S-3 Ranch
Well-known member
60/40 because I want it to taste like a venison sausage not your average pork sausage.
Now I smoke several thousand pounds of sausage a year, and I'm told it's pretty good stuff, you can adjust you spiciness, by cutting back on the Red and Black peppers, but U like a little bite in mine. Not to take the skin off the roof of your mouth but just a nice little bite.
Drying in the Sausage Smoker
Temperature is VERY ImportantI can't over-emphasize the importance of temperature control in the smoking phase of sausage making. If you get this part right, everything else falls into place easily.
Once you have attained the nice brown color and flavor that you want (3-4 hours), stop the smoke and continue to heat the sausage in the smoker until it reaches the 152 degree internal temperature. DON'T GUESS CHECK IT!
At this point, you should have a smoker full of beautiful, brown, appetizing sausage.As important as the actual smoking is though, the way you handle your sausage links from this point on will have a lot to do with determining the final quality of your product. Once the smoking process is completed, package the links and either keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 6 months. I use the vacuum seal bagger you get from Wal-Mart and it works great.
- 60 lbs of trimmed venison
- 40 lbs of fatty pork shoulder or trimmings. You want a 20% fat mix when you are done
- 1-3/4 cups Kosher Salt
- 1-3/4 cups black pepper
- 1-3/4 cups onion powder
- 1-3/4 cups Accent
- 3/4 cup garlic powder
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup cayenne pepper
- 3/4 cup ground allspice
- 10 teaspoon paprika
- 10 teaspoon sage
- 10 teaspoon crushed mustard seed
- 20 teaspoons cure (Prague powder #1 or Instacure #1 for curing see rule #1 below)
- 1 gal ice water
- If you plan to smoke your sausage you must use a Cure. Some folks may try to tell you different, but take my advice and ignore them. First time you experience botulism because you didn't use a cure in your sausage you'll thank me.
- Cut all the meat into 1-2 inch cubes, then grind it through the medium plate of your meat grinder.
- Take all the spices and cure and mix them well into the 1 gal of ice water.
- Pour the water and spice mix into the ground meat and work it all in by hand for at least a couple of minutes to ensure a homogenous mix.
- Stuff the sausage into 32-35mm natural casings and prepare the links for the smoker. I tie mine in two foot links, making them easier to handle
Now I smoke several thousand pounds of sausage a year, and I'm told it's pretty good stuff, you can adjust you spiciness, by cutting back on the Red and Black peppers, but U like a little bite in mine. Not to take the skin off the roof of your mouth but just a nice little bite.
Drying in the Sausage Smoker
- This is a method I often use. It takes a little less time than air drying, and once the links are dried to the touch, I just need to increase the smoker temperature and add the flavor wood.
- Prepare the sausage links the same as for air drying, whether on racks or smoking sticks.
- Put the links into the smoker, and adjust the temperature to No More Than 100 Degrees F.
- Open your smoker dampers all the way and/or leave the door of your smoker open slightly. The moisture needs somewhere to escape.
- Leave the sausage in the smoker with vents and door ajar until it is dry to the touch. Check it often, and be sure to check more than one link for dryness.
- Tips
- If you try to dry at too high a temperature, the links will sweat (and never get dry) and the casing may become tough. Keep it between 90 and 100 degrees F. at most.
- If you aren't able to regulate your smoker at the necessary low temperatures, elect to air dry instead.
- If you desire a really dark, mahogany brown product, you can try adding paprika to the sausage recipe at the rate of about 1-2 tablespoons per 5 lbs of meat. This will not take the place of drying the sausage links. It will just enhance the color even more.
- OK, now that you have your sausage links nice and dry to the touch, it's time to actually apply the smoke. Your sausage is dry, so now it's time to start the meat smoking process.
Temperature is VERY ImportantI can't over-emphasize the importance of temperature control in the smoking phase of sausage making. If you get this part right, everything else falls into place easily.
- Keep the temperature inside the sausage smoker between 160 and 165 degrees F.Max.
- If you try to smoke at any higher temperatures, the fat content in your sausage will start to melt and ooze out of the casing.Fat is important. Not only does it add to the flavor of your sausage, it acts as a binding agent. Once it starts to melt, your sausage will become dry, crumbly, and much less tasty.
- Take your sausage out of the smoker when it reaches an internal temperature of 152 degrees F.
- This could take many hours, depending on how full your smoker is. Don't Guess. Use a meat thermometer (I like an instant read digital with an alarm) to monitor this part of the meat smoking process.
Once you have attained the nice brown color and flavor that you want (3-4 hours), stop the smoke and continue to heat the sausage in the smoker until it reaches the 152 degree internal temperature. DON'T GUESS CHECK IT!
At this point, you should have a smoker full of beautiful, brown, appetizing sausage.As important as the actual smoking is though, the way you handle your sausage links from this point on will have a lot to do with determining the final quality of your product. Once the smoking process is completed, package the links and either keep them in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze them for up to 6 months. I use the vacuum seal bagger you get from Wal-Mart and it works great.
