Smoked Venison Summer Sausage

Summer sausage is one of the best ways to use up a big batch of ground venison. It's shelf-stable, travels well, and pairs perfectly with crackers and cheese in the deer blind. The smoking process gives it a flavor that store-bought can't touch. This recipe makes about 5 pounds — enough to eat, share, and stash in the freezer.

Ingredients

• 4 lbs ground venison
• 1 lb ground pork (or pork fat trimmings)
• 5 tsp Morton Tender Quick curing mix
• 2 tsp mustard seed
• 2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1.5 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 cup cold water
• Collagen casings (2.5-inch diameter)

Instructions

• Mix the ground venison and pork together in a large bowl. Add the Tender Quick, mustard seed, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander, and red pepper flakes.
• Pour in the cold water and mix thoroughly with your hands for 3 to 4 minutes until the mixture becomes tacky and sticky. This develops the proteins that bind the sausage together.
• Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours. This curing period is essential for food safety and flavor development.
• After 24 hours, remix the meat briefly. Stuff into collagen casings using a sausage stuffer, packing firmly to eliminate air pockets. Tie off the ends.
• Preheat your smoker to 130 degrees F. Place the sausage logs on the grates and smoke for 1 hour with the damper open to dry the casings.
• Increase the smoker temperature to 150 degrees for 1 hour.
• Increase to 170 degrees for 1 hour.
• Increase to 185 degrees and smoke until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 160 degrees F. This usually takes another 2 to 3 hours.
• Remove and immediately plunge into an ice bath for 15 minutes to stop the cooking and set the texture.
• Pat dry, refrigerate overnight, then slice and serve.

Tips

The ice bath is critical. Skipping it causes the fat to render out, leaving you with a dry, crumbly sausage with fat pockets on the surface.

Use Tender Quick, not regular salt. Tender Quick contains sodium nitrite, which prevents bacterial growth during the slow smoking process. Regular salt will not cure the meat.

Step up the smoker temperature gradually. Jumping straight to high heat causes fat-out — the fat melts and separates before the proteins can set, ruining the texture.