encapsulated Citric Acid or 6 oz. (170g) Fermento
16 oz ice water
1.5 lbs Cheese (optional) cut into small cubes (approx 3/8" square)
Beef middle casings

Chill meat and fat. Grind through a 3/16" plate. Place meat & fat in a tub and mix in all ingredients (except citric acid/fermento, ice water, and cheese) well. Refrigerate packed well and covered tightly for 2 days, then regrind through a 3/16" plate. Add water, citric acid/fermento and cheese cubes (optional) and mix until well incorporated (mix as little as possible). Note: The encapsulated citric acid must not be put through the grinder. If the encapsulation is broken, it will release the acid too soon and cause your sausage to have a bad texture.

Pack meat into stuffer and stuff into beef middles (make as long as desired or as long as your smoker will accommodate) tying with butcher string.

Hang on smoke sticks and dry at room temp with a fan blowing on them for 4-5 hours. Place in a preheated smoker @ 120-130F. Apply smoke at this temp for 3-4 hours or until the desired color is achieved. Raise temp to 165F and cook until internal temp reaches 152F.

Shower with cold water and put in an ice bath to lower temp below 120F. Hang @ room temp for 1-2 hours. Keep out of drafts. Place in fridge for 24 hours.

Pork butt and back fat (beautiful stuff) being ground.


Already ground venison


All the spices (but not the encapsulated citric acid) ready to be mixed in.


Mixed, covered tightly with plastic wrap, and ready to refrigerate for 48 hours.


After 48 hours. The meat has darkened considerably, the cure has done it's job.


Wanting to know if I need any "help".


Sorry didn't take a pic after regrinding the meat.

Beef middles on the stuffer


Some of the finished product after the ice bath.


Close up. Should have used a sharper knife to show the definition better.

 

[ronp]

Nice Q/view and a nice looking product. Thanks for sharing.

 

[salmonclubber]

great looking sausage thanks for the recipe

 

[lcruzen]

Now that is some fine looking sausage right there. Points for sure! I usually stuff the casing and then cure in fridge. Any particular reason for stuffing after? I've never use beef middles before but like the looks of your finished product.

 

[pantherfan83]

Thanks for the points!

To answer your question about stuffing first, then putting in the fridge to cure (I usually do this too), it's because this site http://www.excaliburseasoning.com/de...p?PageIndex=13 and others that i've read say things such as: "When using Encapsulated Citric Acid, mix into batter the last 45 seconds of the mixing cycle. Do Not Regrind. Hold product at room temperature or go straight to the smokehouse. Do Not Refrigerate after adding Encapsulated Citric Acid. If Encapsulation breaks it will short out your emulsion."

Len Poli's website says the same thing: http://home.pacbell.net/lpoli/page0001.htm (can't copy & paste from it??)

I tried e-mailing Butcher-Packer to ask about this, but they didn't answer. I understand why you are not supposed to regrind, but am not sure on why you shouldn't refrigerate. I assume it has something to do with the length of time that the capsules will hold the citric acid. The capsules will disolve or something if it sat in the refrigerator overnight, or in this case 48 hours.

I like the beef middles, because it gives a more rustic and hand-made appearance. In addition, I think their smaller diameter is sized much better to fit on a cracker than those synthetic casings that make the 3 lb logs. Those synthetic casings are really strong and do make a real uniform sized product, but I don't like those huge logs. If I thaw a whole one out, it tends to dry out before I finish eating it. Lastly, the beef middles are cheaper.

 

[pineywoods]

Those look awesome thanks for posting the recipe too

 

[trapper]

Everything sounds great, thanks for sharing. I assume you are happy with the results of the citric acid. Do you plan to tweek the recipe next time or is this "the one?" By the way we used cheese in some of ours this year and loved it. We used some of the high melting point from butcher packer in one batch and regular medium cheddar in the other. I preferred the regular cheddar other than having to cut it all up. No problems with it melting but we smoke the sausage at 170* and pull it at 152*.

 

[bigbaldbbq]

Looks great.

 

[pantherfan83]

Yes, I was very pleased with the citric acid.

I like it pretty much the way it is. I wouldn't tweak the recipe unless for some reason I wanted to make it spicy by adding some red pepper flakes and cayenne. I like the flavor that pepperjack cheese adds, but it doesn't really do much for the spicy factor. There's a deli nearby that has super-hot pepperjack. I'd like to try that sometime.

I agree about the cheese. I also use regular block cheese from the grocery. I've never had a problem with it melting. If someone is melting their cheddar or pepperjack, they are probably smoking at too high a temp or not pulling it at 152F.