Best Campers Summer Sausage Recipes

CASED SUMMER SAUSAGE

Steps:

• While keeping everything ice cold, combine game meat, pork fat, and all other ingredients (except for the Fermento and water) into a large bowl.
• Mix to combine with your hands. Work in small batches if you need to (don't be afraid to throw the meat back in the fridge or freezer, or into a cooler with ice to get chilled again.)
• Using the large die on your grinder, grind the meat mixture into the bowl set over ice. Change out the grinder die to the small die and pass the mixture through the grinder again.
• Meanwhile, dissolve the Fermento in the water and stir with a spoon. Add to the ground meat mixture and again mix with your hands (or throw in your standing mixer and mix on low using the paddle attachment) until it's all incorporated.
• Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing down on the surface to remove any air bubbles. Wrap again with plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for 2 days to ferment.
• Make a little test patty and cook it up in a saute pan to be sure you got the seasonings right. Adjust them if you didn't.
• Then, using a sausage stuffer, stuff the sausage into 2 ½-inch collagen casings (an 18" casing will hold about 2.5 pounds of sausage mixture), which make these sausages easy to transport on a hunt.
• Let rest in the fridge to dry out for 1-2 hours while you soak your wood chips and preheat your smoker. Soak a pan of apple wood chips for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the smoker to 112-130 degrees.
• Set the pan of chips in the smoker.
• Lay (or hang) the sausages in the smoker. Smoke for about 60 minutes at this temperature, then raise the temperature to 180 degrees.
• Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees, which will take about 2-3 hours or more depending on your particular smoker and the ambient temperature. Keep filling your pan of apple wood chips if they get low.
• When the sausages are done, let them hang at room temperature for one hour to cool, then wrap well and refrigerate.
• I always make a ton and give some away to friends. If necessary, they can be wrapped and frozen for several months.

WILD GAME SUMMER SAUSAGE RECIPE

Steps:

• While keeping everything ice cold (see methods for fresh sausage), combine the game meat, pork fat, and all of the other ingredients except for the Fermento, water, and casings in a large bowl.
• Mix to combine with your hands. Work in small batches if you need to, and don't be afraid to throw the meat back in the fridge or freezer, or into a cooler with ice, to get chilled again.
• Using the 1/4-inch plate on your grinder, grind the meat mixture into the bowl set over ice.
• Change out the grinder plate to the 3/16-inch plate and pass the mixture through the grinder again.
• Meanwhile, dissolve the Fermento in the water and stir with a spoon.
• Add to the ground meat mixture and again mix with your hands, or throw the meat mixture in the bowl of a standing mixer and mix on low, until it's all incorporated.
• Press a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the meat, making sure there are no air bubbles. Then wrap the bowl with a second layer of plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for 2 days to ferment.
• Make a little test patty and cook it up in a sauté pan to be sure you got the seasonings right. Adjust them if you didn't. Then, using a sausage stuffer, stuff the sausage into the casings.
• Let the stuffed casings rest in the fridge to dry out for 1-2 hours.
• While the stuffed sausages are resting, soak a panful of applewood chips for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the smoker to 112°-130°.
• Set the pan of chips in the smoker. Lay or hang the sausages in the smoker.
• Smoke for about 60 minutes at this temperature, then raise the temperature to 180°.
• Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 150°, which will probably take 2-3 hours, depending on your particular smoker and the ambient temperature.
• Keep refilling the pan of apple wood chips as they get low.
• When the sausages are done, let them hang at room temperature for 1 hour to cool, then wrap well and refrigerate. They can be frozen for several months.

SANDY'S SUMMER SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef, mustard seed, garlic powder, liquid smoke, curing salt, and pepper using your hands. Form into two equal logs, and wrap each one in aluminum foil with the shiny side facing the meat. Refrigerate for 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Poke small holes through the aluminum foil in the bottom of the meat rolls using a toothpick. Place on a broiler rack and fill the broiler pan with 1/2 inch of water.
• Bake for 90 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool slightly, then refrigerate for 12 hours before unwrapping and serving.

SUMMER SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix beef, curing mixture, mustard seed, garlic powder, cayenne, red pepper flakes, salt, and liquid smoke. Cover with plastic, and refrigerate for three days, mixing well once a day.
• On the fourth day, preheat oven to 200 degrees F (100 degrees C).
• Shape the mixture into five logs, and place on a wire rack over a large drip pan. Bake for eight hours, then remove to cool on paper towels. Let cool, then wrap logs individually in plastic wrap. Chill completely before slicing. They also freeze well.

CAMPERS' SUMMER SAUSAGE

Steps:

• 1. Mix all ingredients well in a large bowl and cover. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Mix well and refrigerate for an additional 48 hours. 2. Divide into 4 parts shape into rolls as for cookie rolls. Pour 1 1/2 cups water into bottom of broiler pan and place rolls of sausage on rack over water. Bake in a preheated 350° F oven for 1 hour. Cool store in refrigerator or freeze.Note: Ground beef with plenty of fat keeps this sausage moist. Good served hot with new potatoes.

CHEF JOHN'S SUMMER SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Smash celery into juicy bits using a mortar and pestle. Combine with ground beef in a large bowl. Add garlic powder, paprika, mustard seeds, kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, curing salt, and sugar. Mix by hand until thoroughly combined.
• Transfer meat onto a large piece of parchment paper. Use damp hands to shape into a 3- to 4-inch-thick log. Roll up in the parchment paper, compressing it as much as possible. Twist ends tightly to seal. Place on a paper towel-lined baking sheet and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 275 degrees F (135 degrees C).
• Cut ends off the parchment paper and unwrap meat. Mix liquid smoke with water and generously brush over the meat. Roll meat back up in the paper, then again in aluminum foil, sealing it tightly and twisting the ends in opposite directions.
• Line a baking sheet with a wire rack and place the sealed meat on top. Poke 5 or 6 holes across the bottom for excess moisture to drip out.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F (66 degrees C) and no higher, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Let sausage cool in the pan until room temperature, at least 30 minutes. Give ends a tighter twist, then refrigerate at least 8 hours, or overnight.
• Unwrap sausage and slice in half. Coat outsides with freshly ground black pepper, place on a plate lined with crinkled foil, and let dry in the refrigerator for 24 hours.