# Summer Sausage Recipe and Questions



## cosmicmiami (Nov 30, 2013)

I finally got my Mom's recipe for a summer sausage that I've been wanting for over 20 years.  It was given to her by a friend of my grandfather's in Kansas City.

4# hamburger

4 tbsp Morton's Tenderquick

4 tsp mustard seed

1 1/2 tsp pepper

3 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp Liquid Smoke

Mix thoroughly, cover, refrigerate overnight (or up to 2 days, blending everyday).

Divide into 4 loaves.  Wrap in nylon net or cheescloth.  Tie ends.

Place on rack (broiler pan).  Bake 4 hours at 225F.

I'm going to try a couple things.  I split the meat in half.  Added 1/2 tbsp liquid smoke to one and left the other one without.  Will smoke the non-liquid smoke and bake the other one as indicated.

I do have a question here.  The 4 tbsp tenderquick seems a little slim for 4#.  I've never done any curing before so it may be just fine.  I remember having this as a kid and it was maybe a little less firm than say a genoa salami.  I'm also wondering if one could add a little pork to this.  Anybody make sausages mixing beef and pork?

Q-View upcoming.


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## woodcutter (Nov 30, 2013)

My TQ bag says 1 Tbs per pound so it is correct. You can add pork but you need to adjust your TQ as you go keeping with 1 Tbs per pound. Thanks for the recipe. I'm anxious to see how it works out for you.


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## daveomak (Nov 30, 2013)

It is a little heavy....  3 tsp. = 1 Tbsp.   sooooo,    2 Tbsp. appears to be the correct amount for 4#'s product.....

Use 1/2 tablespoon (1 1/2 level teaspoons)* per pound of ground meat and fat*. If replacing Morton Tender Quick for cure #1 in a recipe, do not add the salt that the recipe calls for. 

U.S. Measurements

Amount of Meat/Fat Amount of Cure 
Vol. Wt. 
1 lb. 1.5 tsp* .23 oz. 
*5 lbs. 7.5 tsp* 1.15 oz. 
*10 lbs. 1/4 C + 1 Tbsp 2.30 oz. 
15 lbs. 1/4C + 3.5 Tbsp 3.45 oz. 
25 lbs. 3/4 C + 1.5 tsp 5.55 oz. 
tsp= teaspoon; Tbsp= Tablespoon;
 C= cup; oz.= ounce  

Spice Packet: If the spices that are included with the Sugar Cures are not desired, it is not necessary to mix the spices with the cure mix. The unspiced Sugar Cure contains the curing agents and may be used alone. When using the spices with your cure combine 1 1/4 teaspoons of spice mix with one cup of cure and mix thoroughly. If any portion of the complete mix with spice is not used within a few days, it should be discarded (once the spices are mixed with the cure the spices will begin to react with the nitrates and nitrites).

The above information was copied from the link below......
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts


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## boykjo (Nov 30, 2013)

First off welcome to SMF CM and were glad to have you aboard...Can you swing over to roll call and introduce yourself so we can give you a proper welcome........

I was given that exact recipe about 25 yrs ago by my brother in law.  He and I  have made it many times. It was actually what got me started in learning how to make sausage and cure meat....  It was very good......I  modified the recipe and came up with my own which is also very good... 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/115702/my-salami-kickoff-to-the-new-year-finished  

Give your recipe a whirl... you wont be disappointed... I used 93/7 ground beef for the loafs... I like to do summer sausage very lean.. You can get (fat out) with 80/20 even with proper temps....

Good luck

Joe


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## rexlan (Dec 1, 2013)

boykjo said:


> First off welcome to SMF CM and were glad to have you aboard...Can you swing over to roll call and introduce yourself so we can give you a proper welcome........
> 
> I was given that exact recipe about 25 yrs ago by my brother in law.  He and I  have made it many times. It was actually what got me started in learning how to make sausage and cure meat....  It was very good......I  modified the recipe and came up with my own which is also very good...
> 
> ...


