Homemade Summer Sausage
Similar to dry-cured salami, smokey, and salty with a bit of a tang.
Servings 4 big sausages
Ingredients
- 1 sausage kit seasoning, cure, and mahogany fibrous casings.
- 7.5 lbs chuck roast
- 5 lbs boneless pork butt
- 1.5 oz encapsulated citric acid
- 2½ cups non-fat dry milk
Instructions
- Cut up the chuck roast and pork butt into cubes small enough to fit down your grinder.
- Place the cubed meat into a large container, add seasoning, and mix it in by hand.
- Place meat into the grinder’s hopper and pass it through a coarse grind twice (using a 4.5mm plate on the last grind). Afterward, place ground meat in the fridge.
- Place the casings in a bowl of warm water, separate them with your hands, then let them sit until you start stuffing.
- Load the ground meat into your mixer, pushing it to the bottom. Add the non-fat dry milk and the cure/water mixture before mixing the meat for seven and a half minutes. Slowly sprinkle the encapsulated citric acid over the top at the end while it mixes for another 30 seconds. Do not overmix.
- Remove the meat from the mixer and place it in the fridge while you preheat your smoker to 120°F.
- Pack your sausage stuffer canister tight. Rub some fat on the silicone O-ring before turning it to ¾. Stuff the sausage into the casing placed on the horn. Leave about 2 " of room and secure the end with the ring and pliers.
- Place the hanging rods on your smoker’s top rack. Tie a knot in a string attached to the sausage, hook it on, and place the hooks on the hanging rods.
- Thread the internal temperature probes down the center of a sausage on either side. Set the timer for 30 minutes to let the sausages dry out before smoking.
- Fill a pan ¾ full with hickory sawdust mixed with a cup of water. Mix by hand and make a well in the middle before placing the pan down the bottom of the smoker. Add a little water to your smoker’s drip pan.
- Turn the smoker to 150°F, and set the timer for two hours. Increase the temperature to 175°F and set another timer for two hours. Remove the sawdust pan, increase the temperature to 180°F, and wait until the sausages reach an internal temp of 150-155°F (about another two hours).
- Remove the probes and place the sausages in a large container filled with ice water. Place a wire rack on top to keep them submerged and leave them for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Towel dry them off and hang them back in the turned-off smoker at room temperature for about another two hours.
- Place them on a wire rack in the fridge for 24 hours before slicing, serving, and storing.
Notes
Sausage kit – I use half of the Garlic Summer Sausage Kit from PS Seasoning, made for a 25-pound batch.
