Venison Summer Sausage Recipe: Smoker or Oven, With or Without Cheese

A freezer full of venison is one of the best parts of deer season, and summer sausage is one of the best things you can make with it. It slices clean, it travels well to the stand or the cabin, and a few chubs wrapped up make a gift every hunter on your list will love.

Last week we covered how to use collagen casings. Now let's put them to work. This guide gives you our 10 lb. venison summer sausage recipe, with the option to make it with or without cheese and in a smoker or a home oven. Pick the tang that fits your taste.

The Short Answer

To make venison summer sausage, mix 8 lbs. of venison with 2 lbs. of pork trimmings, 2 level teaspoons of Insta Cure #1, your seasoning, and a tang ingredient such as Fermento or Encapsulated Citric Acid. Stuff into 60–65mm casings and let them hang at room temperature for at least 3 hours. Then smoke at 120–130°F for 3–4 hours. Raise the heat to 165–170°F and cook until the internal temperature reaches 152°F. Shower with cold water to 120°F, then refrigerate for at least 24 hours before slicing.

Why Venison Summer Sausage Needs Pork Fat

Venison is very lean. On its own, it makes a dry, crumbly sausage. That's why every one of our venison summer sausage recipes uses 8 lbs. of venison to 2 lbs. of pork trimmings. The fat keeps each slice moist and helps bind the sausage together.

Trim your venison well before grinding. Remove sinew, silver skin, blood clots, and bone fragments, and keep all your meat cold. If you're new to working with game meat, our beginner's guide to turning wild game into great sausage covers trimming and fat in more detail.

Making a pork and beef version instead? Try Johnny's Summer Sausage.

What You'll Need

Equipment:

• A meat grinder with 3/16" and 3/4" plates
• A sausage stuffer, like our BUILT Series Sausage Stuffer
• A smoker, or your home oven
• A meat thermometer (you'll need to hit 152°F internal)
• A Sausage Pricker to release air pockets
• 1/2" Hog Rings and Manual Hog Ring Pliers, or butcher's twine

Casings (pick one):

• Pre-tied Red Fibrous Venison Printed Casings 61mm. Printed with a deer head and "Venison Sausage – Not For Sale." About 1½ lbs. per casing.
• Mahogany Fibrous Summer Sausage Casings 61mm. The best choice for the oven method, since mahogany gives a smoked look.
• 60mm x 24" Collagen Casings Kit, with pre-tied casings, hog ring pliers, and hog rings included.
• Deer Head Print Collagen Casings 65mm, with space to write your own message. Perfect for gifting.

All of these are non-edible, so peel them before eating. Not sure which to pick? Our guide on how to choose the right sausage casing breaks it down.

The Recipe: Venison Summer Sausage (10 lbs.)

This is the Smoked Venison Summer Sausage recipe from our book, Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing. It works with elk too.

Meat:

• 8 lbs. lean venison or elk
• 2 lbs. pork trimmings

Cure and seasoning:

• 2 tsp. Insta Cure #1
• 5 Tbsp. salt
• 4 Tbsp. powdered dextrose
• 6 Tbsp. corn syrup solids
• 1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tsp. garlic powder (optional)

Tang:

• 5 oz. Fermento (by weight, a little over 1 cup), or another tang option from the section below

Optional:

• 1 lb. High Temp Cheddar Cheese (see "Make It Cheesy")

Insta Cure #1 is not optional. Summer sausage spends hours at low smoker temperatures, and the cure is what makes that safe. It also gives summer sausage its pink color and cured flavor. Use Insta Cure #1, not #2. Our guide to curing salts explains the difference.

Want everything in one box? The Cheddar Summer Sausage Kit has the seasoning, Insta Cure #1, 1 lb. of High Temp Cheddar, and casings for a 10 lb. batch. Just add the meat.

Choose Your Tang

Tang is what makes summer sausage taste like summer sausage. There's no single right answer here. It comes down to how sharp you like it and how much time you want to spend.

For a closer look at the two easiest options, see our guide to Encapsulated Citric Acid vs. Fermento.

If you swap tang ingredients: leave out the Fermento if you use Encapsulated Citric Acid. For 10 lbs. of meat, that's 1¼ oz. of Encapsulated Citric Acid (1 oz. per 8 lbs.). And if you use our Summer Sausage Seasoning, the tang is already in the blend.

Make It Cheesy (Optional)

Cheese is the most popular add-in for venison summer sausage, and it's easy to do right. Regular cheese melts and leaks out in the smoker. High Temp Cheese is made to hold its shape up to 400°F, so you get clean pockets of cheese in every slice.

• How much: 1 lb. per 10 lbs. of meat (our recommended 5–10%)
• When to add it: fold it in last, after the seasoning, cure, and tang are mixed in. Mix gently so the 1/4" dice stay whole.
• Jalapeño cheddar venison summer sausage: use our Jalapeño Summer Sausage Seasoning with 1 lb. of High Temp Cheddar. For more heat, try High Temp Pepper Jack.

How to Make Venison Summer Sausage, Step by Step

Step 1: Grind

Make sure all your meat is well chilled. Grind the venison through a 3/16" plate. Grind the pork trimmings through a 3/4" plate, or cut them into 3/4" cubes.

