Homemade Summer Sausage Recipe

Summer sausage is a delicious dish that can easily be made at home. This recipe for homemade summer sausage has just 5 ingredients and can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Make this simple summer sausage and enjoy it on sandwiches or crackers. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 weeks and in the freezer for 3 months.

Ingredients You’ll Need

lean ground beef
curing salt
fresh ground black pepper
garlic salt
liquid smoke

How to Make Summer Sausage

Mix the ground beef with the curing salt. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Add the garlic salt, black pepper, and liquid smoke to the meat. Mix until well combined.
Divide the meat mixture into four equal parts. Form the meat into logs or sticks.
Line a roasting pan with foil for easier cleanup. Place the meat on a wire rack in a roasting pan.
Preheat the oven to 225F and bake the sausage for 4 hours.
Remove from the oven and cool. Cut into slices and serve on bread or with your favorite crackers.
Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three weeks, or freeze for up to three months.

Tips and Tricks

Lean ground beef produces sausage thats not overly greasy.
Line the roasting pan with foil before baking to make clean-up quick and easy.
Try seasonings like mustard seeds, smoked paprika, or dried herbs for a different flavor profile.

How Do You Know When Summer Sausage Is Done?

An instant-read thermometer is the best way to check for doneness. The internal temperature of summer sausage should be between 155165F.

What Is The Best Cut Of Beef For Summer Sausage?

Freshly ground beef chuck is most commonly used for beef sausages. For the best results, grind the beef chuck yourself or have a butcher grind it for you.

How Long Does Beef Summer Sausage Last In The Fridge?

Homemade beef summer sausage can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

Can I Freeze Summer Sausages?

Yes! Place the summer sausage in an airtight freezer-safe container and freeze for up to three months.

Summer sausage is a delicious dish that can easily be made at home. This recipe for homemade summer sausage has just 5 ingredients and can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

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Servings:

Ingredients

4poundslean ground beef
1/4cupcuring salt
2teaspoonsfresh ground black pepper
1teaspoongarlic salt
2tablespoonsliquid smoke

Instructions

Combine the ground beef and curing salt in a mixing bowl. Refrigerate overnight, covered.
To the meat, add the garlic salt, black pepper, and liquid smoke. Mix until everything is properly blended.
Make four equal portions of the meat mixture. Form the meat into logs or sticks.
To make cleaning simpler, line a roasting pan with foil. Place the meat on a wire rack in a roasting pan.
Preheat the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit and bake the sausage for 4 hours.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Cut into pieces and serve with bread or crackers of your choice.
Refrigerate for up to three weeks in an airtight container, or freeze for up to three months.

FAQs

How to make real summer sausage?

16” plate (5 mm).
Mix all ingredients with ground meat.
Stuff into beef middles or fibrous casings about 60 mm in diameter.
Ferment at 86F (30C) and 85-90% humidity for 24 hours.
Place the sausage in the smoker and smoke at 110F and 70% humidity for 6 hours.Instructions
Grind pork and beef through 3

What cut of meat is best for summer sausage?

Best Cuts of Meat for Homemade Sausage or Salami
Pork Butt.
Shoulder of pork.
The belly of a pig.

How long does summer sausage need to cure?

Suggestions for Summer Sausage

Cut your meat and fat — it has to be either pork fat or fat trimmed off beef roasts or steaks — into chunks that fit into your grinder, add the salt, and the curing salt, toss well, and let this sit, covered, in your fridge for up to 2 days. One day is ideal, and even 6 hours will do.

What cheese for homemade summer sausage?

Smooth, semi-soft cheeses like Havarti, butterkäse, or Muenster are perfect, with a neutral background that lets the sausage’s seasonings shine. A sharp Cheddar (any Cheddar, really) or Swiss is also a fantastic match, with nutty notes that perfectly complement the smoke and acidity of the sausage.

Does summer sausage have to be fermented?

Summer sausage is usually a mixture of pork, but may be made of or contain other meats such as beef or venison. Summer sausage is fermented, and can be dried or smoked, and while curing ingredients vary significantly, curing salt is almost always used.

What are the little balls in summer sausage?

A: The little, round yellow things in (some) Summer Sausage are mustard seeds. Mustard seeds are a traditional ingredient in Summer Sausage and they add a little extra zip to each slice!

How many times do you grind meat for summer sausage?

There’s no magic answer for how many times you should grind meat for sausages. It’s really up to personal preference. If you like a coarse, chunky sausage then once should be enough. If you prefer a smoother sausage, then you probably want to grind it twice.

How long to smoke a 3 lb summer sausage?

With your smoker preheated to 180 degrees F, it takes 6-8 hours to smoke summer sausage. This is a fairly wide span of time, and for a good reason. Summer sausage needs to be cooked to a temperature of 160 degrees F, and it may take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to reach this temperature.

Do you cut off the red part of summer sausage?

The enclosure is composed of high-quality paper. We recommend removing it before enjoying the summer sausage, but it is perfectly fine to consume.

Why add water to summer sausage?

RF: Liquid helps the protein suspend the fat in the sausage. You want to think of sausage as an emulsified product. Water really helps that protein hold that fat and suspend that fat.

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