Summer Sausage Recipe

[fong0041]

Hey All,
   Last week I made 10 lbs of summer sausage using the following recipe:
http://www.free-venison-recipes.com/traditional-venison-summer-sausage.html
The only difference was that I used a 50/50 ratio of venison/pork.  When scaled down to a 10 lb batch, it called for 2/5 cup of tender quick (about 19 teaspoons), so a ratio of 2 teaspoons tenderquick/lb of meat.  No other salt/cure is in the recipe.  The five people that have tried this summer sausage thus far ALL agree that the sausage is too salty.  I've spent the last 20 minutes checking other recipes online to get a feel for the range of tenderquick/meat ratio.  I've found one recipe that uses one teaspoon tenderquick per lb of meat, but it also calls for about a half teaspoon of salt per pound as well. 
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/summer-sausage-2/detail.aspx
I've also found this recipe that calls for close to 3 teaspoons tenderduick per lb of meat
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/homemade-summer-sausage/detail.aspx

Here is another recipe that calls for 1 tsp per lbs of meat
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1627,148186-254197,00.html

That is quite a range of cure/meat ratio, so am I ok in reducing the cure amount in the next batch to reduce the saltiness?  My original recipe seems to be in the middle of this range.  Any other suggestions?  Or does anyone have a great SS recipe they'd like to share with me?  Thanks!

[NePaSmoKer]

Hey All,
   Last week I made 10 lbs of summer sausage using the following recipe:
http://www.free-venison-recipes.com/traditional-venison-summer-sausage.html
The only difference was that I used a 50/50 ratio of venison/pork.  When scaled down to a 10 lb batch, it called for 2/5 cup of tender quick (about 19 teaspoons), so a ratio of 2 teaspoons tenderquick/lb of meat.  No other salt/cure is in the recipe.  The five people that have tried this summer sausage thus far ALL agree that the sausage is too salty.  I've spent the last 20 minutes checking other recipes online to get a feel for the range of tenderquick/meat ratio.  I've found one recipe that uses one teaspoon tenderquick per lb of meat, but it also calls for about a half teaspoon of salt per pound as well. 
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/summer-sausage-2/detail.aspx
I've also found this recipe that calls for close to 3 teaspoons tenderduick per lb of meat
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/homemade-summer-sausage/detail.aspx

Here is another recipe that calls for 1 tsp per lbs of meat
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1627,148186-254197,00.html

That is quite a range of cure/meat ratio, so am I ok in reducing the cure amount in the next batch to reduce the saltiness?  My original recipe seems to be in the middle of this range.  Any other suggestions?  Or does anyone have a great SS recipe they'd like to share with me?  Thanks!

These are just my opinions.

Your first link looks to be to much fat 50/50 lean to fat? should be like 80/20

Second link. Why add MTQ if your going to put in oven at 200*

Third & fourth same as above but oven at 350* Might as well make a fatty.

The MTQ at those high temps will just make the meat get the redish color and has no significance in the meat.

Buy the Rytek book and get some cure #1. You can adjust the saltiness yourself.


My ¢2

[Mr Walleye]

Fong0041

There is a lot of confusion in various recipes when it come to Morton TQ. TQ is to be used at the rate of 1 Tbs per lb of meat for a dry curing things like Canadian Bacon. If you use TQ in a mix such as sausage the correct rate is 1.5 tsp per lb of meat. Unfortunately, when using TQ at the correct rate 1.5 tsp per lb of sausage and you find it too salty there is no way to reduce the salt content without lowering the amount of cure below the recommended level.

Most people are using Cure #1 which is used at a rate of 1 tsp per 5 lbs of sausage. They also add the amount of salt they want. By using Cure #1 you can control the amount of salt in your sausage.

I would also recommend using recipes from trusted sources as well. NePas made a good recommendation for purchasing "Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing" by Rytek Kutas. It's considered the Bible when it comes to sausage making and has a lot of great recipes as well.

Mike