I’ve dabbled in making summer sausage over the years, made a fresh batch using some leftover deer last night. My question is use and storage related.

1. How long would you assume its safe to eat, just being stored in the refrigerator? (fresh off the smoker now, or months from now after being pulled from the freezer). Is that a week? 3 weeks? what have you found.

2. How do you freeze yours? I made 1.5"x12" sausages (1/2 pounders). I’m going to freeze 2 per vacuum packed package. I’m curious if I should leave the ‘tag’ ends on the sausage, or cut off so they’re smooth (trying to prevent pinhole punctures in the vacuum bags). Probably over thinking it, but I always want to protect my frozen stuff as much as possible.

Used Walton’s H-seasoning mix for 25 lb batch which included 2.5 lbs of beef fat, 2.5 lbs of restricted melt pepper jack (benefit of being an engineer in a cheese company where we make and dice the cheese, I get to buy it for pennies…), 1 jalapeno de-seeded per pound of product, plus added a 1/4 cup of peppercorns and 2 small containers of mustard seed. Best sausage I’ve made to date.

Daughter is a grinding fool.
https://i.imgur.com/xfwI0FR.jpg

Started in the PitBoss smoker, smoke setting for a few hours, then 150 for a few hours, then 175 for an hour, then finished in the oven at 175 to internal of 160+. Put on smoker at 1:00, pulled from oven at 10:50. I think my smoker is so small, the meat mass is so big, that initially the temperatures at meat level were lower than target. Might have to use my bigger smoker in future so not fighting that, but it all worked out fine.
https://i.imgur.com/bCj1yNA.jpg

Ice bath chilled, and refrigerated overnight.
https://i.imgur.com/y3CbD5K.jpg

Sliced and disappearing fast at work this morning.
https://i.imgur.com/aFto3bi.jpg

How long would you guys say you had to consume it before it ‘goes bad’?

Thanks everybody. I’m an engineer in a food plant, so exposed frequently to food safety issues. Free water is commonly talked of, but not my line of work. I was thinking a week after thawing just to be safe, knowing longer is likely safe, but why risk it. It’s a wonder the old timers didn’t all die of food poisoning….

Have been a Midway customer since before Al Gore invented the internet, back when they only existed through the flyers they sent in the mail.

Other highly reputable ‘shooter’ companies:

https://www.powdervalleyinc.com/ (somewhat local to Wichita, they’re outside of Winfield)

https://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/

https://www.grafs.com/

https://www.natchezss.com/