Summer sausage

[hollymaster]

Thinking of trying without a commercially bought mix. Anyone have any good recipes?

[Duckslayer89]

Thinking of trying without a commercially bought mix. Anyone have any good recipes?

@Highside74 is on here he made a bunch of stuff using homemade spice mix from winco in the bulk food section. Pretty impressive and good ask him about it

[wheels]

HI mountain  seasoning does good mix

[hollymaster]

Trying to stay away from nitrates.

[The Weazle]

I don't think Spokane Spice company's mix has nitrates, or at least I think you can get a nitrate free option from them...

[Buzz2401]

Does the normal pink cure have nitrates in it?

[The Weazle]

I don't think Spokane Spice company's mix has nitrates, or at least I think you can get a nitrate free option from them...

I was wrong, all of the sausage seasoning kits they have don't have nitrates, but the summer sausage one does...

[Smoke]

Does the normal pink cure have nitrates in it?

yes... it's the nitrates that make the cure... all summer sausage has em... or it wouldn't be summer sausage, and ya'd have to cook it like just like any other sausage....

[92xj]

Correct me if I am wrong...

Nitrates are used to cure the meat to be able to smoke at much lower temperatures, keeping the meat IN the "danger" zone greater than 4 hours without risk of bacteria and catching the bad stuff.  Without Nitrates/cure, you need to cook your meat hotter and quicker, getting it above the 140 mark within 4 hours to avoid the bad stuff.  So, cooking summer sausage hotter and faster will then render the fat making it drip out or at last migrate to the bottom of the tube making an air pocket filled, crumbly, dry summer sausage end product.  In order to get that perfect summer sausage, you use the cures so you can start your cooker around 120 degrees, then every hour bump it up 10 degrees and hit the summer sausage internal temperature of 165 degrees without the smoker getting over 175 degrees. over 175 and the fat renders and you get the above description.

[The Weazle]

Correct me if I am wrong...

Nitrates are used to cure the meat to be able to smoke at much lower temperatures, keeping the meat IN the "danger" zone greater than 4 hours without risk of bacteria and catching the bad stuff.  Without Nitrates/cure, you need to cook your meat hotter and quicker, getting it above the 140 mark within 4 hours to avoid the bad stuff.  So, cooking summer sausage hotter and faster will then render the fat making it drip out or at last migrate to the bottom of the tube making an air pocket filled, crumbly, dry summer sausage end product.  In order to get that perfect summer sausage, you use the cures so you can start your cooker around 120 degrees, then every hour bump it up 10 degrees and hit the summer sausage internal temperature of 165 degrees without the smoker getting over 175 degrees. over 175 and the fat renders and you get the above description.

I think thats about the sum of it!
I've made well over 200 pounds of summer sausage, and I do it slow, but I bump from 120 to 140, then to 160, then to 180 till middle of the tube hits 165, and only smoke for the first 2 hours or so.  Then chill instantly in an ice bath, and straight into vacuum bags and into the fridge for 2 days, then into the freezer, so the smoke can distribute, kind of like smoking cheese...

[boomstick]

Try this site  http://www.free-venison-recipes.com/ I make the sweet and smokey and everybody loves it The only this I do is add powdered mike to keep it moist. I add no fat from beef or pork, just extra lean wild game. Powdered milk is at 1tbl spoon per pound.