# Jalepeno Cheese venison sausage - new recipe, need some suggestions on changes



## skelso98 (Dec 4, 2012)

As the title says, I need some valued input on a current situation. Since I was a small kid, my family has always processed our own game. Sadly, after my grandfather died my dad and I continued to butcher our own roasts, steaks, ground meat, etc but started using commercial processors for smoked sausage. Along the way the old recipes have been lost. I have all the necessary equipment, now I need to perfect the method. 

I attempted a smoked venison sausage last night and the outcome was OK but needs some tweaking. The following are my concerns and what I think I need to do to correct them. I would love to hear the views of others to see if I am on the right track or completely off base...

1) Consistency of meat is more like hot dog than sausage - I believe this is due to two factors (1) the amount of water in the recipe made the meat mixture VERY soupy (2) being lazy I stuffed with grinder tube rather than vertical stuffer. I think the soupy mix through the plate a second time actually further ground the meat.

2) The cheese got dispersed throughout the link rather than staying in chunks - again i think due to too much water and regrind effect. Less water and verticle stuffer should fix.

3) The smoke is a bit heavy. Not inedible but definitely noticeable bitterness and smoky aftertaste - I think I should have pulled the wood out when i turned the heat up to finish cooking after the initial 2 hrs of smoke 

Process Used:

I prefer jalepeno cheese smoked sausage links. The processor we've used in the past sells their spice mix but I would prefer to mix my own for cost and pride... I scrolled through several recipes and decided what I thought would be good. I made a 1# batch into a single link to test taste before making a big batch. For the 1# batch I used the following:

9.6oz Venison
4oz wild pork 
2.4oz bacon bits and pieces (both the venison and wild pork are very lean trimmed so I felt I needed the extra fat content)
1.5T tender quick
2t mustard seed
1t garlic powder
1t coarse ground pepper
2 jalepenos (cored and chopped)
2oz mild cheddar
1C cold water
natural pork casing

I didn't want to break out the big grinder for a small batch so I did everything with a Kitchen Aid with grinder attachment. I used the following method:

1) Grind venison, wild pork, and bacon pieces (separately) through KA "coarse" plate
2) Mix tender quick, garlic powder, mustard seed, and pepper into cold water
3) Mix all meats, water seasoning mixture, jalepenos and cheese together by hand.
4) Attach stuffer tube to KA grinder attachment (leaving coarse plate to hold auger but removing blade)
5) Stuff casing (previously soaked in warm water, flushed, etc)
6) Place link on plate in refrigerator overnight uncovered
7) Next evening placed link on counter for 30 - 45 minutes to allow temp to rise toward ambient temp
8) Placed into electric smoker (no wood in box) at 130 degrees w/ door unlatched for 45 minutes to continue drying casing
9) added 2oz chunk of hickory (dried, bark removed) to smoker, latched door, and increased temp to 150 for 2 hours (flipped link on rack at 1hr)
10) increased temp to 180 - 190  for 1.5hr (until internal temp of 160)
11) Water bathed in bucket of ice water until internal temp of 80
12) wiped off excess water and hung for 1hr
13) placed in refrigerator uncovered overnight
14) Next day, heated in oven, sliced, and sampled

Thanks for any input you can provide!


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## diggingdogfarm (Dec 4, 2012)

Looks good, you got a good bind.

A few things to consider:
I'd drop the water to no more than a 1/4 cup.
Too much MTQ (over the safe nitrite limit), Morton recommends 1/2 a tablespoon per pound of sausage meat.
KA mixer makes a horrible stuffer (this is what's most likely contributing to the hot dog texture....with that much water the mix likely did a lot of churning in the KA)
Smoker temps and finishing temps (sausage IT temp) are too high, temp should be increased gradually.


~Martin


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## skelso98 (Dec 4, 2012)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> Looks good, you got a good bind.
> 
> A few things to consider:
> I'd drop the water to no more than a 1/4 cup.
> ...



Thanks for the reply. You confirmed some of my suspicions. 

You are right, a LOT of churning is an understatement. I had a heck of a time getting the mixture through the KA to stuff the casing. Just couldn't bring myself to drag out the ol cast iron stuffer for a single link test batch...

Glad you mentioned the MTQ, I was hoping someone would comment on the amount. The original recipe called for 3T for 1# of meat. I thought that sounded way high so I read the bag and it said 1T per pound for most soft meats. I couldn't find anything specific to sausage so I split the difference.

