Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation Venison Summer Sausage - A little help please

Would anyone have a good recipe (slightly spicy, but not too hot) for venison summer sausage? I know I am planning ahead a bit, but if it is something I can make at home and not have to take to someone else, think I'd rather go that route this year. Thanks in advance

We've always sent our meat out to butchers in local Amish community for summer sausage.

I've been to their processing plants to observe making of sausage. The venison meat is mixed with pork at roughly a 2:1 ratio, deer to pork. First it goes through a 2-3 day warm fermentation process, then 3-5 days of cold smoking period and last, a curing / drying period of at least a week.

More complex than I'd try on my own...

That 2:1 ratio is good advice there, everything I've read from others is you need at least 30% fat to make it not dry. We tried a mix from Cabelas and stuffed them, smoked on the Brinkmann, it didnt' work out well, was tolerable, but not a prize by any means. Bro in law built a smokehouse last month, will try some more recipes this year I'm sure.

taken from 3men.com These guys are very good, and I've used their recipes for years.

Summer Sausage

* 21 lb. lean meat
* 4 lb. beef fat
* 6 cups water
* 5 1/4 cups dried milk
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 cup + 2 tablespoons salt
* 1/2 cup mustard seed
* 6 tablespoons pepper
* 2 1/2 tablespoons liquid smoke
* 2 tablespoons cure
* 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon sodium erythorbate

Grind meat and fat through a 1/2-inch plate.
Mix in all ingredients after dissolving liquid smoke, cure and sodium erythorbate in the water.
Stuff in artificial or natural casings.
Cook in the smokehouse at 185 degrees Fahrenheit until an internal temperature of 152
degrees Fahrenheit is reached.
Shower with water to a temperature of 90 degrees Fahrenheit and allow to hang at room temperature for about 1 hour before refrigeration.

I've made it a few times. I just use the LEM's seasoning and follow the directions using the oven method. You can buy a kit with the seasoning and the casings in one package. I add a little liquid smoke and a few jalapenos. I use 60% venison 40% pork.
Cary