How to Make Smoked Venison Summer Sausage

Making venison summer sausage takes patience.

Making smoked venison summer sausage is easy, but it takes time. The meat must be cured for several days and the smoking process takes hours. Curing the meat helps preserve it. Smoking cooks it slowly and imparts flavor. There are hundreds of variations on smoked venison sausage. Garlic, liquid smoke, pepper and even ground bacon add accents to the meat. This variation is easy to do and doesn't require that the sausage be stuffed into casings.

Things You'll Need

• 5 lbs. ground venison
• 3 tbs. Morton Tender Quick
• 1½ tsp. mustard seed
• 1½ tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. celery salt
• Hickory chips
• Smoker with temperature control
• Probe thermometer

Instructions

1. Mix the ingredients and then refrigerate the mixture, covered, for three days. Once a day, take the mixture out of the refrigerator and mix it thoroughly. Return the mix to the fridge.

2. Remove the venison mixture from the fridge and form it into 2½-inch diameter rolls about 6 inches long. Cover and refrigerate for four hours.

3. Preheat the smoker to 140 degrees Fahrenheit and add the hickory chips. The amount of hickory you add depends on your personal preference. Add a scant handful for a mild flavor. A cupful will provide a stronger hickory taste.

4. Raise the temperature in the smoker to 160 degrees F after two hours, then raise the temperature again to 175 degrees after another two hours.

5. Smoke the sausage at 175 degrees F until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F. Remove the sausage from the smoker and rinse it in cold water. Let it dry.

6. Serve the meat immediately or refrigerate it. Freeze venison sausage that won't be used within a week.

Tips & Warnings

• If you don't have a smoker, the sausage can be cooked in a skillet or baked in the oven. Add a teaspoon of liquid smoke.

• Make a stovetop smoker with a covered roasting pan. Put hickory chips on the bottom and use a rack to hold the meat, then cover it. The heat from the stove should cause the hickory chips to smoke.

• Use equal amounts of ground beef, pork and venison to temper the strong taste of deer meat.

References

• Free Venison Recipes: Venison Summer Sausage
• PaBucks.com: Venison Cooking Methods

Resources

• Oklahoma Cooperative Extension: Meat Curing
• Chef Depot: Butchering a Deer