# Venison summer sausage  using the smoker and sous vide



## crazymoon (Dec 19, 2019)

I made my annual Christmas time venison summer sausage a little different this year. Here's the main ingredients;






I usually go 7 pounds venison to 3 pounds pork butt-I didn't have my glasses on when I weighed the venison and read the scales wrong.I didn't discover my error until the next day when the meat was thawed. I only had 5.5 pounds of venny so I added 4.5 pounds of the leanest pork butt I could trim off a butt.





I ground up through a 3/16 plate twice and mixed in spices,cheese(1 pound for 10 pounds of meat) and 1 cup of  diced jalapenos.





I stuffed into 61mm casings that had been soaked in lukewarm water for 45minutes  and left in the fridge until the next day.My tools of the trade for stuffing come in handy:










 The next morning I dried the sausage in the smoker for and hour+ at 120-130* and then hit them with hickory chips at 140* for two hours. After many questions and great answers from our SMF crew I went to the sous vide with my sausgae for 4.5 hours at 140*.  Baldwins chart said 3.25 hours for my size casings and DaveOmak said an hour longer doesnt' hurt. The sausage was a bit crowded in the container so I went a bit longer.Into the snow they went for an hour :










I cut into them today and they are perfect!!! I will do all my VSS this way from now on.





All packed up and ready to give out at Christmas time. Thanks for looking, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all at SMF! CM


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## crazzycajun (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks great the summer sausage mix I get from sm already has fermento in it. Ordered their jalapeño powder to add to my next batch after the holidays. How was the heat with the pickled jalapeños?


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## TNJAKE (Dec 19, 2019)

That's looks great. You nailed it


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## motocrash (Dec 19, 2019)

Great lookin' VSS CM.
I say the snow cool helps the finished product also.It seems every time I see the snow cool method here, the sausage is perfect.
You must not have a snow dog.


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## crazymoon (Dec 19, 2019)

crazzycajun said:


> Looks great the summer sausage mix I get from sm already has fermento in it. Ordered their jalapeño powder to add to my next batch after the holidays. How was the heat with the pickled jalapeños?


CC,  I  would add the whole 12ounces next time for 10 pounds,only used 8.The VSS has some heat but mild.


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## baboy (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks great, I used to smoke my braunsweiger start to finish in the smoker but now do it like you did. the end product is much better.


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## 73saint (Dec 19, 2019)

Man that sho looks good!  I have made ss once, but it didn't turn out so well.  I will again one day.


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## chopsaw (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks fantastic . Nice work .


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## mike243 (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks great, I have a ? do the casings you used let the smoke in? then into the SV bath? wouldn't that wash any smoke off ?  just wondering as I need to make some soon thanks


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## crazymoon (Dec 19, 2019)

mike243 said:


> Looks great, I have a ? do the casings you used let the smoke in? then into the SV bath? wouldn't that wash any smoke off ?  just wondering as I need to make some soon thanks


Mike, I use a fibrous casing that lets smoke in and then I vacseal the sausage when it comes out of the smoker to waterproof it before the SV bath. There is a high barrier casing that is water proof but it is also smoke proof.


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## crazymoon (Dec 19, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Looks fantastic . Nice work .


CS, Thank -you for the help!!!!!!


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## R Blum (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks great. Your killing me here. Doing my yearly Venison Summer Sausage next week.


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## Mastercaster (Dec 19, 2019)

Looks awesome!


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## crazymoon (Dec 20, 2019)

R Blum said:


> Looks great. Your killing me here. Doing my yearly Venison Summer Sausage next week.


RB, Try the sous vide if you have one,it makes the process so much easier.You'll know exacly when the sausage is done with no fat out or wrinkling.


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## bthurston (Dec 20, 2019)

beautiful!


