Venison Summer Sausage question

[bnew17]

What percentage of fat do i add to my Summer Sausage and what temp do i cook it to on my smoker?

I will be making 25 pounds so i will have alot left over. Will it be better to cook it all then freeze it? Or freeze it un cooked and then cook it as i need it?

Thanks

 

[rbranstner]

I will let the pro's comment on the fat ratio on your summer sausage. I have an idea of what I am going to do with mine but we like ours on the lean side and this will be the first time I have never made summer sausage so I have no real hands on feedback to give you. Now regarding the leftover's you are going to have. Are you talking about leftover ground meat? Is it going to be seasoned with summer sausage seasoning or just ground meat? If its going to be ground meat which is mixed with pork then I would just freeze it and use it for burger or make it into something else like hot sticks, or sausage. If you clarify a bit on what you will have we can give you some suggestions on what to do.

 

[smokeamotive]

Like Ross said, what meat are you going to have left over?  Will it be cured? On my SS I like a 90/10 mix. Then i cold smoke it for 8 to 12 hours then increase the temps to bring it up to 155 deg IT. I also do some thing that alot of folks don't do..... I let it age in the fridge for 2 to 3 weeks. This allows moisture to escape from the sausage and lets it firm up to almost a hard salami in texture. Sure it shinks up a bit but the flavor and texture are outstanding.....at least thats what everyone who has tried it has said. I will be making a 20 lb batch today and tomorrow as I don't have enough for the holidays. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask more questions. Thats what were here for!

 

[Bearcarver]

I have found about an 80/20 ratio to work best for me, but I also make mine unstuffed (no skins).

Some of my stuff would probably fall apart when slicing, with a leaner mix.

Bear

 

[solaryellow]

Cook it first, then vacuum seal and freeze whatever you won't be eating right away. When I have made venison summer sausage I have added 20% boston butt and 10% chuck to 70% venison or used 15% brisket trimming (leftover from making pastrami) with 85% venison. It turns out pretty good. I smoke mine to 160* IT gradually.

 

[bnew17]

I plan on mixing all my meat with the fat and summer sausage mix. im going to put it all in the casings as if it were ready to go on the smoker. Should i freeze it "raw" or should i cook it first then freeze it? That is the portions i dont plan on eating at the time.

 

[smokeamotive]

With summer sausage being  a " cured sausage" you will need to mix it all up and let it cure overnight. You can do this before or after stuffing into casings. Then smoke as desired and gradually bring it up to temp. Then "cold shock it" buy putting it into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Then remove and dry off and let it "Bloom" for a while. Then you can package and freeze. I would not freeze any uncooked SS. How do you plan to package for freezing?  Do you have a vacuum packer? 

 

[bnew17]

yes i will be vaccum sealing it.

 

With summer sausage being  a " cured sausage" you will need to mix it all up and let it cure overnight. You can do this before or after stuffing into casings. Then smoke as desired and gradually bring it up to temp. Then "cold shock it" buy putting it into an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Then remove and dry off and let it "Bloom" for a while. Then you can package and freeze. I would not freeze any uncooked SS. How do you plan to package for freezing?  Do you have a vacuum packer? 

 

[bnew17]

thanks alot everyone for the information so far.

 

[fpnmf]

My last batch of SS was about 75/25  with pork.

Ground,mixed, seasoned (then into fridge for 2 days), stuffed and smoked/cooked.

Finish it then freeze it.

Here's some and some andouille.

 

[coffee_junkie]

I do half venison and half boston butt, seems to get me in the 80/20 to 90/10 range. I use cure in mine and assume you will be also. I take mine to 165 but I increase the temp of the smoker about 3 times during the process starting about 120* and ending at about 195*, ice bath to stop the cooking and then let it bloom a couple of hours before packaging and freezing.

 

[ronnies]

I am wanting to make a jalepeno/cheese summer sausage with deer meat.  I have 15 lbs ground and will add about 5 lbs pork.  My question is about how much cheese and jalapenos' would you suggest.

Thanks

Ronnie

 

[bnew17]

Wow, your SS and Andouille looks awesome. i hope mine can come out looking half that good. Instead of using straight pork fat, i can use the same ratio of boston butt?

 

My last batch of SS was about 75/25  with pork.

Ground,mixed, seasoned (then into fridge for 2 days), stuffed and smoked/cooked.

Finish it then freeze it.

Here's some and some andouille.

 

[coffee_junkie]

Wow, your SS and Andouille looks awesome. i hope mine can come out looking half that good. Instead of using straight pork fat, i can use the same ratio of boston butt?

 

No, you have to assume that boston butt is about 70/30 - 80/20 I just like to add some pork for extra flavor. I look for the fattest pork butt I can find and mix it 50/50 (half pork butt and half venison) if I am making 30lbs I usually do 15lbs venison 13-14lbs boston butt then I add 1-2lbs of pure fat. It seems to work out good. I estimate that to be about 20-25% fat...but more importantly it turns out pretty good.

 

[fpnmf]

Wow, your SS and Andouille looks awesome. i hope mine can come out looking half that good. Instead of using straight pork fat, i can use the same ratio of boston butt?

Yup!!

That's how I do SS.

Not real scientific about it at all.

Gound up the venison and added ground up butt to get 10 pounds.

So ..lets say 7.5 venison and 2.5 butt.

If I am over or under I change the amount of mix.

I weighed the mix and figured how many ozs per pound.

I do a lot more detail with the andouille tho.

  Craig

 

[boykjo]

i do 10 percent like smokeamotive..........................

joe

 

[bnew17]

One more question....my package of spices says its for up to 25 pounds of meat. My question is ...Does that includes the fat or not?

 

[solaryellow]

Yes, that does include fat.

 

[bnew17]

Well guys i smoked the summer sausage yesterday. My dad helped me out letting me use his electric smoker since i was at work. I used 7 pounds boston butt and 18 pounds deer meat. It took longer than i thought to finish the sausage. We set the smoker to 180 degrees. after about 6 hours the meat stalled at 150 degrees internal. With having that much pork in the sausage i wanted to bring the meat to 170. Eventually i got it there and put it in an ice bath for an hour. The meat has great flavor. Didnt really know what to expect since it was my first time. Will post pics later