When I do the big batch I'm going to use a digital thermometer to monitor temp inside chamber. For this link I just relied on the temp dial which has very rough markings (I think 125, 150, 200, etc if memory is correct). I intended to pull out of the smoker at IT of 158. It had 30 minutes to go on the timer but I went out to check it and was surprised by the 160 temp.

What do you like the final IT to be?
What smoker temp / times would you recommend?

Thanks again! 




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## diggingdogfarm (Dec 4, 2012)

Internal meat temp, no more than 152 degrees for me.

Smoker temp, I like to start out at no more that 100 degrees and slowly increase to no more than 170 degrees.

~Martin


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## smokinhusker (Dec 4, 2012)

Looks pretty good though. Martin gave you perfect answers!!! I used my grinder to stuff ONE time and it was more like hot dog consistency. Now I stay with the sausage stuffer.


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## diggingdogfarm (Dec 4, 2012)

skelso98 said:


> The original recipe called for 3T for 1# of meat.



Yikes!
That's three times the safe maximum limit!



~Martin


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## jbird (Dec 5, 2012)

You will find using high temp cheeses will stay together rather than melting through out the meat..And sometimes the hot dog texture is a result of over grinding or to fine of plate.. I'm no expert by any means but these have been my experiences.


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## BGKYSmoker (Dec 5, 2012)

I will eat it, just send it all down here.


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## driedstick (Dec 5, 2012)

Looks great


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## skelso98 (Dec 7, 2012)

Yesterday I made a bigger batch (16#). I took the original recipe and multiplied all ingredients by 16 with the exception of water and MTQ. For the 16# batch I used 1C MTQ and 5C water (Tried 4 but it wasn't quite enough to run through stuffer easily).

I also changed the temps and times. Since I was unable to let the links dry in the refrigerator overnight, I placed them in the smoker, door unlatched, for 2 hours @100. Then I added 4oz of hickory chunks and increased temp to 150 for 2 hours. Flipped all links and increased temp to 170. Checked IT 2 hrs later - 140 another hour - 155

The end result is much better than the test batch.  The consistency is where it's supposed to be. The cheese is still in chunks throughout the links. The seasoning is about right (although for myself I would increase pepper or add cayenne or something to spice it up, and I would increase garlic). My only complaint at all would be the color of the links. The ends closest the heat source at the beginning of the smoke cycle are nice mahogany, the other ends are light brown (casing looks like it got little smoke). I noticed this 2 hours into smoke cycle, that's why I flipped them but it didn't help... The good news is the smoke flavor is throughout the link so it's just a color issue.

I have 1/2 the batch left to smoke tonight. I'm going to go back to the original temps and times and see how that turns out.













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## tritowner (Dec 7, 2012)

mouth watering...


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## big game cook (Dec 8, 2012)

looking better. yes i had the same trouble when i first used my grinder to stuff. the cheese ended up lost in the mix. when i used the horn stuffer i got it made a world of difference. martin pretty much summed up what i could add. decrease the water and heat. second batch looking good.


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## rickyldd (Dec 8, 2012)

jbird said:


> You will find using high temp cheeses will stay together rather than melting through out the meat..And sometimes the hot dog texture is a result of over grinding or to fine of plate.. I'm no expert by any means but these have been my experiences.


Could you elaborate on this... what are these and where would you obtain these?

thanks


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## boykjo (Dec 8, 2012)

looks great......


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## diggingdogfarm (Dec 8, 2012)

Very nice!


~Martin


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## tennsmoker (Dec 9, 2012)

Hi Rick,

Hi-Temp cheese at the following;

Sausagemaker website http://www.sausagemaker.com/search.aspx?find=hi+temp*  (this is one of our sponsors for SMF)*

http://www.lemproducts.com/product/3725/sausage-jerky-seasonings-cure-spices

Hope this helps

al


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## rtbbq2 (Dec 9, 2012)

DiggingDogFarm said:


> Internal meat temp, no more than 152 degrees for me.
> Smoker temp, I like to start out at no more that 100 degrees and slowly increase to no more than 170 degrees.
> ~Martin


......................................
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





....................For the most part you had it nailed. The few suggestions above will make your next batch better than excellent.....
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





..Here is a super book on sausage, authored by the guy who started the Sausage Maker Company  http://www.sausagemaker.com/. I think the book is on it's 4th additon printing...Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing....Barnes and Noble is shipping the 4th addition even though the picture shows the 3rd edition. The price is $19 but some places sell it for $30.. All of the tips the guys shared above are in this book along with many more and many great sausage recipes too...
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





..http://www.barnesandnoble.com/listi..._-Q000000633-_-2682444424123&cm_mmca2=pla&r=1


