# Venison Summer Sausage ( jalapeño and cheese)



## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

Hey guys. I actually made this post for a hunting forum but figured since some of you guys are deer hunters you might like to take a look at it as well. 



OK here is my "how to" for summer sausage. This is just one of many different ways to make summer sausage. If you have never done this i would suggest giving it a try. This is a great way to use ground venison.

For the beginner it may just be easer to pick up a sausage kit. It comes with all your spices,cure and casings in one box. But if your like me you can never leave well enough alone and have to have your own mix that you constantly change...lol

Here's one of my recipes thats pretty simple.

You will need:

5 lb Ground Venison
1 lb Ground Beef
2 cup Water
3 Tbsp Morton Tender Quick (this is the cure and is VERY important)
2 TBSP Non Iodized Salt ( Kosher Salt ..ect )
4 Tbsp Soy Flour ( Non Fat Dry Milk will work)
3 Tbsp Course Black Pepper
1 Tbsp Mustard Seed
1 1/2tsp Onion Powder
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1 cup Jalapeño Pepper's Chopped ( fresh is best)
2 cup High Temp Cheddar Cheese 
2 to 3 2 1/2" X 20" Fibrous Casings
Liquid smoke (optional)( I use 1/2 tsp L.E.M. Liquid Smoke)

While your getting every thing together you'll need to start your casings soaking in a pan of warm water.I add a little salt to the water when i soak mine. It takes about 15 to 30 minutes in warm water for them to get pliable enough to stuff. 

Now i do enough of this and various other things that it was worth it to me to buy a mixer. I've had it so long that i don't remember what i gave for it but i'm gonna guess around $100. But you do not have to have a mixer to do this. You can easily use a large bowl.First off I'll start with the ground venison and ground beef in the mixer. I'll give a few turns before i add the spices. 









Before we get to far let me mention if you don't already know. The cure is very important. Do not skip this part.You can play with the rest of the mix if you like. I'm using Morton's Tender Quick. Morton says use 1 1/2 tsp per pound of ground meat. There are other types of cure on the market ( pink salt cure ect..) that may call for a smaller amount of cure per pound. This is OK,you will just need to figure out the difference and the adjust amount of cure plus salt you need to add. What every you do don't add more cure then it calls for. Too much cure is a bad thing.

Now you can add the spices( not peppers and cheese). There are two ways to do this. You can just dump them in with the meat or you can mix them together with the water and pour them in. Either way its gonna get mixed up. If you using a bowl and you hands to mix it then it might be easier to add it to the water. Once you have all the spices and water in you can add the soy flour. The soy flour is important.It acts as a binder and helps hold moister in the sausage. If you plan to add liquid smoke ,add it to the water. Its hard to get the smoke flavor deep in the sausage so i add a little even though i'm smoking it. If you plan to use the oven i suggest using it as well.


Once you have the mixture mixed up good you can add the peppers. Now you can adjust the amount of peppers to your taste. If your in to adding a little kick you could add some cayennes to it :aargh4: Mix the peppers in nice a good before you add the cheese. Its the last thing you want to add because it breaks apart very easy. 

Now i like to use the High Temp Cheddar Cheese. I can not find it local so i always order it off the internet. Theres a bunch of places that offer it for a decent price. I've tried regular cheddar cheese many times and it never comes out like i like it.So i stick with the high temp stuff.

Heres a pic all mixed up and ready to stuff.










OK now we got to get it in the casings.First take the casing out of the water and shake the water off.Its OK if there still wet.Then get to stuffing. This is super easy to do with a stuffer but you might not have one. What i use to do before i bought the stuffer was use my jerky shooter to stuff the casings. You can pick one up a Walmart pretty cheap. Or you could just roll the meat into small balls and drop it in the casing. Then use your fingers to push it to the end like a tube of tooth paste.Whether you use a stuffer,jerky shooter or by hand the meat needs to be packed pretty tight in the casing. Completely filling it out. The casing is breathable so any air in the casing will need to be pushed out. Once full you can tie the end of the casing off with just about anything. I used bread ties this time.



















Once you have the meat stuffed you will need to let it cure. The very minimum amount of time i would wait 24 hours. I usually let mine cure 48 hours.

Once it's cured we need to cook it. You can use the oven or smoker for this. I use the smoker with hickory wood chunks for smoke.. If you plan to use a smoker remember that a nice thin blue smoke is what you after. Keep your oven/smoker temps in the 200 to 225 range. Your looking for an internal temp of 160 in the center of the sausage. Once it hits 160 you can remove the sausage from the oven/smoker.