I am confused ... you doubled the ingredients for 5# of meat or???

I'll be doing a 10 lb chub of 80/20

edited: 90/10

here is the modified recipe for #5

Steps

1. Add 5 lbs lean hamburger

2. Add 5 tsp Mortons tender quick

3. Add 2 1/2 tsp garlic salt

4 .Add 2 1/2 tsp ground pepper

5. Add1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

6. Add1 tsp liquid smoke

7. Add1/2 oz or 14g cultured buttermilk

8. Add1 tsp black peppercorns

9. 1 tsp mustard seed

Mix all ingredients 1-9 and set in fridge for 24 hrs. *Repeat steps 2 through 9 again* and mix. let sit in fridge for another 24 hrs.


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## daveomak (Dec 1, 2013)

Morning all.....  

There appears to be some question about the amounts of Morton's products to be used in certain applications....  
What I have gleaned from reading their products pages and recipes is....................
...1 1/2 tsp. per pound of ground meats.....  Beef Salami ... as an example.....
...1 Tbs.  per pound of whole muscle products ....  Canadian bacon ... as an example.....

It is very important to follow the manufacturers recommendations when using their products.....   

Not all curing products are the same.... not all products get the same amount of cure....   

Below are links to the recipes and Morton's recommendations for each type of product......

If you are using Cure #1 or Prague Powder, these amounts do not apply to you.....

If you are using a curing product your meat supplier has provided you... these amounts do not apply....  Commercial operations have mixed up specialty blends for their customers and come with a specific amount of mix to be added to each product and meat type....
Example...  I use a maple sugar cure my meat guy has given me for bacon... application rate is 2# mix per 100# of bacon...  It includes salt, nitrite and maple sugar..... a commercial mix not to be confused with other mixes......   


http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/recipes

http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/recipes/18/beef-salami/
http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/recipes/230/herbed-sausage/
http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/recipes/231/pepperoni/


http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-...229/german-style-cured-pork-chops-gepockelte/
http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/recipes/228/deli-style-corned-beef/
http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/recipes/38/canadian-bacon/


I hope this clears up some of the questions...   You can always PM me if you have any additional questions....   If I don't know the answer, I will attempt to find it, or refer you to another member of the forum that can help you....


Dave


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## boykjo (Dec 1, 2013)

rexlan said:


> I am confused ... you doubled the ingredients for 5# of meat or???
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yes. its 5 lbs of meat and you add the ingredients listed twice to the meat. 1 set of listed ingredients on one day and another set on the next day. Dont know really why but it was the reipe's instuctions. So for 5 lbs of meat it will have 2 servings of whats there

This recipe with no other added salts will have 10 tsp of TQ rather than the 7.5 tsp recomended by mortons. If anyone thinks it is not safe I will take it down. It is a good recipe and I'll keep it to myself..... JMHO


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## rexlan (Dec 1, 2013)

OK ... got it now ... thanks Joe.


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## woodcutter (Dec 1, 2013)

boykjo said:


> rexlan said:
> 
> 
> > I am confused ... you doubled the ingredients for 5# of meat or???
> ...


Joe, I sent a PM to Dave about the amount of TQ because I was confused. My package said 1 Tbs per pound and whenever I use it everything is too salty. I asked him for some clarification trying to find out if I have been using TQ wrong.


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## Bearcarver (Dec 1, 2013)

I have always used:

1 TBS (1/2 ounce) of TQ per pound of whole meat.

And 1/2 TBS (1/4 ounce) of TQ per pound of ground meat.

