Seeking advice - Venison summer sausage

[Monch]

All,

As I'm an owner of a Bradley Four-Rack digital, and experienced in making home-made andouille, a friend turned to me for help making his first batch of self-made venison summer sausage.

The flavor turned out good, but it did not turn out having the consistency and density that we were expecting. Perhaps I can get some advice on this aspect.

The recipe called for a double grind. Once before the salt-curing of the meat and once after seasoning. I blame the double grind for the consistency. It's halfway between "real" summer sausage (nice and hard) and braunsweiger (spreadable).

It was also not as dense as expected. I blame this on the fact that we didn't measure the vertical space in the smoker and had to lay the product horizontally.

Our instincts tell us we should make the following changes:
- Grind only once
- Stuff the collegen casings and hang (vertically) in the fridge to bloom and compact
- Ensure that the product is the correct length to allow for hanging in the smoker

Thanks in advance,

[Piker]

In some recipes it even calls for you to emulsify it which gives it the store brought consistency. I tried it once and did not like it. When I make ven. summer sausage I only grind once but mix it very thoroughly as I have a 17 lb. mixer. But due to small storage space I age them overnight laying down in the frig. I can make them shorter but as I am not real fond of smoking I do them Laying down in the oven. The results I have gotten are very good. Easy to slice and it holds together for sandwiches. I do rotate them in the oven. Piker

[NePaSmoKer]

Double grind emulsifies the meat (like a hot dog)  Nothing wrong with it. Reading your post what was the IT of the sausage?

I have done summer and bologna hanging and on racks and all has come out fine.

[mow_delon]

Made many batches of summer sausage and have never had any of it come out "spreadable".  I have used Hi-Mountain seasoning kits in the past and I know that they have "stiffiners" in the seasoning mix.  I wonder if this is the problem for your sausage (no stiffener in the recipe).  My process is to grind the venison with the course blade and then mix with pork (I have used beef) by hand.  I have also ground very fine and never really had much difference in the texture of the finished product (which is why I no longer do it).  Then I will grind again through the course blade.  I add the desired seasoning and mix by hand again, then stuff (as tight as I can) into casings.  Let it lay in the fridge overnight and then get to room temp in morning before going into the smoker.  I have never hung my summer sausage yet, and have never had any issues with the consistancy of the finished product.

I hope this helps and Good Luck on your next batch

[Monch]

Nepa,

I got the product to just over 151F internally.

It called for 155, but it was 2:00 in the bloody morning...I'd been fighting fridgid ambients all day and called off the fight.

You think that was a problem?

[NePaSmoKer]

151 still should have got the meat firm. Next time grind 1 time and mix by hand. If you have to cut in some fat grind with the small plate and mix the fat into the meat by hand.

This was some Lebanon Bologna i made in Dec. Ground 1 time, mixed by hand.


Andouille i made ground 1 time.



Trail sausage ground 1 time.


Summer hanging.


Maybe take the IT to 153-154* and let bloom longer. Also can you post what ingredients you added? You dont have to post the whole recipe.

I too have cold temps that are hanging in the teens.

[OU812]

Was the out side hard, like sausage and the inside soft and speradable ?

If so, sounds like you cooked to hot to fast.

Can I ask how you cooked it and what size casings you used?

[mnsmoker]

First off, let me say that up until now, I have been a silent reader of this forum for about four months now.  I have taken a lot of advice and others' ideas into some venison processing attempts of my own.  This place is awesome for all of its people and knowledge available to everyone!

I had a problem that sounds similar to what you are experiencing with the mushy texture and low density.  I run a Cabela's vertical water smoker (no water with this stuff), with a Brinkmann water smoker midsection added into the middle to give me more hanging space. Looks ugly, works great! :D

Anyway, I made a 25# batch of the Sausage Maker venison summer sausage (bulk seasoning) and stuffed into 2-3/8 x 12" fibrous casings.  Being cold outside (about 5 degrees), I figured I would have a very hard time making temp, even with the 1600+watt element in it, but I found exactly the opposite.  For whatever reason, my IT's came to temp much faster than I anticipated them to. I believe it to be the fact that since I don't have an accurate temp control (mine is warm-low-med-high... I have to constantly mess with it to stay within range), I turned up the temp control a bit on the high side.  Upon hitting 152 degrees IT for about 25 mins, I pulled the batch, cold-water bathed them, hung to bloom indoors for an hour, then it was off to refrigerate for another 24 before tasting.

