Venison Summer Sausage
Smoked venison summer sausage made using professional sausage-making techniques to give you some of the best deer sausage you've ever eaten.
Equipment
- Meat grinder with large and small dies
- smoker
- Instant read thermometer
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds pork shoulder (diced)
- 3 tablespoons dextrose (Or 1 1/2 tablespoons of fine white sugar)
- 1 teaspoon pink curing salt #1 (6 grams)
- 1/2 cup buttermilk powder (or Fermento)
- 2 to 4 ounces cold water
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 3 tablespoons coarse kosher salt (approximately 40 grams)
- 8 ounces smoked bacon (diced, or pork back fat)
- Fibrous summer sausage casings as needed
Instructions
- Soak the Casings: Submerge two fibrous casings in a bowl of warm water for 30 minutes while you prep the sausage. This will soften the casings, making them more pliable for stuffing.
- Chill Before Grinding: Combine the venison, pork shoulder, kosher salt, dextrose, and pink curing salt #1 in a large bowl. Mix until fully coated and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Grind the Venison and Pork Shoulder: Grind the chilled meats through a large (coarse) grinder plate into a chilled bowl.
- Make the Seasoning Paste: In a separate bowl, combine the coriander, mustard powder, garlic powder, black pepper, and Fermento or buttermilk powder. Stir in enough cold water to make a thick smooth paste.
- Add the Paste and Mix: Add the seasoning paste to the ground meat. Mix for about 2 minutes in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a sturdy spoon until the mixture becomes tacky. Fold in the diced bacon just until evenly combined.
- Refrigerate the Ground Meat Mixture: Pack the sausage tightly into a food-safe container or freezer bags, pressing out as much trapped air as possible. Refrigerate for 2 days.
- Grind Again: Grind the chilled sausage through a small grinder die into a large bowl.
- Stuff the Casings: Remove the fibrous casings from the water. Squeeze out any excess water. Stuff the sausage firmly into the casings, leaving as few air pockets as possible. Secure the open end of the casing with butcher’s twine.
- Hang the the sausages (Optional): Hang for 1 to 2 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator until the outside of the casings feels dry. I persoanlly like to hang them uncovered in the refrigerator overnight for best results.
- Cold-Smoke the Sausages (optional): If your smoker can cold-smoke, smoke the sausages at or below 100°F for about 2 hours. If not, skip this step.
- Hot Smoke the Sausages: Set the smoker to 180°F. I smoke mine until the center reaches 150°F.
- Bloom the Sausages (optional): Remove the sausages from the smoker and hang them at room temperature for about 2 hours to bloom. This will help give the casings a deep, dark color.
- Refrigerate: Place the sausages in the refrigerator until completely chilled.
NOTES
Speed this recipe up: You can shorten the process, but I don’t recommend it if you want the best texture and flavor. The sausage will still work, but you’ll lose some flavor development and texture from the full method. See below.
- Skip the double grind: Run the venison, pork shoulder, and bacon through the small grinder plate once instead of grinding twice.
- Skip the 2-day rest: After mixing, go straight to stuffing the casings.
Nutrition
Serving: 2ounces | Calories: 50kcal | Carbohydrates: 2g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 635mg | Potassium: 75mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 6IU | Vitamin C: 0.2mg | Calcium: 21mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
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