Gramps’ Venison Summer Sausage

  4.6 – 19 reviews  • Venison

This sweet and straightforward salad is perfect for a BBQ or potluck and tastes best after sitting for an hour to allow flavors to mingle.

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 6 hrs
Additional Time: 3 days 2 hrs
Total Time: 3 days 8 hrs 20 mins
Servings: 25
Yield: 5 sausages

Ingredients

  1. 5 pounds ground venison
  2. 2 tablespoons sugar-based curing mixture (such as Morton® Tender Quick®)
  3. 2 teaspoons mustard seed
  4. 2 ½ teaspoons garlic salt
  5. 2 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
  6. 1 teaspoon liquid smoke flavoring

Instructions

  1. Place the venison in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with the curing mixture, mustard seed, garlic salt, pepper, and liquid smoke. Mix well with your hands until the mixture is evenly blended and begins to stick together, about 2 minutes.
  2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 days, mixing well each day.
  3. Preheat an oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
  4. Divide the mixture into 5 one-pound logs, place onto a broiler pan, and place a sheet of aluminum foil on top to cover.
  5. Bake in the preheated oven until the logs are no longer pink in the center, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center reads 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), 6 to 8 hours. Turn the meat once or twice during cooking. Allow to cool before slicing thinly and serving.

Reviews

Karen Brown
This is an easy recipe. My Husband has made this often and it’s a big hit! We put it out during the Holidays and it disappears quickly! Very flavorful and makes great holiday gifts!
Carrie Edwards
I made this and everybody In my family loves it. Friends are all asking for the recipe. I found it very easy. I double grind my venison and it took longer to cook than suggested. Making another batch as soon as this one is gone.
Melissa Brewer
So simple and so delicious. I added one ghost pepper to the recipe and it has a good flavor next time I’ll add 2 for added spice heat
Alex Welch
I made this with a mixture of venison and rabbit it had no summer sausage taste what so ever will not use this recipe again
Michael Newton
I made this but I doubled it and made it with 3 pounds of pork and 7 pounds of venison
Tyrone Kirk
i added some fennel seed 1 tbs
Kevin Ball
We doubled the recipe but substituted 3 lbs of bacon (ends and pieces) to come up with the 10 lbs of sausage added 3tsp of onion powder. Ground everything through my 2nd course grinder face. After stuffing the cases had about 1lb left over… Used it as breakfast sausage. Smoked it for 4 hours until the tubes got to 160° . Wife says this is now her favorite way to have venison.
David Allen
I followed this recipe and have a question, after adding all the ingredients and grinding I put the ground meat in the refrigerator. The next day I went to mix it again and the meat had turned brown over night in a stainless steel bowl. Is this normal ?
Anthony Mejia
Didn’t make any changes this go around but it came out great! Used 3lbs venison and 2lbs chuck. Very simple and tasty recipe. Will be making more of this for sure.
Janice Duran
I made this summer sausage and added jalapenos and some sharp cheddar bits into the mix and wow …it was great ….always loved summer sausage …just didn’t know it was so easy to make …..one thing I will do in the future though is leave out the liquid smoke and smoke it in the smoaker for about an hour low temp ….then finish it in the oven …I think it would only make it that much better
Sarah Ortiz
I’ve made this several times now but just got around to taking a photo and leaving a review. In the past I made as written except that we do add pork fat when we are grinding it and packaging it up for the freezer. This go around I decided to add cheese and jalapeno’s that was suggested to me by a friend and even though the cheese didn’t add to it in my opinion, the jalapeno’s were a nice touch if you like things a little spicy. This recipe works great and always comes out with the perfect texture and consistency.
Heidi Gill
The best ever summer sausage. I add pork and having it rest in the frig for 3 days is the most important .we Love, love love this!!!
Hannah Crawford
Same recipe passed on to me years ago, simple to do and we love it.
Courtney Roman
Sounds similar to what my Mom made. Cure can be made with twice as much salt as brown sugar. Giving a 5 until I try it.
Megan Munoz
Great recipe. I did add a couple dashes of soy, worcestershire , and cayenne.
Kerry Harper
I used 5.5lbs of venison and 2.5 lbs of pork and adjusted the ingredients accordingly. That ratio should be higher, perhaps 50/50 venison to pork, in my opinion. Also, I think it needs more pepper (and a coarser grind). Finally, they do get better with age so don’t be in a rush to consume these. Let ’em hang for a while.
Timothy Mendoza
This is a very easy to make recipe and is great tasting. My daughter said she likes it and she is very finicky but did say it was too spicy, so I don’t think she is going to even try it when I make this with about 3 tablespoons of crushed red pepper seeds to make some hot sausage. Thank you Gramps for sharing this wonderful recipe!
Rachel Smith
Great recipe, but how long will this last in the fridge?
Sabrina Jones
I have never made summer sausage before, and this recipe was amazingly simple. My family loved the summer sausage, and it has made my husband take up hunting in order to have a fresh supply of Venison for it. I was concerned about the whole mustard seeds, but they worked out very well.

 

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