Bear


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## reinhard (Dec 1, 2013)

My understanding has always been 1 T  of TQ per pound of meat.  Even the Nesco pre mix jerkey mixes have a one T packet of TQ attached to the seasoning pack for one pound.  If too  much salty taste is the issue why not use 1 tsp of instacure #1 intead of TQ and only use it once with this 5 pound recipe. Instead of TQ use the equal amount of salt or less to taste.  I only use TQ for jerkey. Instacure #1 for everything else in smoked sausage and summer such as this recipe. i like to be accurate with cures. Can always mess with seasonings not cures.  Reinhard


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## Bearcarver (Dec 1, 2013)

Reinhard said:


> My understanding has always been 1 T  of TQ per pound of meat.  Even the Nesco pre mix jerkey mixes have a one T packet of TQ attached to the seasoning pack for one pound.  If too  much salty taste is the issue why not use 1 tsp of instacure #1 intead of TQ and only use it once with this 5 pound recipe. Instead of TQ use the equal amount of salt or less to taste.  I only use TQ for jerkey. Instacure #1 for everything else in smoked sausage and summer such as this recipe. i like to be accurate with cures. Can always mess with seasonings not cures.  Reinhard


Some like TQ, and some like Cure #1. I don't believe being too salty is the reason they only use 1/2 TBS for 1 pound of ground meat. The reason is that's the amount Mortons recommends.

It's not messing with cures---It's very simple:

1 TBS of TQ for 1 pound of whole meat.

1/2 TBS of TQ for 1 pound of ground meat.

Bear


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## woodcutter (Dec 1, 2013)

Bearcarver said:


> Reinhard said:
> 
> 
> > My understanding has always been 1 T  of TQ per pound of meat.  Even the Nesco pre mix jerkey mixes have a one T packet of TQ attached to the seasoning pack for one pound.  If too  much salty taste is the issue why not use 1 tsp of instacure #1 intead of TQ and only use it once with this 5 pound recipe. Instead of TQ use the equal amount of salt or less to taste.  I only use TQ for jerkey. Instacure #1 for everything else in smoked sausage and summer such as this recipe. i like to be accurate with cures. Can always mess with seasonings not cures.  Reinhard
> ...


So for the recipes on this thread would you make them according to the recipe or what Morton's recommends? They are not new recipes and liked by the people who posted them.


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## Bearcarver (Dec 1, 2013)

Woodcutter said:


> So for the recipes on this thread would you make them according to the recipe or what Morton's recommends? They are not new recipes and liked by the people who posted them.


I'm not going to tell people who like particular recipes not to use them, but I would not use a recipe that calls for more or less TQ than Mortons recommends. They make TQ, and know more about how much to use than anyone else or any recipe. There are some things that I disagree with Mortons on, but I follow their TQ use amounts precisely.

Bear


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## reinhard (Dec 1, 2013)

Bear, you are one of the best smokers [all catagories in my opinion] on here. you are correct on the TQ recomondations as you stated.  There is confusion out there on this thread and products that use TQ.  High Mountain says to use 1.25 tsp per pound of cure and Nesco has 1 T in their packets per pound for use in ground or solid meats.  I have read threads where some folks use amounts as stated and complain of being too salty and wonder if they should cut back on the TQ.  I called Nesco and High Mountain some time ago and both use TQ in for their cure.  Doesn't even say what amounts to use for ground meats on a TQ bag, only the 1 T per pound of meat. This is what Nesco has in it's pack for one pound of ground or solid meat one T.  So i'll stick to instacure and use salt according to my taste or add it to pre-packed seasonings for sausage and TQ for jerky.  Didn't mean to post like a know-it-all, just my opinion and what i do.  Reinhard


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## Bearcarver (Dec 2, 2013)

Reinhard said:


> Bear, you are one of the best smokers [all catagories in my opinion] on here. you are correct on the TQ recomondations as you stated.  There is confusion out there on this thread and products that use TQ.  High Mountain says to use 1.25 tsp per pound of cure and Nesco has 1 T in their packets per pound for use in ground or solid meats.  I have read threads where some folks use amounts as stated and complain of being too salty and wonder if they should cut back on the TQ.  I called Nesco and High Mountain some time ago and both use TQ in for their cure.  Doesn't even say what amounts to use for ground meats on a TQ bag, only the 1 T per pound of meat. This is what Nesco has in it's pack for one pound of ground or solid meat one T.  So i'll stick to instacure and use salt according to my taste or add it to pre-packed seasonings for sausage and TQ for jerky.  Didn't mean to post like a know-it-all, just my opinion and what i do.  Reinhard


