Jonathon Excellent recap!

A smoker and oven in essence are both heaters, so I haven’t noticed a material difference. My method is to begin either cooking method at 130 degrees and increase it by 10 degrees every hour to 160 degrees and leave it until the internal reaches the 140s. In this way I lessen the chance of fat melt. Once in the 140s I increase the temp in 5 degree increments to no more than 175 degrees and remove my sausage or sticks at a minimum of 152 degrees. Extra: If one begins with too much heat at the beginning in an effort to speed things up, they run the risk of creating a cooked exterior of the sausage which impedes heat reaching and cooking the core. It’s similar to searing a steak to produce a rare center. Also research the term “barbecue stall.”

As for cure: Instacure/Prague powder # 1 is used for any type of cured meat product that will require cooking, such as bacon, hams that are not air-dried, and smoked sausages. 2 tsps of Instacure 1 is enough to cure roughly 10 lbs of sausage or bacon.

Instacure/Prague powder # 2 is used for meat products that will be air-dried and not cooked, such as dried salamis, pepperonis, and some air-dried hams.

The reason for the addition of sodium nitrate in Instacure 2 is that over a long curing period, sodium nitrate breaks down very slowly into sodium nitrite.

Little Baby Teddy Great reminder. That is what my Finnish grandmother used, but she called it korppu, which is rusk in Finnish.

Keep up the faith. No hill is too large for a mountain climber!

Respectfully, our family does not cook venison tenderloins since they are so precious. Many times, this extends to back straps taken from a young deer, but not elk. If you are a meat connoisseur and enjoy your meat very rare consider our way of enjoying venison tenderloins, Carpaccio style.

1. Slice the deer or elk tenderloin as thin as possible by using a slicer or wrapping the meat in plastic wrap and chilling it until firm and using knife. Leaving the plastic wrap on while knife cutting makes the meat more manageable and will assist in producing uniform cuts, but makes for a little more clean-up. Using a long cutting stroke with a roast carving knife makes this process easiest for me.

2. Lay the meat out on a platter without overlap and very lightly sprinkle with coarse salt, Preferably Kosher salt. Sometimes we don’t make it to the next step and start eating.

3. Next, drizzle the meat with a high-grade balsamic vinegar.

4. If we make it this far, we add capers and it’s done. You can add cracked pepper and other greens or garnishes to your liking, but for us it begins to camouflage the true taste of the meat.

5. Enjoy before it disappears!

Rambow, thank you for you reply, but I don’t understand it. And, is your sausage 100% venison? Does anyone know if/how I can use Tender Quick with Walton’s packaged mixes?

twilliams I hope you had a chance to move the slush before it froze. Be safe.

Thank you for the reply. Your color is excellent and your method is very similar to my own. Considering a 50/50 venison/pork mix, what cut of pork are you using? I use a 70/30 ratio of venison/ 100% pork back fat which relives me of guessing the percentage of fat in something like a pork shoulder or butt, so I have a more consistent final venison to pork ratio. I know many recipes are sacred, but would you be able to share your stick recipe?