We have been getting lots of requests for an easy recipe for summer sausage. This is that version. This recipe will deliver those classic summer sausage flavors in only 1 day
Traditionally summer sausage was made in the winter using European preservations techniques. Salting, fermenting, smoking, then drying. The end result was a shelf stable product that did not require refrigeration. This made it possible to have preserved meat during the summer when storing meat wasn’t possible. Hence the name Summer Sausage.
This sausage was smoky, tangy, and loaded with very subtle aged meat flavors. Today we are going to achieve those sourly notes and those umami notes in our summer sausage by using a couple really cool products. The first one is called encapsulated citric acid. This is a great way to get that traditional old fashion tangy flavor with out having to ferment our sausage.
Here’s how it works. The citric acid is coated with hydrogenated cotton seed oil. That cotton seed oil melts between 135F – 150F. So as soon as you start cooking your ECA filled sausage and it reaches an internal temperature of 150F the oil coating will have melted and the citric acid will be released into the meat, lowering the ph. TANGY!!
Encapsulated citric acid is very easy to use and works great if you follow the package directions. ECA (encapsulated citric acid) must be the very last ingredient you add to your meat as you are mixing. If you add it too soon the encapsulation could break, releasing the citric acid into your meat messing up the bind and texture. The other thing to remember about ECA is that it must be cooked the day it’s prepared.
I know that some of you may saying, ” wait a minute. Don’t we have to let the sausage rest in the fridge overnight to allow the cure to work?”. Under normal circumstances you are correct, but encapsulated citric acid also works as a cure accelerator so when you use ECA you can cook immediately after stuffing! Matter of fact, it is recommended that you cook your sausage the same day that you add this to your meat mixture. If you don’t you risk the encapsulation breaking and the citric acid will get released too early (this will ruin your sausage texture)
The other ingredient we will be using is Nutritional Yeast. This is such a neat product to add into sausage because it serves a dual function. Firstly, it will give us these really great umami rich (slightly cheesy) flavors and it will act as a binder for our sausage. Win Win!
Together we will be able to mimic the authentic flavors of that classic summer sausage in only 1 day (rather than 10 days). The only draw back here is that our Summer sausage will require refrigeration.
When it comes to cooking your summer sausage there are lots of different options. Traditionally it was smoked, not for the flavor but for the preservation and anti fungal properties that smoke had on food. It also tasted delicious.
If you don’t have a smoker be sure to check out the recipe where I list several cooking options that might work out for you
Follow basic sausage preparation practices when making this summer sausage.
- Clean and Sanitize all of your equipment.
- Keep your meat and grinder parts super cold (below 34F)
- Any liquid that is added to the mince needs to be ice cold
- Mix your very chilled meat till the mince becomes very tacky
- Stuff the mince into sausage casings and prick out any air pockets
- After stuffing, smoke and cook your sausage low and slow:
Start at 100F for 1 hour, 135F for 2 hour, 155F for 2 hour, 180F till the internal temp reaches 150F (smoke is being applied lightly through the entire cooking process) - After they finish smoking submerge the summer sausage in ice cold water to cool them off completely
- Finally let them bloom/age at room temperature for 6 – 12 hours.
- Refrigerate and enjoy!!
Here are a few things you might find useful when making sausage
- High Quality Natural Casings (AA Grade)
- Iodophor Sanitizer
- MK4 Thermapen (Accurate Thermometer)
- Chef Knife – KOTAI (For 15% off use discount code – 2guys )
- Iwatani Professional Chef Torch
- Scales
- Insta Cure #1
- Nutritional Yeast
- Encapsulated Citric Acid
- Sausage Stuffers
- Grinders
- Smokers
- Bella’s Cold Smoke Generator
- Butchers Twine & Dispenser
- 3″ Summer Sausage Casing
- Stuffing Horn Cleaners for your sausage stuffer
- Stainless Steel hooks
- Extra Large Engraved Cutting Board
- Sausage Pricker
- Heavy Duty Vacuum Sealer
- Apera Instruments pH meter
If you want to see the different things that we use in operation our be sure to check out our new Amazon Store.
2 Guys & A Cooler Amazon Storefront
Easy Summer Sausage
Ingredients
- 500 g pork shoulder lean pork will also work
- 250 g lean beef
- 250 g pork pack fat
- 17 g kosher salt
- 2.5 g insta cure #1
- 5 g granulated sugar
- 3 g cracked black pepper
- 2.5 g coriander
- 1.5 g garlic powder
- 6 g mustard seeds
- 1.5 g all spice
- .6 g nutmeg powder
- 5 g nutritional yeast
- 10 g encapsulated citric acid ADD LAST DURING THE FINAL STAGES OF MIXING
- .8 g sodium erythorbate this is a cure accelerator
- 79 ml ice cold water
- Fibrous Casings for summer sausage 76mm (3inch) or whatever size you prefer
Optional Ingredients
- 11 ml liquid smoke more or less depending on preference. (basically 1 tsp per pound of meat)
Instructions
- Start by entering the amount that you want to make in the "Box that reads "How much do you want to make" Be sure to enter the amount in grams1,000 grams = 2.2 pounds2270 grams = 5 pounds4540 grams = 10 pounds9080 grams = 20 pounds
- Clean your meat of any silver skin, sinew, arteries and cut into small strips or cubes. Cut into small strips or cubes and place the meat and fat in the freezer for an hour or until the temp reaches 30f – 34f (-1c – 1c)
- Prepare all of your seasonings (except the encapsulated citric acid, this ingredient is added at the very end of the mixing process and by itself)
- Grind your very chilled meat and fat on a medium plate (6mm). Rechill if necessary. You want the temperature of the meat to be below 34f (1c) when mixing)
- Rehydrate your casings in luke warm water for 15 minutes prior to using
- Mix the meat, ice cold water, and your seasonings (except the encapsulated citric acid) until the meat mixture gets very tacky and sticky. It will stick to your hand when you grab a small hand full of it and turn your hand upside down.