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## SmokinAl (Dec 20, 2019)

Awesome my friend!
It just looks delicious!
Al


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## creek bottom (Dec 20, 2019)

Looks fantastic!!! Similar to the way I do ours, only I use 75/25 ground beef for the summer sausage. We use pork with the venison in our hot sausage and kielbasi, but I found that I like beef better in the bologna (summer sausage)... Just my preference... Yours looks marvelous! LIKE!!!


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## hoity toit (Dec 20, 2019)

You really nailed that one. The SS look great ! Will have to try your Sv method next run I do.

HT


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## DanMcG (Dec 20, 2019)

Great looking SS, I don't think I ever had one look so perfect.
What was the texture like at 140°?


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## redneckviddles (Dec 20, 2019)

after you were done in the SV, did you re-bag the sausage after cooling  in the snow?


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## crazymoon (Dec 20, 2019)

DanMcG said:


> Great looking SS, I don't think I ever had one look so perfect.
> What was the texture like at 140°?


 Dan, the texture was excellent, all sticks were perfect.  I won't crowd the next batch and will  do 4 hours instead of 4.5.


redneckviddles said:


> after you were done in the SV, did you re-bag the sausage after cooling  in the snow?


RNV, I put all the bags in the fridge that night and cut and repacked all but one stick in the AM . The one whole sausage is still in the SV bag to be given to a friend as is.


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## driedstick (Dec 20, 2019)

Dang it man that looks good,,, Nice job


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## redneckviddles (Dec 20, 2019)

crazymoon said:


> Dan, the texture was excellent, all sticks were perfect.  I won't crowd the next batch and will  do 4 hours instead of 4.5.
> 
> RNV, I put all the bags in the fridge that night and cut and repacked all but one stick in the AM . The one whole sausage is still in the SV bag to be given to a friend as is.


i was wondering when you open the sv bag if you have to mop up a little grease and moisture and let them air dry a bit before final package


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## tropics (Dec 20, 2019)

CM They look great I have not made Summer Sausage yet. Big Like
Richie


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## crazymoon (Dec 20, 2019)

redneckviddles said:


> i was wondering when you open the sv bag if you have to mop up a little grease and moisture and let them air dry a bit before final package


RNV, I wiped off what seemed like smoke residue on the bags that I opened to cut up and repack. I thought about air drying but I have had that residue before on my VSS and repacked and eaten months later with no noticable decrease in flavor or texture.


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## WI_GameMeats (Dec 20, 2019)

I just got a SV for Christmas this year.  Looking forward to doing summer sausage this way!

So your finished internal temp of the sausage ended at 140?


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## crazymoon (Dec 20, 2019)

WI_GameMeats said:


> I just got a SV for Christmas this year.  Looking forward to doing summer sausage this way!
> 
> So your finished internal temp of the sausage ended at 140?


WIGM, I never probed the sausage but went with Baldwins chart http://www.douglasbaldwin.com/sous-vide.html  for time and temp for a safe product. I would say it was at 140 as it was in the bath for over the required time.


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## smokerjim (Dec 20, 2019)

that looks awesome!! nice job


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## BGKYSmoker (Dec 20, 2019)

Mighty fine job there CM.


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## xray (Dec 20, 2019)

That looks awesome CM!

Good use for that pesky snow!! I have some for free of you’re interested.

I always said beer taste better when it’s left outside in the snow, I guess we could add vss to that.

Like!!


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## bill ace 350 (Dec 20, 2019)

redneckviddles said:


> after you were done in the SV, did you re-bag the sausage after cooling  in the snow?


I was getting ready to ask the same!


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## Hawging It (Dec 20, 2019)

They look great. The only thing missing is a huge mug of beer and crackers.


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## Outlook214 (Dec 21, 2019)

Sorry for my ignorance, but what kind of chips, sawdust opr pellets do you use to get smoke at 140° ? I always see post on the internet about people smoking venison at 140°-165°, but my MES 30" will not smoke dry chips below 175° and even that is only certain types of wood, some don't smoke until closer to 200°.