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## driedstick (Dec 9, 2012)

Looks great from here nice job


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## rtbbq2 (Dec 9, 2012)

RTBBQ2 said:


> ......................................
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Looks like it's the most popular book on sausage making on this site too........http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/products/great-sausage-recipes-and-meat-curing-by-rytek-kutas


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## big game cook (Dec 10, 2012)

Rickyldd said:


> Could you elaborate on this... what are these and where would you obtain these?
> 
> thanks


ya lem has it and sausage maker. also check you local meat packers. sometines its cheaper. i get mine at raybers here in illinois. is $25 for 5 lbs. the cheese chunks or shreds stay solid up to 400 degrees. means you will have chunks of cheese in your sausage not melted cheese flavor. this is what they use when you get summer sausage with cheese in it.


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## hoity toit (Dec 10, 2012)

skelso98 said:


> Yesterday I made a bigger batch (16#). I took the original recipe and multiplied all ingredients by 16 with the exception of water and MTQ. For the 16# batch I used 1C MTQ and 5C water (Tried 4 but it wasn't quite enough to run through stuffer easily).
> I also changed the temps and times. Since I was unable to let the links dry in the refrigerator overnight, I placed them in the smoker, door unlatched, for 2 hours @100. Then I added 4oz of hickory chunks and increased temp to 150 for 2 hours. Flipped all links and increased temp to 170. Checked IT 2 hrs later - 140 another hour - 155
> The end result is much better than the test batch. The consistency is where it's supposed to be. The cheese is still in chunks throughout the links. The seasoning is about right (although for myself I would increase pepper or add cayenne or something to spice it up, and I would increase garlic). My only complaint at all would be the color of the links. The ends closest the heat source at the beginning of the smoke cycle are nice mahogany, the other ends are light brown (casing looks like it got little smoke). I noticed this 2 hours into smoke cycle, that's why I flipped them but it didn't help... The good news is the smoke flavor is throughout the link so it's just a color issue.
> I have 1/2 the batch left to smoke tonight. I'm going to go back to the original temps and times and see how that turns out.
> ...


you said you flipped them ????

I have always hung my sausage using a wooden dowel rod inside the smoker. I start at 120 and go in increments up to 170 pulling the sausage out at an IT of 165 and then directly into an ice bath to set it.


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## skelso98 (Dec 10, 2012)

Hoity Toit said:


> skelso98 said:
> 
> 
> > Yesterday I made a bigger batch (16#). I took the original recipe and multiplied all ingredients by 16 with the exception of water and MTQ. For the 16# batch I used 1C MTQ and 5C water (Tried 4 but it wasn't quite enough to run through stuffer easily).
> ...



Good catch, I thought that might throw some people off. When I did the test link i just threw it on a rack so I flipped it over on the rack. Now for the bigger batch, I hung links on rods (could only get 1//2 batch in smoker at a time) When I checked on it I noticed the bottoms of all the links were nice mahogany and the tops were all brownish so I flipped them so the ties were down and the bends were up thinking it might be due to temp variance within the smoker.



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## tim ostrander (Dec 10, 2012)

I made this recipe last year, and it turned out great. I added a bit more spice, and more cheese, but other than that followed the instructions. I had tons pf people raving about it, even guys that spend big bucks every year to have it made up professionally.
 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/venison-cheddar-jalapeno-summer-sausage/


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## daveomak (Dec 11, 2012)

Skelso, morning.....  something to think  about using the KA for a stuffer.....Dice the meat into 1" cubes, mix the spices and cure with water, finely dice the cheese (someone mentioned low fat cheese may work in place of high temp cheese awhile back), mix everything together and refer overnight.... Prep the casings and grind and stuff in one pass.... This should improve the meat texture,(single pass through the grinder) and make stuffing easier.... The KA does not like running once ground meat.... I have done that and it was a PITA.... I ended up buying a vertical 5# stuffer..... 

PS... If you are adding a filler like Soy Protein, add that at the last minute before stuffing.... It gets sticky and doesn't like to stuff.... I also only use 1/2 of the recommended filler on my sausage....  I also grind on the 3/8" plate for coarse texture... gives something for the "tooth" so to speak...     Dave


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## jbird (Dec 11, 2012)

*Rick I bought mine a my local butcher supply. I bought 1lb of cheddar and 1lb of pepper jack for $7.99lb. And of course like others say you can order it online.*


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## rickyldd (Dec 11, 2012)

Ok thanks guys. had a seinor moment didn't think about Google.

Thanx again


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