Soon as you remove it from the oven grill your gonna need to cool it down. You'll need a tub,sink,cooler,ect full of ice water ready for it. Just chunk the sausage rolls in the ice water and let them soak. Some folks let them soak till the center temp cools to around 120 degrees. I let mine soak till the center temp is about 80 degrees. Either way will work. 










Once you have them out of the water you gonna need to hang them and let them Bloom. If you used a clear casing you will see them take on a darker color after they have hung awhile. The mahogany casing are already dark. I hang mine for a few hours over a trash can so any water will not end up in the floor. After they have hung a few hours i put them in the fridge. Or you can wrap them and freeze at this point if you like.










And thats it!!! Once you have let one set in the fridge and cool down its ready to slice and enjoy:biggrin:


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## yiluss (Apr 11, 2009)

mmmmmmmmmmmm baconnnnnnnnn (homer simpson) LOL

excelent recipe man, thanks for sharing and for waking the appetite LOL


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## Polaris425 (Dec 16, 2004)

Awesome stuff!!


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## phreebsd (Dec 16, 2004)

you should make those up and send them to yer mimb brothers 
i sho luvs me some summer sausage with ritz crackers!


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

Yeah summer sausage is a lot like jerky in the fact that i ain't seen anyone that didn't like it. Even the hard core folks that claim they do not like the taste of deer meat love this stuff and jerky.

If you guys are fortunate enough to bag a deer this year you should try this. Its pretty easy to do. If you don't get a deer i suppose you could just as easy substitute some super lean beef and get just as good of a product.


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

phreebsd said:


> you should make those up and send them to yer mimb brothers
> i sho luvs me some summer sausage with ritz crackers!


That might be do able to a select few MIMB brothers. Let me work on that. But i got to get some more meat. We done run through the 5 we put in the freezer last year :bigok:


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## phreebsd (Dec 16, 2004)

i can pay you for your sausages! they look great
i usually eat the one from hillshire farms. its really good


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

I would not sell them. I would just give you one if i had it to give. Come deer season I'll get you one.


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## phreebsd (Dec 16, 2004)

wait wait wait...

i dont eat deer 

i failed to see that part.


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## phreebsd (Dec 16, 2004)

i love summer sausages!


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## wood butcher (May 11, 2009)

one of those links and some ritz crackers for the staff meeting at the laborday ride . now that an idea


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

We might can do that.


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## tacoma_2002 (Jul 16, 2009)

I'll be the first to say that these things are JUNK! 

I wouldn't advise anyone to eat any of this at MIMB ride...

...all left over sausage can be deposited into my cooler afterwards for proper disposal! 

Good stuff for sure!!!

Funny thing I was about to shoot you a text and ask for the recipe...turns out I have about 4 or 5lbs of ground deer left over from last season!

I'm going to start mine tomorrow!


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## MUDDIE49 (Aug 30, 2009)

mmm mm mmm your killing me....looks awsome...i made alot of jerky and smoked alot meat...i can't wait to restock...Muddie49


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

Yeah Muddie i make a lot of jerky too. Love it!!


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

Hey Andrew you should try and make some. You can get a kit from Scruggs if you would rather do it that way. Just give me a call if you run into problems.


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## tacoma_2002 (Jul 16, 2009)

Yep, gonna try and get a kit from wally world. I'm off this Thursday, so I'm going to try and smoke some up along with some ribs. I've been working on a bbq/vinegar baste for about a month or so and I think I've just about gotten it right! 

We'll see!


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## Polaris425 (Dec 16, 2004)

If I bag an extra one this year I might just bring you some meat! :rockn: & visit for the weekend :bigok:


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

Bag two extra and bring Tacoma 2002 one of them. I got a feeling hes gonna need it.:lol:


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## throttlejock27 (May 21, 2010)

you got a nice setup there. i just took a stick of garlic venison summer sausage out of my freezer today!


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

throttlejock27 said:


> you got a nice setup there. i just took a stick of garlic venison summer sausage out of my freezer today!


Does it have chunks of garlic or was it made with garlic powder? 

Hard to beat some good ole summer sausage.:rockn:


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## tacoma_2002 (Jul 16, 2009)

yeah yeah...

...dont be hatin' cuz you know I have some mad bow skills!