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## crazymoon (Dec 22, 2019)

Outlook214 said:


> Sorry for my ignorance, but what kind of chips, sawdust opr pellets do you use to get smoke at 140° ? I always see post on the internet about people smoking venison at 140°-165°, but my MES 30" will not smoke dry chips below 175° and even that is only certain types of wood, some don't smoke until closer to 200°.


O214,  I have a smoker designed for sausage making(PK100), it will go down to 60 *.The only drawback to this smoker is the top temp is only 250*.I use the Luhr-Jehnsen chips in my smoker,you should check out the Amaze-N tray or tube that uses pellets and will let you smoke things like cheese in your MES.


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## uncle eddie (Dec 22, 2019)

Very nice looking sausage!  Like!


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## pa42phigh (Nov 6, 2020)

crazymoon said:


> I made my annual Christmas time venison summer sausage a little different this year. Here's the main ingredients;
> View attachment 424495
> 
> I usually go 7 pounds venison to 3 pounds pork butt-I didn't have my glasses on when I weighed the venison and read the scales wrong.I didn't discover my error until the next day when the meat was thawed. I only had 5.5 pounds of venny so I added 4.5 pounds of the leanest pork butt I could trim off a butt.
> ...


looks great .. in going to try this weekend . What does your Sv container look like?? I’m trying to figure out something to use since the sausage are so long thx


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## crazymoon (Nov 7, 2020)

pa42phigh said:


> looks great .. in going to try this weekend . What does your Sv container look like?? I’m trying to figure out something to use since the sausage are so long thx


PA42, My container is an Anova brand and it is about 18 inches long,a lot of folks use insulated coolers to SV their products.Figure out your container and make your SS to fit it,hopefully you have the continous roll of vac seal bags to cut to your specific length. Have fun !


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## zwiller (Nov 7, 2020)

Looks great!  Nice job.  Was actually planning on something similar and Dave Omak pointed out something I'd never read or heard in that SV will make the smoke more intense.  2hrs would not seem enough smoke for me and I would do 6-8hr but have not SV'd after a yet.  Any thoughts?


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## pa42phigh (Nov 7, 2020)

crazymoon said:


> PA42, My container is an Anova brand and it is about 18 inches long,a lot of folks use insulated coolers to SV their products.Figure out your container and make your SS to fit it,hopefully you have the continous roll of vac seal bags to cut to your specific length. Have fun !


That’s what I was thinking about a cooler..Yes I have rolls of bags   Thx for the reply


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## chopsaw (Nov 7, 2020)

I have a dedicated container with a lid , but for large chubs or large amounts I just used a regular cooler . Heats up just fine . Good advice above about fitting to what you have .


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## pa42phigh (Nov 7, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> I have a dedicated container with a lid , but for large chubs or large amounts I just used a regular cooler . Heats up just fine . Good advice above about fitting to what you have .
> View attachment 469694


Thx , that’s what I was worried about the ability to heat that much water


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## pa42phigh (Nov 7, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> I have a dedicated container with a lid , but for large chubs or large amounts I just used a regular cooler . Heats up just fine . Good advice above about fitting to what you have .
> View attachment 469694


All my coolers were to thick for the clamp on mine,
	

		
			
		

		
	







	

		
			
		

		
	
 so I bought a  4 dollar tote at the dollar store


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## crazymoon (Nov 9, 2020)

zwiller said:


> Looks great!  Nice job.  Was actually planning on something similar and Dave Omak pointed out something I'd never read or heard in that SV will make the smoke more intense.  2hrs would not seem enough smoke for me and I would do 6-8hr but have not SV'd after a yet.  Any thoughts?


Z, My 2 hours of smoke gave me a nice flavor to the VSS,personal preference prevails when it comes to length of smoke. :) If Dave  Omak says that SV intensifies the smoke then I would take that as gospel as he is quite knowledgeable in the SV department!


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