Summer Sausage Update After 2 Weeks

Two weeks ago, we butchered a cow with @beatitudes8 and made a three-meat combo (deer, beef, and lamb) summer sausage. Please read @beatitudes8, "Making Summer Sausage with @shalomacres" for additional information.

It has been 16 days since we mixed, processed and smoked several hundred pounds of summer sausage. A lot has changed in 16 days so we thought it would be a good idea to share with everyone. Plus, if you are a first time sausage maker, this will give you an idea of what to look for during the process.

It is currently hang curing in our root cellar since outside temperatures have been fluctuating below freezing at night. If the meat would freeze during the curing process all the meat would spoil and be lost. The current temperature in the root cellar is 46 degrees F.

At the time of processing, the large sticks weighed just under four pounds. As the sticks cure, they loose some water weight, appear a little darker in color, start to mold, and the texture of the sausage starts to firm up. You can also see the casing start to pull away from the meat because the sausage is shrinking as it hardens and cures.

Our family has processed sausage for close to 20 years and for 18 of those years we would wipe the mold from the casing as it appeared. Two years ago, Zac with @mericanhomestead informed me the mold was good for the sausage and it enhanced the flavor. I looked up his recommendation and after a couple of days I decided (not fully onboard with the crazy idea!) to let it form on the casing. Most of you know that when a root cellar is designed correctly, it has high humidity to keep vegetables fresh but in the case of curing sausage, the humidity also enhances the growth of the mold. So we are 16 days into the curing process and we have safe and healthy mold forming on the sausage.

Today, we ate some of the small "smokies" and our family thinks they tasted wonderful. It has been six years since we made any of these because they can be time consuming to make and they are more difficult to form. They are called "smokies" because due to their small size, ( they are only 3/4" in diameter) the smoke penetrates though the whole sausage while in the smokehouse. The smoke flavor is tasted in every bite and the combination of spices create a wonderful flavor tempting you to eat more and more of them.

Full size lengths can be 7 or 8 feet in length.

This picture shows them cut into 3 inch pieces which is a good size for our family.

We will plan another update in a 2-3 weeks so we can share any additional changes. Thanks for reading, upvoting and commenting!