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## Rack High (Feb 23, 2010)

That's a really good recipe you got there Metalman! I was looking for new ideas as the ol' freezer is full of ground, tenderloins and backstraps. Thanks.


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

Looks like some have enjoyed this thread. I might make some others in the future. I got some other tasty ways to cook deer meat.


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

tacoma_2002 said:


> yeah yeah...
> 
> ...dont be hatin' cuz you know I have some mad bow skills!


 
haha you know i'm just busting yo pork chop!! :bigok:


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## blue beast (Feb 16, 2010)

never had * jalapeño and cheese deer summer sausage but i had hot links fixed like that and it was gooooddddd maybe i will try some of that one day.*


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## Johnboy (Nov 9, 2010)

This sounds like a great recipe and the pics are outstanding. I just had a couple of questions. The first question is, what ratio is the ground beef?, I am assuming 80-20. The second question is, Do you leave the meat at room temperature to cure for 24-48 hours or do you refrigerate it? I am new to processing, but looking forward to the results and rewards. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

Johnboy said:


> This sounds like a great recipe and the pics are outstanding. I just had a couple of questions. The first question is, what ratio is the ground beef?, I am assuming 80-20. The second question is, Do you leave the meat at room temperature to cure for 24-48 hours or do you refrigerate it? I am new to processing, but looking forward to the results and rewards. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.


Yeah the burger i use is 80/20. But you can use what ever ratio you like really. You could even just add beef fat to the mixture if you have it. The fat helps a little with moister and flavor but the amount can be changed to suit the sausage makers taste. Or you could grind up pork roast and use it if you would like.

Do not leave the meat at room temperature any long then you have to until its cooked. Once you have your sausage mixed and stuffed in the casing store them in the fridge to finish curing before you cook.

If you have any other questions just ask and happy sausage making:bigok:


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## Johnboy (Nov 9, 2010)

Thanks for the info. Gonna make some this weekend, I'll let you know how it turns out.


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

OK guys i made some more SS this past weekend. Cant beat this stuff. Figured i post up a few pics. I also updated the recipe just a little bit.

Got a new smoker since the last time i posted pics.






































I also made some up a bit different this time. I used my mix in some hog casings. Then chopped them up into bit size pieces. The kids loved them.


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## Polaris425 (Dec 16, 2004)

Man that looks good. I want one. haha


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## drtj (May 3, 2009)

Polaris425 said:


> Man that looks good. I want one. haha


 
for real! ya got me hungry. wanna sell some?


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## Beachcruiser (Feb 27, 2010)

:bigeyes: Looks good man. We usually make around 100lbs of smoked sausage, 50lbs of SS and 30lbs of jerky around late feb-early march. Last year was the first time we tried making SS, our process was quite abit different. After we stuffed it we cooked it for (i think) about 5 hours in the oven and then let them cool at room temperature. Surprisingly they turned out pretty good, especially being our first time. We might follow your process this go around to see if there is much difference. 

Alll in all.....everything looks great and thanks for the detailed write up. :bigok:

BTW: This should be moved to the HOW-TO section haha


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## IBBruin (Feb 10, 2009)

I've got a question for ya Jerry and this may sound stupid but..... are the Jalapeno's still crunchy after it's cooked? I can't eat them crunchy (fresh) or I'll be burping them up for the next three days. Cooked soft or pickled doesn't bother me at all. 

Also, I guess you could use just lean ground beef instead of ground venison (some of us don't kill a herd of deer every year, LOL)


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## Metal Man (Dec 17, 2008)

IBBruin said:


> I've got a question for ya Jerry and this may sound stupid but..... are the Jalapeno's still crunchy after it's cooked? I can't eat them crunchy (fresh) or I'll be burping them up for the next three days. Cooked soft or pickled doesn't bother me at all.
> 
> Also, I guess you could use just lean ground beef instead of ground venison (some of us don't kill a herd of deer every year, LOL)


 
D,the Jalapeños are not really crunchy after its done. Your taking the temp up to 160. I would consider them cooked. But if your worried about it i guess you could use pickled peppers but I've never tried it.Not sure if the vinegar would affect the taste or not.

And yes you could use lean beef or pork. Even a mixture of the two would be fine for that matter. Just remember to cook them low and slow. You don't want to over heat the exterior of the sausage before the interior gets up to temp. That will cause the fat to render out before the center of the meat is done.


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