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

I have a couple of 15+ year old Cookshack SM075s and they work great. When I had questions, I would simply call Cust Serv at 800.423.0698 since they are so nice. Also check out: https://cookshack.com/pages/customer-service-support/ for much more information. As previously mentioned, the Cookshack smoker needs only a little wood to produce a lot of smoke. I first set the smoker at 130 degrees for a couple hours to take some of the extra moisture off the casings and warm the sausage. Next I add a couple 1-1/2" x 1-1/2" x 1" chunks of dry wood and increase the temp to 140 degrees for an hour, then 150 for an hour, repeat to 170 degrees. If the sausage cooking temp stalls before it reaches an internal temp of at least 152 degrees, I add a water pan with a piece of synthetic car drying chamois draped in and out of the pan as a wick to moisture to assist the cooking.

processhead Great, thank you!

Rambow could you explain the “hundreths” measurement for your recipe?

I thought that was the case. Could you share your summer sausage recipe? Thank you.

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?

I have quantity of Morton’s Tender Quick and would like too know the best way to substitute it for Instacure preservative in summer sausage and stick recipes without altering the finished products taste. Any experienced thoughts?

mikesr Natural casings have a better snap when bitten.

mikesr how many hours does it take to reach your desired internal temp? Are you running of water and experiencing a stall?

When you say “fresh” sausage casings, are your referring to natural casings or new fibrous or collagen casings?

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

Jonathon Excellent recap!

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

Jonathon When you think about the order changes, don’t forget to mention that you prefer to add the encapsulated citric acid dry. In addition, if you update your already excellent “Cured Sausage: 202 Using Encapsulated Citric Acid” viedo, think about clarifying your dry preference. About 45-60 seconds in the video, the encapsulated citric acid is added to water and the comment is “leave that little bit of cotton seed oil over the top” which confused the issue for me. Thank you for all the generous time you and the others provide and take my commentary as constructive and nothing else.

Jonathon said in Gamebird Gourment Pheasant Snack Sticks:

Venison Snack Stick

I’ve never used encapsulated citric acid, but it sounds like a good addition to stick making for me. In the video you did not specify how the acid is added. Is it dissolved in water or added dry? In the note section of the write-up, if I understand the process correctly, you may want to specifically add that the sticks should be smoked immediately after stuffing.

Parksider Thanks!

If you are talking to a supermarket butcher, they don’t have fat since their meats come from a central processing location without the trimmings. Contact a butcher shop which only sells meat or smaller grocer who cuts their own meat. I rarely see a pheasant sausage recipe, what’s in yours?

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?

Excellent work! Please share with us your stick process, meat/fat ratio, casing brand and specifics, cooking/smoking specifics, cooling method, finished product sizing and packaging…

twilliams Lately, I have been more in your camp but now see articles about build-up on the walls, grates, and element cover which can become rancid, produce acrid smoke, and/or possibly become a health hazard. I take most ideas with a grain-of-salt, but do soak my grates in hot soapy water made from Dawn after each batch and then deep clean them with oven cleaner in the spring.