Finely got a batch worth eating.
 

Been a long road trying to get this right first 3 times the summer sausage was no more then dog food grade,dry and nasty like a meatloaf I was about to give up but I decided to buy a hi mountain kit and some liquid smoke this time I also ground down 3 pounds of pork butt to mix with 12 pounds of venison turned out great.:happy0001:

I think the pork butt was the most important part as far as not getting a dry meatloaf type sausage,the hi mountain kit is pretty good a little sweet tasting i think cause the maple cure,but still very tasty.I will probably try leggs next time.

We carry a few different salami and summer sausage seasonings with cure packs. Give us a try www.friscospices.com. We also carry powdered smoke its not bitter like the liquide smokes can get if you want a deep smoke flavor.

I got this recipe on the website allrecipes.com and adjusted it to my liking and only made 2 lbs the first time, I had no issues with it at all, very easy and it tasted great. brought a 1lb log over to my girlfriends parents house and it was completely gone in under a half hour, with 5 people eating at it

Ingredients
1 cup cold water
3 tablespoons sugar-based curing mixture (such as Morton® Tender Quick®)
2 teaspoons mustard seed
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
2 teaspoons liquid smoke flavoring
3 pounds lean ground venison
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

Stir the water, curing mixture, mustard seed, garlic powder, black pepper, and liquid smoke in a large bowl until the curing mixture has dissolved. Mix in the ground venison, Cheddar cheese, and jalapeno peppers; mix until evenly blended and somewhat sticky, about 3 minutes. Divide the mixture in half, and roll each half into 2 inch thick logs. Wrap each log tightly with aluminum foil, and refrigerate for 24 hours.
2. Preheat an oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, then remove the foil from the sausage logs, and place them onto the baking sheet.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees F (75 degrees C), 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Cool the sausages on a rack until they have cooled to room temperature. Dab occasionally with a paper towel to absorb excess grease. Slice thinly to serve

Ive screwed around making sausage for several years now, and this year I have finally got it down pretty good.

I put about 2 lbs of pork for every 3 lbs of deer I use in it.Mix the meat well in a large plastic bowl.Add whatever spices you are using,I smoke mine so I need cure added if its not already in the mix, follow the directions on the cure exactly and dont add or subtract any from it so you dont get people sick. I been using the Smokehouse sausage kits this year with great success.Mix it well again, cover tightly and refrigerate.After about 6-8 hours ill take it out and mix it again thoroughly, cover and refrigerate.Give it at least 12 hours and more doesnt hurt.

If Im adding cheese this is when Ill put it in, I started using the High temp cheeses this year and was pretty impressed with them.A pound of cheese will do about 10 lbs of meat just right.

Stuff your casings fairly tight and tie both ends for mahagony casing and hang in your preheated smoker/oven, I found out the fiberous casings I have better luck leaving one end open so the liquid can escape or they wind up looking like water balloons, these i just lay on the racks..

Now to cook em I go low and slow, I use the cure though so if your not using it you have to bring them to a higher temp.I go about 145 F for the first couple hours, then crank it up to about 160 for a couple hours, and finally finish them at about 175 F untill they reach an internal temp of 155-160.This can take 10-12 hours on a 15 lb batch of sausage.You only need to smoke them for about 3 or 4 hours, after that just let em cook using heat and quit adding woodchips.Without cure I believe you have to hit about 175 F.I prefer the cure and lower temps as it doesnt cook the fat out of them and dry them out.

After theyre cooked I take them out and put them in a sinkfull of cold water to get them to stop cooking and start cooling rapidly, after about 15 minutes in the bath I wipe them off with paper towels, hang them on a stick in the kitchen and leave them overnight since by this point youve been screwing with this sausage all day and its now the middle of the night LOL.

Next morning package em in a vac sealer and put what your not gonna eat right away in the freezer.