Summer Sausage Questions

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Scogar
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Summer Sausage Questions

Post by Scogar » Sun Nov 10, 2019 14:40

I have gone through all the summer sausage recipes and posts that I could find on the site and answered a number of my questions, but found that this led me to a couple more. I'm hoping that there are quick answers for those in the know...The plan is to make Marianski's summer sausage https://www.meatsandsausages.com/sausag ... er-sausage. So the questions stem from this:
  • 1. I decided to go with the slow cure vs Fermento from everything that I read. So as not to overpower people with sourness, I see I have three ways to buffer things, (a) ferment time, (b) ferment temperature, and (c) sugar quantity in the mix. I am planning on 24 hours at a temperature I haven't decided on as of yet, so assuming I control time and temperature what amount of sugar is appropriate? Marianski says 0.5% but I have seen people on this list discuss lesser quantities. Is it 50% of the 0.5%, i.e., 0.25% or...?

    2. The main purpose of this batch is to use a bunch of venison my hunting buddy and I have...so I see Marianski uses a proportion of 70/30 pork to beef. What is the effective limit on the use of venison without making it too dry? Can I go 70% venison to 30% pork, where the pork is a 50/50 blend of shoulder and pork fat? Because I anticipate making about 50 lbs of summer sausage I am hoping that I don't make any major errors on the meat choice, quantity, or ratios of lean to fat. Any thoughts? I couldn't find answers beyond a 50/50 lean meat blend and then adding a further 20% of fat based upon the total 50/50 weight.
As always, thanks for your expertise and willingness to share it.

Scott
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Bob K
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Re: Summer Sausage Questions

Post by Bob K » Sun Nov 10, 2019 16:14

If you follow the Marianski recipe using FLC and fermenting for 24 hrs at 86F cut the called for sugar .5% and dextrose 1.0% in half (to 0.5% dextrose and .25% sugar) and you will have a nice tang - the full amount called for is VERY Tart!

You are proposing to use 70% Venison 15% fat and 15% pork. That will be a dry sausage, 50% Venison and 50% pork + fat would be as lean as I would go. WE like the venison content in the 35-40% range

To be honest I would do a small test batch and make adjustments from there
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redzed
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Re: Summer Sausage Questions

Post by redzed » Sun Nov 10, 2019 16:56

Hi Scott. You should have a very good product if you follow Marianski's recipe. You did not give us the name of the culture you are using, but 5g/kg of dextrose should be a good amount. It will give you a a bit of tang but should not be overly sour. If you see lower amounts of sugar in recipes it is usually meant for dry cured products. Having a bit of tang is a standard characteristic of summer sausage. It is a semi-dry product, which means that it has a longer shelf life than if you did not lower the pH and dried it for a short time. If you don't want any tang don't use anything to sour it. Don't dry it, just keep it refrigerated after finishing. I actually make cooked salami using 50/50 pork/venison. It has no sour flavour and I prefer it over a summer sausage.

As to the ratio of pork to venison, there is no right or wrong amount. It's a matter of preference and what you like. If you like the flavour of venison, you could do 70%. Why not make two batches, one with a 50/50 mix and the other with more venison. Make sure to trim the fat off the venison and that the meats are very cold when you are grinding.

Good luck and let us know how everything turns out.
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Re: Summer Sausage Questions

Post by Scogar » Mon Nov 11, 2019 00:41

Thanks Bob K and Redzed. I missed the dextrose and only saw the sugar when I posted, I'm glad you pointed that out. But funny based upon both of your posts it seems that the range is still wide (but that's ok). One for cutting sugar in half, the other keeping it the full recipe. The same goes for the quantity of venison. Most times it is the only red meat eaten at the house so the taste isn't a concern, it was the fat.

But I think the reality is to go small and sample ranging my fat and pork ratios either up or down based upon the start over a few sausages and dialing things in for me personally. Thank you both for the insight...this may be something I post some results about since these ranges tend to vary so much

BTW - I didn't mention the cure because their recipe states FLC, and being this would be my first cure I will follow their instructions (I also bought TSPX but will save that for soppressata)
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Re: Summer Sausage Questions

Post by redzed » Mon Nov 11, 2019 02:22

Actually when I use the word "sugar" it includes dextrose, sucrose, fructose, maltose, lactose, etc. They are all sugars. Dextrose is probably the best option in your situation since it will aid in a fast start and fast fermentation.
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