I didn't take it like you think you know it all. I only posted because In don't like to see people telling others (not you) that using amounts of TQ different than what Mortons says is a good thing. I don't know what Hi Mt uses, but I only used it once, and I found it bland except for too much salt.

I know some say TQ is too salty, but I never had any that was, in fact the ground meat products I make have no salt flavor at all. I've actually thought about adding salt.

I don't use Cure #1 for dry curing, because I find it hard to spread 1 tsp of cure over 5 lbs of meat. And it is my opinion that I can't mix 1 tsp of cure evenly with 5 TBS of salt & sugar. Mortons does things with TQ to make the cure adhere to the other ingredients so that it gets distributed evenly. That way, I can also dip into the bag 20 times over years, and the distribution will stay the same without having to mix it thoroughly again & again & again. If I ever use Cure #1, it will be in a wet brine cure, not for dry curing.

The above are my opinions, and I don't really care who agrees with them.

Also:   Yes the TQ bag only says to mix 1 TBS per pound of meat, but their recipes say 1 TBS when it is with whole meats, and 1 1/2 tsp per pound when it is with ground meats.

Bear


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## reinhard (Dec 2, 2013)

Thanks Bear.  When i make summer or  any sausage that i use cure in i mix the cure and the seasoning in the liquid [water/beer] that is required for the amount of mix i make. This way everything is distributed in the sausage mix. I just pour the liquid with the cure and seasoning over the ground up meat i use and mix away till mixed well.  Reinhard


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## Bearcarver (Dec 2, 2013)

Reinhard said:


> Thanks Bear.  When i make summer or  any sausage that i use cure in i mix the cure and the seasoning in the liquid [water/beer] that is required for the amount of mix i make. This way everything is distributed in the sausage mix. I just pour the liquid with the cure and seasoning over the ground up meat i use and mix away till mixed well.  Reinhard


Yup, with ground meat, that's exactly what I do. I even poke finger holes all around the mixed meat, so when I pour it in, it gets a good start in the mixing procedure.

Bear


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## cosmicmiami (Jan 20, 2014)

I'm not sure why I quit getting notifications on this thread.  Wow.  I really stirred it up huh? 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






To followup with this build, it is clear that the sausage made WITHOUT the liquid smoke and put in the smoker is far superior to the one that used the LS and was cooked in the oven.  That's the way I figured it would turn out but I needed to make sure.

I'm doing another batch tomorrow and will NOT use the LS.

For fear of stirring up another hornets nest, I have another question with regards to cure time.  The recipe says overnight but can be cured for several days.  What are the (dis)advantages to longer cure times with ground beef?  Seems to me that the meat would be firmer with longer cures but that's just me being intuitive.

Thanks for all the help.


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## Bearcarver (Jan 20, 2014)

cosmicmiami said:


> I'm not sure why I quit getting notifications on this thread.  Wow.  I really stirred it up huh?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I would think they're using "Overnight" as a minimum. I see nothing wrong with a few days. As far as being firmer, someone who is more into sausage than I am should be more sure of that. I don't see a big difference either way.

Bear

Bear


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## cosmicmiami (Jan 20, 2014)

I'm thinking that is a minimum.  What I'm looking for is if there are any advantages to a longer cure before smoking.


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## Bearcarver (Jan 20, 2014)

cosmicmiami said:


> I'm thinking that is a minimum.  What I'm looking for is if there are any advantages to a longer cure before smoking.


Like I said, "I don't see any advantages or disadvantages, but there are guys that know more about sausage than I do."

Bear


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