First Batch of Jerky and Sausage

Making summer/deer sausage has been a long standing tradition in my family.  My dad had a reputation for making the best deer sausage around and while I'm certainly biased, I have to agree with that reputation.  My dad's recipe was simple, using traditional cold smoking and curing practices we simply ground the meat once before mixing seasoning then stuffing to smoke.  It was a basic mix of venison to pork of either 50/50 or 40/60.  Seasoning was also basic with cure salt, pepper, and a little whole mustard seed.  The real trick was stuffing the casings to ensure there were no air pockets, smoking with hickory for the right amount of time, and hanging the sausage until firm.  In all it generally took 6-8 weeks before the sausage was ready.  Well worth the wait.

I have some fond memories of those annual sausage productions and with my dad's recent passing have a greater appreciation for his years of dedication making great sausage and for all the memories.  I'm also more inspired to carry on his tradition with my family.  This year I'm making a traditional batch in honor of his memory.

Times have changed though and traditional cold smoking and curing isn't recommended or considered safe these days.  It's understandable, botulism actually comes from the Latin word botulus which means "sausage."  Also, in today's food supply market if you're getting your pork or beef from a supplier you don't have any control over the production or sanitation so there's always that uncertainty.   Both listeria and e. coli are other potential pathogens to be worried about as well.  Pasteurization is the key to safe sausage so don't try that cold smoking stuff at home unless you understand the risks!  I've done quite a bit of research to make sure we're processing safely for the sake of my family.

Since we've acquired a new grinder, dehydrator, and other processing gear to begin making our own sausage at home we also thought it would be nice to make jerky and snack sticks as well.   We just recently finished our first batch of jerky and this evening I'll be pulling out the first batch of snack sticks from the dehydrator and we'll also be stuffing our first batch of my dad's traditional cold smoked sausage.  So far the jerky turned out excellent and I have high hopes for the snack sticks, the hickory smoke flavor is my favorite.