Swan Summer Sausage

[wyogoob]

My apologies, I lost some replies moving this thread from "Curing" to this section.



Wow, this is a good one, much better than duck or goose summer sausage. 

Last I knew 7 states allowed Tundra Swan hunting.  We live in Wyoming where swan hunting is not allowed; too many endangered Trumpeter Swans.  Nearby Utah has a Tundra Swan hunt and we connected on a couple birds there this year.  About 60,000 Tundra Swans stop and rest in the Utah marshes each fall.  2,000 swans tags are allocated each year in Utah.

Used 1 1/2 swans, all of a tough old bird and one-half of a young swan. Made about 13 pounds of sausage, about 7.5 pounds of swan and 5 pounds of pork butt.  What was left in the bottom of the stuffer we used for burgers.  It was just great.  I love the flavor of a swan but they can be dry and tough, hard to cook, like a wild turkey.  The spices in this recipe are the basic ones for summer sausage plus coriander.  Coriander is lemon-like, a great addition to any wild game sausage.


Swan Summer Sausage #12

7.5 lbs - swan (meat from 1 1/2 swans)
5 lbs - pork butt
6 tbsp - Morton's Tenderquick cure
2 tbsp - sugar
2 tbsp - coarse black pepper
1 tbsp - mustard seed
1 tbsp - coriander
1 tsp - garlic powder
2 cups - water
1 tbsp - liquid smoke if cooked in oven


Cube meat or grind thru 3/4" plate.
Mix all ingredients well, keep frosty.
Grind thru 3/16" plate.
Stuff into 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" diameter casings.
Refrigerate for 48 hours.

Using fruitwood, smoke until internal temp is 152°F.
Or:
Bake in oven 6 to 8 hours @ 190°F until internal temperature is 152°F

Dressed swan:


Uh...undressed swan:


The raw swan summer sausage was stuffed into 1 1/2" diameter x 12" long fibrous casings.  What was left in the bottom of the stuffer was formed into patties and cooked in a skillet with a little bit of water; really good, nice and plump with a mild flavor:


Half of the sausages were smoked at 165°F for 3 hours and then finished in the oven.  The other half was cooked entirely in the oven.  Both were put in an ice water bath when the internal temperature reached 152°F.


It's really good, just a wonderful flavor.  Even Mrs. Goob who asks, "How can you eat a pretty bird like that? enjoyed the sausage.



whoo hoo, whoo hoo, whoo hoo

[pikeman_95]

I am curious. How much did the large bird weigh? It seems like you got a lot of sausage out of those two birds. It looks good though. Nice job. I have had some success with duck and goose but you just need to up the amount of pork and you can get away with it. I would keep the grind kind of course as it tends to seem fine grained.

KC

[wyogoob]

I am curious. How much did the large bird weigh? It seems like you got a lot of sausage out of those two birds. It looks good though. Nice job. I have had some success with duck and goose but you just need to up the amount of pork and you can get away with it. I would keep the grind kind of course as it tends to seem fine grained.

KC

I don't know what the birds weighed.  Many mature swans go over 20 lbs.  Swans have a small breast relative to their body size. Sandhill Cranes are the same way.  You just don't get as much meat out of them as you would expect.

I use to grind waterfowl coarse.  Most wild duck and goose sausage recipes call for coarse, some appearance thing my guess, or maybe it's a takeoff from domestic duck and goose sausage recipes.  I find if duck and goose are ground fine, that liver-like duck flavor "blends" out some.

[wyogoob]

Swans are big birds:

[KyNola]

At 12.5 lbs of ground meat and Morton's recommendation of 1.5 tsps of MTQ per pound of ground meat, aren't you heavy on the MTQ by around 2.25 tsps?

[NePaSmoKer]

At 12.5 lbs of ground meat and Morton's recommendation of 1.5 tsps of MTQ per pound of ground meat, aren't you heavy on the MTQ by around 2.25 tsps?

Oh cr@ppers, better watch out.

[wyogoob]

At 12.5 lbs of ground meat and Morton's recommendation of 1.5 tsps of MTQ per pound of ground meat, aren't you heavy on the MTQ by around 2.25 tsps?

Actually the meat weighed 12.743 lbs so I was only off 2.1134 tsps.


Here's a salami recipe from the 2012 Morton web site:

Ingredients
1 pound of ground beef
1 1/2 level teaspoons Morton® Tender Quick® mix or Morton® Sugar Cure® (Plain) mix
1 teaspoon Morton® Table Salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Few drops liquid smoke, if desired

see: http://www.mortonsalt.com/for-your-home/culinary-salts/recipes/18/beef-salami

[KyNola]

Goob, table salt doesn't have sodium nitrite and nitrate in it.  I don't care about how much salt is in your recipe or theirs.

Goob look.  I don't care if you want to put MTQ on your cereal every morning and in your coffee and have it everyday for breakfast.  That is entirely up to you.   The issue is everytime anyone posts a recipe on the Forum the person posting is potentially teaching a newbie something.  When a recipe is posted with amounts of a curing agent that exceed the manufacturer's guidelines and recommendations, then the newbie may believe that it is the correct ratio.

If you're going to post a recipe and use amounts of a curing agent that exceed the manufacturer's guidelines, at least place a disclaimer in your recipe or state the manufacturer's recommended amount.

[NePaSmoKer]

I agree with Ky

This is unsafe for new members who want to get into the dry cure sausage styles.  MTQ can be intimidating for some as some folks dont know the right amounts of MTQ to add. Lots of confusing add this much no add that much. Its much easier to use modern cures such as cure 1 for smoked sausage and cure 2 for dry cure.

This is my opinion. Other may differ

[wyogoob]

Thanks

I changed the recipe from 7 tbsp to 6 tbsp of Tenderquick for 12.5 lbs of meat.

[KyNola]

Thanks a lot Goob!

[wyogoob]

Thanks a lot Goob!

You bet.