Smoked Summer Sausage Saturday

[cnelk]

22% pork trimmings - LEM Seasoning - Hickory chips.

It’s a good day

 

[butcherboy]

Looks good! I don’t make as much summer sausage as I used to since I quit processing WG. Will still make anything someone wants if they bring in their trimmings. Still make quite a bit from beef and pork. Two of my favorites are green chile/cheese and bologna.

 

[Fronttrack]

Do you do the ice bath once you take them out of the smoker?

 

[butcherboy]

You don’t need to if you have a fast way to cool them down. I have a hot and cold water connection on my commercial smoker. I shower them with cold water then hang in the cooler to finish. I would use an ice bath if I made them at home.

 

[KID]

Made some on Sunday, had to bail on the process to help get an elk off the hill. They got a little nuked. Didn't quite turn out to standard but the kids are eating it up.

 

[cnelk]

I made another 10lbs on Sunday, smoked it yesterday.

My Christmas shopping is about complete for this year

 

[T28w]

Why do u need to cool them down fast?

 

[cnelk]

Why do u need to cool them down fast?

To stop the cooking process

 

[Squirrels]

Starting tempature low and raising it by 20 degrees once the meat gets to within 10 degrees of smoker tempature was one thing I learned early with summer sausage. This avoids pushing the fat to the outer edges and keeping a uniform product. I learned a bunch the first batch I made before I ever got started. Stopped by a local butcher shop to get some fat and told the guy what I was doing. He spent the next 45 minutes educating me on how to do. Invaluable information I received for free.

 

[jmez]

You also never let the smoker temp get over 180. Anything over 180 will melt the fat.

Sent from my moto g power using Tapatalk

 

[Eli80]

To stop the cooking process

It also helps keep the fat intact and the casings tight. If you think of a shriveled hotdog that’s cool down that’s a good visual of what you are trying to avoid

 

[T28w]

It also helps keep the fat intact and the casings tight. If you think of a shriveled hotdog that’s cool down that’s a good visual of what you are trying to avoid

So that’s why mine is ended up like that lol. They still ate pretty good.

 

[HighUintas]

Anyone ever tried packing the casings straight from the funnel that you can attach to the lem grinder?

I was thinking of giving my first try on sausage this year and wondered if that is worth trying or if I should just ask for a sausage stuffer for Christmas

 

[TodOz]

Anyone ever tried packing the casings straight from the funnel that you can attach to the lem grinder?

I was thinking of giving my first try on sausage this year and wondered if that is worth trying or if I should just ask for a sausage stuffer for Christmas

I've done this and it works very well. I have my daughter handle the casing as I put the mixed meat through the grinder. I generally mix the ground venison, pork, and seasoning etc. by hand and then run it through the grinder into the casings.

 

[BDRam16]

Anyone ever tried packing the casings straight from the funnel that you can attach to the lem grinder?

I was thinking of giving my first try on sausage this year and wondered if that is worth trying or if I should just ask for a sausage stuffer for Christmas

I just did this using a different brand grinder for the first time yesterday. They’re actually in the smoker right now. I wouldn’t do it again without a stuffer. It worked, but it was a chore. I used cheese in mine and it was gumming up the plate pretty bad. I’ll be curious to see how much cheese actually made it into the casing tomorrow.

 

[cnelk]

Anyone ever tried packing the casings straight from the funnel that you can attach to the lem grinder?

I was thinking of giving my first try on sausage this year and wondered if that is worth trying or if I should just ask for a sausage stuffer for Christmas

It works.

That’s all I ever used until I borrowed my buddy’s stuffer for these batches.

A world of difference. Biggest is I can do it all by myself

 

[HighUintas]

I just did this using a different brand grinder for the first time yesterday. They’re actually in the smoker right now. I wouldn’t do it again without a stuffer. It worked, but it was a chore. I used cheese in mine and it was gumming up the plate pretty bad. I’ll be curious to see how much cheese actually made it into the casing tomorrow.

I'm not a cheese sausage guy, so I'm good on that end!

 

[cnelk]

I'm not a cheese sausage guy, so I'm good on that end!

Yeah- me neither

 

[Rknight]

Doing my first batch tomorrow. All I could find local was the hi-mountain mix so hope it’s good!

 

[Eli80]

Good luck with it! They make a decent mix. I rarely worry about perfection whenever making something new and pay more attention to the process. I’m hooked now