I process all my own deer. I make all kinds of sausage but this is my favorite. My own recipe for hot red pepper stick. This batch is pretty spicy with a good kick to it.

Second grind mixing 7 lbs pork butt and 10 lbs venison with chili blade, then mix in spices and grind two more times with hamburger blade. Pork has 25-30% fat.

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Casings stuffed ready for the smoker, 17 lbs

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Loaded in the smoker ready to start smoke

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Smoke one hour remove smoke, I used Jack Daniels Oak Barrel, this time, a first, usually use oak and a little hickory.

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Cook until internal temperature of 160 F. It was not ready yet.

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Ready to kit up and vacuum seal for the freezer.

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Nice set up and great job!!!

Looks good

That looks great! you should charge to make that for others. I know I would pay for it

Made my stomach start growling.

Very Nice!!

I made 110 lbs of very similar sticks this year. I always keep 2-4 lbs in the fridge and the remainder in the freezer to re-stock the fridge as needed:



My kids take them to school every day.

Good looking grub. Can any of you post recipes/instructions on how you made them?

I have only been making them for 3 years now, but the system seems to work pretty good. No secret here - my recipe came from the internet 3 years ago.

Recipe/Directions are as follows:

6 Lbs. Pork shoulder
9 Lbs. Venison
6 Tbs. Salt
9 Tbs. Paprika
1 Tbs. Chile powder
1.5 Tbs. Cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. Crushed red Chile flakes
1.5 Tbs. Black pepper
1 Tbs. White pepper
1 Tbs. Prague powder #2
1 Tbs. Mace
1 Tbs. Amino Phosphate
1.5 Tbs. Sugar
3 Tbs. Ground Mustard
3 Tbs. Ground Coriander
6 Tbs. Milk powder
1 1/2 cups Fermento
1 liter cold water

Grind meats through a fine plate, re grind to mix. Add spices and water, mix well.. Stuff into 22-24mm (7/8") collagen casings. Link into 10 “ lengths. Hang in smoker and dry for about 1 hr. at 130 F, apply a heavy smoke for about 3 hrs @150 F. Increase smoker to 175 F and smoke to 155 internal. Allow to cool. Then hang to dry to desired texture. Vacuum seal in packages of about 16-20.

The hang to dry is personal preference. You can actually eat them once they are cool. Cooling process is in the smoker - i.e. shut smoker down and let it cool to room temp. Drying can be done in a fridge. I am lucky as I have a cold room off my basement vented to the outside that sits at a dry 40F in December and January. I typically dry them for about 36 hours.

Looks great. I need to buy a smoker.

If you are just starting out, I recommend buying a mix from Cabela’s, or Academy, or other shops. I played with different ones and then started messing with recipes off the internet. I then tried my own with trial and error, some good, some not so good. Jalapeno and cheese is always good, but my overall favorite and is of my family and friends is the snack stick. It all ends up being personal preference on spices. The one thing I have learned from my own preference and most recipes and premixes is that not enough spice per pound is used. I just about double the mix for what I make. I do not care for bland sausage. All the ingredients for this sausage is on the counter in the first photo. Also there are 100 ways to smoke meat. This is how I do it. You can smoke it however you smoke. Be sure you keep your meat cold during this process and refridgerate until ready to cook.

My Recipe for this batch of sausage:

10 lbs venison
7 lbs Pork Butt (you can use shoulder, or whatever you want) you need 25-30 fat with the pork, or add fat as needed
6 oz. Head Country Championship Rub (this rub is great on, or in anything, it is made up of various spices) it can be hard to find in Texas. They are in Tulsa. I order on-line in bulk. I have used this alone and it makes good sausage.
2 oz. ground Cheyanne pepper
3 oz. Crushed red pepper
2 oz. Paprika
2 oz. sugar
1 oz. Morton Nature Season
1 oz. Morton Tender Quick (Cure)
1 cup Instant Dried Milk (this is used as a binder)

Use the large plate to first grind the venison and pork
Mix the venison and pork and grind a 2nd pass with the large plate
Mix in spices by hand
Grind with the medium plate 2 times
Add ½ to ¾ gallon water, mix in by hand (mix needs to be very wet to feed in the small 12mm casings. Not as wet if using larger hog casing, or summer sausage casings)
Stuff casings
I use a propane smoker so I can dry, regulate the smoke, and cook.
Start smoker, load meat, start smoke (I prefer oak and a little hickory)
Smoke one hour heavy smoke (this depends on the amount of smoke you are producing, don’t over smoke, I do the same for ribs, chicken salmon. For a venison hind quarter, or brisket I smoke heavy smoke for 3-4 hours then remove smoke. Wrap the hind quarter in foil and cook another 3-4 hours. On my smoker you can remove the wood tray and stop all smoke and finish cooking with propane
Cook until the internal temperature of the sausage is 160 F. Don’t let the heat get to hot. I keep mine below 225 F.
Cool as rapidly as possible to stop the cooking process. Cold water works well for this.
Kit and vacuum seal if you have one. The best way to store long term. Usually don't have that problem with this sausage. It usually gets gobbled up pretty quick.

Modify to your preference, add, delete whatever you prefer.

Enjoy

Very nice wfhunter, looks awful tasty

I wish I had seen this 2 weeks ago! I have never processed my own before so I tried a box from Cabelas. I wasn't happy with the results. The recipe called for no sort of fat, so I didn't put any in...and I new better. But they are drier than a popcorn fart.

These sticks look dynomite!!!!!

How do you know when the temp is 160? I had a problem with that.

I use a digital thermometer with a probe you stick in the meat. Look at photo number 5 you can see it. You have to test various areas of the sausage. You have to be careful as all of it will not cook at the same speed. My smoker cooks faster on the outer edges than the inner middle. This batch is as big as I can smoke at one time. I have made the mistake of over loading my smoker and having over done and still uncooked sausage. You do not want to over cook it. Better to take out when most is done, then reload the remaining, or finish in the oven.

You have to have fat. The first time I did not have enough either. Also the dry instant milk helps bind the meat together. I did not learn that until later.

Ready for the freezer


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i just got into making jerky with a dehydrator. but seeing this makes me want a smoker!! looks tasty

I know your kids love ya for it!

I am making a small batch of jerky right now in my dehydrator. I love the sausage but jerky is still my favorite. You don't have to have a smoker, but it sure makes better sausage, and smoking a hind quarter does not get much better than that.

The school they go to is mostly city kids that have never seen anything like it. Once or twice a week my kids trade the sticks for some variety. The going rate is 2 slices of pizza for one stick - pretty good deal.

Gonna have to try jerky some time as I love that as well. I had a good year this year and put 5 deer in the freezer and with size of our northern whitetails that works out to just over 350lbs of meat. So I have some to spare.

Looks great, Just started making jerky myself

thats alot of jerky!!