Step 2: Mix

Put the ground meat and fat in a mixer or tub. Add the cure, salt, sugars, and spices, then mix until everything is evenly spread through the meat. Add your tang next. If you use Encapsulated Citric Acid, add it last and mix only until it's spread evenly. Fold in the cheese at the very end, if you're using it.

If you're using the oven method, add liquid smoke now: 1 tsp. per 5 lbs. of meat. Use it sparingly, because too much tastes burnt.

Step 3: Stuff

Prep your casings first. Soak fibrous casings in room-temperature water for 20–30 minutes. Soak large collagen casings in warm water for up to 5 minutes.

Slide a casing onto the largest stuffing tube you have. Pack the meat into the stuffer tightly to avoid air pockets, then stuff each casing until full, leaving about 2 inches unfilled at the end. Close it with a 1/2" hog ring or butcher's twine. Prick each chub with a Sausage Pricker to let trapped air escape.

Step 4: Let Them Sweat, Then Smoke or Bake

Let them sweat first. Hang the chubs at room temperature for at least 3 hours before they go into the smoker or oven. This applies whether you just stuffed them or you're taking them out of the fridge. Cold casings get wet as they warm up, so this rest lets them "sweat" and then dry. A dry surface takes smoke color better, and the meat warms up evenly before cooking. If your sausage was frozen, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator first.

Smoker method. Preheat your smoker to 120–130°F, hang the chubs on smoke sticks, and apply heavy smoke for 3–4 hours. Then raise the temperature to 165–170°F and cook until the internal temperature reaches 152°F. Raise the heat in steps, never all at once. If you see fat dripping from the chubs, the sausage is overcooking. Our beginner's guide to smoking sausage covers smoker basics.

Oven method. No smoker? You can still make great summer sausage. Set your oven to 170–175°F (many ovens' lowest setting) and check it with an oven thermometer, since home ovens often run hot. Lay the chubs on a rack over a pan so air can move around them, and cook until the internal temperature reaches 152°F. You won't get real smoke flavor this way. That's where the liquid smoke and mahogany casings come in.

Best of both: if you have a smoker but limited time, smoke the chubs for color and flavor, then move them to the oven at 170–175°F to finish.

Step 5: Shower, Bloom & Chill

As soon as the sausage hits 152°F internal, shower it with cold water until the internal temperature drops to 120°F or below. Don't skip this step. It stops the cooking, keeps the casings from wrinkling, and cools the sausage enough to go into the fridge.

If you like a deeper color, you can let the chubs hang at room temperature for about 1 hour, out of drafts, to "bloom." Then refrigerate them for at least 24 hours before slicing. The flavor and texture set up overnight, so the wait is worth it.

Troubleshooting Venison Summer Sausage

• It's crumbly: Encapsulated Citric Acid was over-mixed or went through the grinder, or the sausage got too hot and lost its fat. Add ECA last, mix gently, and follow the temperature schedule.
• Fat leaked out: the sausage overcooked. Raise the heat gradually and pull it at 152°F internal.
• The casing wrinkled: the chub was understuffed, or it didn't cool fast enough after cooking. Stuff firmly and shower it right away.
• The casing pulled away from the meat: the casing wasn't soaked long enough, the chub was understuffed, or the heat was too high.
• Too tangy, or not tangy enough: adjust your tang ingredient next time, staying within the listing's range. And never stack two tang ingredients.
• It's dry: the venison was too lean. Stick with 2 lbs. of pork trimmings per 8 lbs. of venison.

Venison Summer Sausage FAQ

What internal temperature should venison summer sausage reach? 152°F internal is our target, and it's safe. Cooking to 165°F internal is safe too. Once it reaches temperature, take it out right away and shower it with cold water to 120°F or below before wrapping and storing.

Do I really need curing salt? Yes. Summer sausage cooks low and slow for hours, and Insta Cure #1 is what makes that safe. Use 2 level teaspoons per 10 lbs. of meat.

Can I make venison summer sausage in the oven? Yes. Set it to 170–175°F and cook to 152°F internal. Add liquid smoke for flavor and use mahogany casings for color.

Can I make it without pork? You can, but the sausage will be dry. Pork trimmings add the fat that lean venison is missing.

How long does venison summer sausage last? It depends on how it's stored. Our guide on how long homemade sausage lasts covers the fridge and the freezer.

Can I use these steps for snack sticks? The meat mix is similar, but snack sticks use small collagen casings and a different cooking time. Look for our snack stick guide soon.

Your Venison Summer Sausage Shopping List

• Summer Sausage Seasoning or Game Summer Sausage Seasoning
• Insta Cure #1
• Fermento or Encapsulated Citric Acid
• High Temp Cheddar Cheese or High Temp Pepper Jack
• Pre-tied Red Fibrous Venison Printed Casings 61mm or Deer Head Print Collagen Casings 65mm
• Natural Hickory Liquid Smoke for the oven method
• Sausage Pricker, 1/2" Hog Rings, and Manual Hog Ring Pliers
• All-in-one: Cheddar Summer Sausage Kit (10 lbs.) or Summer Sausage Seasoning Kit (25 lbs.)