Talk about terrible texture- While it was evident that the sausage was cooked, it was so wet and mushy that I began to wonder if I had ruined the whole works.  I did some research, and decided to try recooking in my kitchen oven.  It was the best thing I could have done.  While it did require another 6 hours to recook, the results were great.  I also cooked to a 155 IT at 170 oven temp before pulling, just as cheap insurance.  If your summer sausage is too wet, I would say to not be scared of recooking to dry it out more.
Sorry this was kind of long-winded; I am in the electrical project engineering division of my company, and it's usually all about details, details, details! ;)

Good Luck with your batch!

[FLBentRider]

W E L C O M E  to the Forum mnsmoker!

[mnsmoker]

Thanks, FLRider.

Monch, any updates?

[squirtthecat]

mnsmoker, you'll have to share some pictures of this beast with us..

Sounds like it is a prime candidate for an Auber PID, as well.

[Monch]

Thanks all,

I'll have to pump the "owner" of the product for the ingredients. He did all the mixing. More on that later.

The consistency was stable throughout the product..from the OD to the ID.

As to time/temp, smoking was my sole responsibility,I did:

- Two hours, with smoke, at 140F
- Two hours, with smoke, at 160F
- Turned up to 108F to hold 107F in the smoker, until inserted remote thermometer read 151F.
- All of this took about 14 hours...I don't think it's a "too hot/too fast" issue

In fact, my smoker decided, in the middle of the last phase,  to turn off for awhile.  Didn't notice THAT until I had lost 20 degrees of internal temp.

Believe me when I tell you I was wishing I had the Auber!  The smoker temperature was fluctuating wildly under the stresses of single-digit ambients. 

Is it the experience of Auber owners that the PID WILL help the unit hold "actual" Oven Temps much closer to the set point?  I have access to Allen-Bradley electrical controls engineers who have helped this dumb Purchasing guy understand the principles of the PID loop and I believe them.  However, this practical guy really believes in real-world experiences.

Sorry to give feedback and then ask for more.

And yes...Welcome MNsmoker...from your handle, I infer we're neighbors...Madison, Wisconsin, here.

[OU812]

Ok we ruled out the cookin part, that was right on.

Now what was used in the mix?

Too much Fermento, for one, will make a mushy sausage.

[mnsmoker]

Hey Monch,

I'm in Austin, a little over an hour west of LaCrosse.  I'm headed your way this weekend, taking the family to Wisconsin Dells!

As for your cook, yeah, 14 hours does seem to be an ample amount of time to dry your product.  My batches have usually taken 8-9 hours, but that is with a pretty hot heating element in my smoker.  I also try to stuff into 10-11" casings, which seems to help make for shorter cook times...

As for the Auber PID, yes, I would also love to get one, but since I work in the field, I can't help but try to come up with a cheaper PID solution than the Auber.  The thing about the Auber that is hard to beat is the timers/temp control/relay outputs all packaged nicely into one box.  One could buy a standalone PID controller, but changing the temp setpoints with external timers could run up the price to the Auber ballpark.  I dunno, maybe I should just bite the bullet and get the Auber.

Another issue I have with trying to run the Auber is that I only have one heating element for making both heat and smoke, therefore, if I am not calling for more heat, my smoker will not be able to generate smoke!  ???  I have seriously been considering building my own custom smoker, which I think would be the best-case scenario, as the controls part would be easy for me to do.

Is your issue a mushy/wet consistency, or more like too fine of a grind? Maybe I misunderstood your original question...?

[Monch]

Glad we have "time" eliminated!  I didn't think that was the culprit.

The venison was pre-ground and frozen right after the hunt.  The ground product was defrosted for the sausage.

The recipe was:
Venison Summer Sausage
•   15 pounds coarse ground venison
•   10 pounds 50/50 coarse ground pork trimmings
•   2 cups water
•   1 cup Morton Tender Quick
•   1/4 cup whole mustard seed
•   1/4 cup coarse ground black pepper
•   1/4 cup sugar
•   3 tablespoons garlic powder
•   1 tablespoon marjoram
•   1 tablespoon monosodium glutamate (optional)
Combine the ground venison and pork. Mix the Tender Quick into the water...t won't completely dissolve. Add this slurry to the ground meat, mixing in one-quarter of it at a time. Continue mixing the meat for five minutes. Place the meat in a shallow pan and refrigerate for three to five days. Mix the meat twice each day.
Mix the spice ingredients into the meat throroughly, and regrind the meat before packing it into 3 inch fibrous casings.


We are thinking that the double-grind should be eliminated and that the "in-pan" process should be replaced with "Season/Stuff/hang in fridge to bloom for five days....THEN smoke.


Discuss!