processed my own summer sausage and sticks....now questions

[Mitch914]

My hunters sticks:
I used a cabelas bought cajun version. They are very dry. I put them on the smoker and laid them on the cooking grate. Tried to follow what the box said to a T. Very dry. I had a heck of a time stuffing the casing with the attachment I had. I obviously need a smaller diameter nozzle to stuff casings.

Summer sausage:
My fiance' LOVES it. I, on the other hand don't really care for it at all. I used cubed coly jack cheese and not even remotely enough jalapenos. I tried to find high temp cheese but no luck. I mixed the ground venison with appropriate spices, added the cheese and jalapenos. Ran through the grinder again. Then stuffed into the casing. Let the summer sausage cure for 48 hours then hung them in my ugly drum smoker with temp at 225* for about 2.5 hours. It said to let sausage get to internal temp of 160* but how do you know that without punching a hole in the casing? Anyway, I pulled the summer sausage off and put the 3 logs in an ice bath for about 10 mins. The one had filled with water because I inserted the temp probe. ANNOYED at this point. Hung them outside in the cold over night to bloom. The next morning the dog ate one log of summer sausage. NOT HAPPY. The other two are okay I guess. Just not the quality of summer sausage I was hoping for.

I'm open to any and all suggestions. Please

[twostepct]

Since none of the more experienced here have chimed in, I'll share my experience. I have only made one batch of summer sausage and it was the 73% beef from the store. I used the lem seasoning and added in fresh jalapeños. The instructions said nothing about leaving the meat sitting for a certain amount of time to cure so I went straight to the casings. I used fibrous casings that I had soaked in water. I smoked at low heat for about 4 hours I think and then finished in the oven at 200. I did insert a temperature probe in one of the logs to verify it was done. When finished I immersed it in cold water.

My mistake was that I didn't let it cool down long enough, or maybe fast enough, and I had a little surface fat rendering on a couple of logs. The sausage was very good though and it received rave reviews from family members.

I didn't have any issues with water getting into the log where the thermometer was. I really don't know if this even answered your questions or helped you but I didn't want you to be left hanging.

[critter69]

I use the receipe from "mesquite" some thing on this sight. Go to the receipe section and do a search. Comes out great. Use it for javelin also. And never had a problem with water getting in the meat from the temp prob. hole. How big of a prob you stickin in there ?

[bt2143]

Did you add pork fat to the mixture, i usually add a 70/30 mixture of deer meat to fat and it's never dry

[atc20032011]

I will post this as a new thread as soon as it will let me but I would love to know if anyone has a good guide for making your own jerky. I have always wanted to make my own but never knew how.

[Meatcutter]

on your sticks use natural sheep casings on tubes.

[kerdog99]

looks good

[switchback]

I have been making jalapeno cheese summer sausage snack sticks for about 3 or 4 years now. I got my recipe off of the internet from http://www.askthemeatman.com/

Last time I also used a 3 lb box of bacon ends and pieces for the pork and pork fat. that keeps it from being dry.

Mine are bigger around than Slim Jims but nowhere near sausage size. I get my seasoning and casinging from a local company called Rio Spice. You can get hi temp cheese on line or through Cabela's.

I don't like the dry texture of the cheese so I use regular block cheddar and grind it but don't grind the second time with the meat. Do second grind with meat and then mix cheese in by hand. It will melt and won't see it, but will have the taste in it. I use the smoked colored collagen casings. I also do mine in the oven and add some liquid smoke.

pic before they are cooked......



hope this helps with some of your questions.

[txstringbender]

Like stated above, use some pork and I use the spices by LEM Products (www.LEMproducts.com). Never had any issues. I probably produce somewhere in the amount of 200 lbs of meat of various flavors using there stuff every year. Just a suggestion. If your new to making sausage, don't give up. It takes a little practice. You'll want to try different things and soon you'll find what you like. Good job on doing it yourself. Most folks just take what the processor gives them. I haven't taken a deer to the processor in 10+ years.

[joebriles]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to try my hand in making summer sausage this year.


Since this is bumped back to the top... Anyone else have any input????

[dope hunter]

My hunters sticks:
I used a cabelas bought cajun version. They are very dry. I put them on the smoker and laid them on the cooking grate. Tried to follow what the box said to a T. Very dry. I had a heck of a time stuffing the casing with the attachment I had. I obviously need a smaller diameter nozzle to stuff casings.

Summer sausage:
My fiance' LOVES it. I, on the other hand don't really care for it at all. I used cubed coly jack cheese and not even remotely enough jalapenos. I tried to find high temp cheese but no luck. I mixed the ground venison with appropriate spices, added the cheese and jalapenos. Ran through the grinder again. Then stuffed into the casing. Let the summer sausage cure for 48 hours then hung them in my ugly drum smoker with temp at 225* for about 2.5 hours. It said to let sausage get to internal temp of 160* but how do you know that without punching a hole in the casing? Anyway, I pulled the summer sausage off and put the 3 logs in an ice bath for about 10 mins. The one had filled with water because I inserted the temp probe. ANNOYED at this point. Hung them outside in the cold over night to bloom. The next morning the dog ate one log of summer sausage. NOT HAPPY. The other two are okay I guess. Just not the quality of summer sausage I was hoping for.

I'm open to any and all suggestions. Please

I'm not sure exactly what the problem but I have a few guesses. First, its possible your ratio of meat/fat is off. Second, and the most likely reason is you cooked it at too high of a temperature and rendered the fat out of the meat. You want to cook at very low temperatures to keep the fat from rendering. Most people suggest starting around 140 degrees, and bump it up to 180 degrees over 4 or 5 hours and then cook at 180 degrees until they reach an internal temp of 165.

[Smart]

Hunter sticks.....

I stuff them in 21/22mm collagen casings with my standard sausage mix I use in my deer link sausage except I add a little red pepper. I'll COLD smoke for 6-8 in my smokehouse then place them in the oven or dehydrator (preferred) and take them to 165 degrees. I check with an instant read thermo to make sure they are right.











Summer sausage is very similar. I stuff them with either my standard sausage filling, or I have a jap/cheese recipe. We always used high temp cheese in that. Its too much work to have the cheese melt away in the finish cook. I cold smoke 6-8 hours like show below and them finish them in the oven. I have no issues sticking them with a small instant read probe to check temp. Just make sure hole is facing up in the oven and use the same hole.

[kd350]

Hunter sticks.....

I stuff them in 21/22mm collagen casings with my standard sausage mix I use in my deer link sausage except I add a little red pepper. I'll COLD smoke for 6-8 in my smokehouse then place them in the oven or dehydrator (preferred) and take them to 165 degrees. I check with an instant read thermo to make sure they are right.

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Summer sausage is very similar. I stuff them with either my standard sausage filling, or I have a jap/cheese recipe. We always used high temp cheese in that. Its too much work to have the cheese melt away in the finish cook. I cold smoke 6-8 hours like show below and them finish them in the oven. I have no issues sticking them with a small instant read probe to check temp. Just make sure hole is facing up in the oven and use the same hole.

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What temp is the oven? And how long does it usually take to reach 165?

[Smart]

processed my own summer sausage and sticks....now questions

Hunters sticks...200 with a wooden spoon in the door to let out moisture.....if I remember correctly 6-8 hours. Using the dehydrator now so it's been awhile.

Summer sausage depends on size of tubes. 225 at 3-4 hours but I'm also cooking 6-8 rolls like you see above.