Recipe - VenisonElk Mettwurst Smoked Summer Sausage

2 One half pound Deer or elk; trimmed
1 One half pound Pork shoulder or butt;
untrimmed
1 tablespoon Canning salt
1 One half tablespoon Ground pepper
4 teaspoon Morton's TenderQuick
1 teaspoon Sugar
3 teaspoon Garlic powder
One half teaspoon MSG
One fourth teaspoon Cayenne pepper; or more to
taste
5 ounce Cold water
One fourth teaspoon Garlic powder
1 teaspoon Coarse black pepper

From "Barbecuing & Sausagemaking Secrets" by the Culinary Institute of
Smoke Cooking, Charlie & Ruthie Knote.

Mix the spices with the water, then mix this with the ground meats
thoroughly. Grind again with a hamburger plate (1/8 inch holes) for a finer
textured sausage. Makes 3 sausages.

To smoke sausage without casing: Refrigerate the mixture 2 to 4 hours for
better shaping. Shape 4 pounds of mixed sausage into three loaves 1 1/2" to
2" in diameter by 10" to 12" long. Place each loaf on an 18" long piece of
plastic wrap, then roll up tightly. Knead this sausage loaf carefully to
eliminate air pockets in the sausage. Prick any air pockets with knife or
ice pick, and twist the ends loosely to make a temporary casing.

Place the wrapped sausage loaves running accross the wires on your smokers
grid. This will produce a better appearance on the finished product. Leave
1/4" space between sausages for heat penetration. Wet smokecook in a water
smoker, or cook in a custom smoker or kettle grill, or oven, for 45 to 50
minutes at 250 degrees. Do not exceed 275 degrees, or the plastic wrap may
melt. You need to cook just long enough to "setup" the meat, 120130
degrees internal.

Remove the sausage from the smoker, and cool for 10 to 30 minutes in the
plastic. You want the meat to reabsorb the liquids, for a moist sausage.
Then, remove the plastic wrap. Remove any liquid and sediment from the
surface with a paper towel. Dry smoke for 40 to 60 minutes, to an internal
temperature of 150 to 155 degrees. Check the temp with a meat thermometer
from the end of the sausage. Remove immediately when done, cool and
refrigerate.

Age for 12 hours up to 5 days in the refrigerator for mellowing out before
serving. Cover with foil or plastic to prevent drying out. This can be kept
up to 6 months in the freezer without great loss of flavor by wrapping in
foil and placing it in a plastic bag.

Notes: I tasted the beef version of this recipe, which is made with 1 1/2
pound beef chuck & 2 One half pound pork, and does not have the extra garlic & black
pepper at the end of the recipe. Twelve people made 1 sausage disappear in
less than 10 minutes. Making this without the casing made for an irregular
shape, but nobody cared!

I haven't read to much of this book so far (I only got it last night!), but
I'm not too impressed by some of the tips and procedures they have. Also,
the style of the authors leaves something to be desired. They keep
referring to "Foodpanicked" Americans, and appear to have an overinflated
opinion of themselves. They do have some good information, and some great
recipes, however, and overall, I'm not disappointed I bought the book, but
you may want to find it for less than the cover price of $14.95.

Posted to bbqdigest by chef.paul.g@altavista.net on Dec 17, 1998,
converted by MM_Buster v2.0l.