Smoked Venison Philly Cheesesteak Sausage

Directions

1. Rinse the casings well and soak in room temperature water for at least 40 minutes before stuffing.
2. In a meat lug or tub combine the ground venison and the ground pork.
3. Sprinkle in the brat seasoning.
4. Measure out the 10 ounces of water and add the pink cure to the water. Stir for 30 seconds to start dissolving the cure.
5. Pour the water mixture into the meatblock.
6. Mix the meat well until the seasoning is well incorporated and the meat becomes tacky.
7. Add in the high temp pepper jack cheese. Mix again until incorporated.
8. Load your stuffer with the meatblock and set it up with medium sized horn.
9. Stuff the sausages and then link them into 7” portions.
10. Place the sausage on a rack lined tray and in the fridge overnight. This will help the cure and flavors develop as well as build a pellicle.

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1. On smoking day, follow this schedule.
2. Preheat smoker to 100 degrees on Smoke setting
3. Hang sausages and place in the smoker and insert and probe to monitor temperature.
4. Run 1 hour with dampers wide open.
5. Close dampers to 2/3 closed and increase temperature to 110 degrees. Run 1 hour
6. Increase the temperature of the smoker to 120 degrees. Fill a sawdust pan ¾ full with sawdust and dampen with water. Place directly on the heating element. Smoke for 1 hour.
7. Increase temperature of the smoker to 130 degrees, smoke 1 hour.
8. Increase temperature of the smoker to 140 degrees, smoke 1 hour.
9. Carefully remove the sawdust pan.
10. Increase temperature of the smoker to 150 degrees, run 1 hour.
11. Increase temperature of the smoker to 160 degrees, run 1 hour.
12. Increase the temperature of the smoker to 180 degrees.
13. Run until the internal temperature of the sausage reaches 153 degrees.
14. Pull the sausages from the smoker and place in an ice bath to cool rapidly down to 100 degrees internal.
15. Remove from the ice bath and place in the fridge overnight to cool completely.