- Once your meat is very sticky add the encapsulated citric acid. Mix for another 30 seconds to simply incorporate this ingredient.
- Stuff your mince meat into the casings and tie them off. Prick out any air pockets with a sausage pricker.
- WHEN YOU ADD ENCAPSULATED CITRIC ACID TO YOUR RECIPE YOU MUST COOK YOUR SAUSAGE IMMEDIATLY AFTER STUFFING THEM INTO A CASING
Cooking Schedule
- In a smoker start cooking at 100F (37.7c) for 1 hour, 135F (57c) for 2 hours, 155F (68.3) for 2 hours, 185F for 1 hours then 185f (85c) till the internal temp reaches 150F (65.5c) Begin to apply smoke when you raise the temperature to 135f (57c) and smoke through out the cooking process. I used Hickory wood.
- Once finished cooking submerge in ice cold water and hang to bloom/age for 6-12 hours
- Slice and enjoy.
ALTERNATIVE COOKING DIRECTIONS (If you don't have a digital programable smoker here are some other methods of cooking summer sausage.)
- OFF SET SMOKER: Cook sausages with a gentle heat, preferable under 225f applying smoke through out the cook. Flip sausages over every 45 minutes for even cooking. Target internal temp 150f (65.5c) After you reach the target temperature, cool down in an ice bath and hang at room temperature to bloom/age for 6-12 hours.
- BBQ Pit: Cook sausages on indirect heat targeting temperatures between 180f and 220f. The idea here is gentle cooking. Not hot and fast. Apply smoke through the cooking process and target an internal temp of 150f (65.5c)After you reach the target temperature, cool down in an ice bath and hang at room temperature to bloom/age for 6-12 hours.
- Kitchen oven: Set the oven to the lowest setting, preferably below 250f (121c). Place your sausages in your oven and cook till the internal reaches 155f (68.3c). Rotate the sausages every 15 minutes till finished to ensure even cooking. For a smoky flavor add liquid smoke to your recipe. After you reach the target temperature, cool down in an ice bath. Since these were not smoked blooming is not necessary but you can still hang your sausage to age/dry for 6-12 hours.
- Sous Vide: Set your immersion circulator to 150f (65.5c). Place the summer sausage in a vacuum sealed bag and start cooking them in the water bath. Cook your sausages for 1 hour for every inch that your sausage is thick. I used 3 inch casings so for me I would cook these for 3 hours. For a smoky flavor, consider adding liquid smoke to the recipe.After you have finished cooking, cool down in an ice bath. Since these were not smoked blooming is not necessary but you can still hang your sausage to age/dry for 6-12 hours.
Storage Instructions
- Because these are technically not "semi dried" summer sausages you will need to store these in either the refrigerator or the freezer.
- The best way to store these would be in whole pieces in a vacuum sealed bag.
- In the refrigerator these summer sausages (in a vacuum sealed bag) will last 2-3 months and in the freezer the will last 1year+
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Eric
Can I use LHP instead of the Encapsulated Citric Acid?
yes.
Made this today and it was perfect. I was looking for a garlic summer sausage recipe when I came across this. Only change I made was doubling the garlic. It was perfect! Thanks for the recipe.
nice
Hi Eric- I want to first, express my sincere appreciation for all your very in-depth videos. I’ve learned an incredible amount, just from your videos!! I actually feel like I know what I’m doing! lol. Your no nonsense approach is easy to understand and helps get the job done! I also appreciate (very much) your doing into detail on the process of making sausage and the use of ingredients, like cure, ECA and all the other parts is so important to understand for making the best sausage possible. And! One of my favorites is how to sharpen my plates and grinder knife!
I’m an avid deer hunter where my husband and I take several deer every year. This time of year is “sausage making time”, in fact, we’ve been doing our sausage over the past few days and will continue over the next week. Before we are done we will end up with around 125 lbs of a variety of sausage! So, I’ve watched your video on Easy Summer Sausage (another great video!) but I was wondering if you could do a recipe/ video with the hunter in mind using venison and maybe a way to get around using ECA and using the EcoCure instead of Pink Cure #1. And if you’re up to a challenge, see about adding a keto approved sweetner instead of dextrose or sugar. We use allulose and monkfruit. There are very few really good videos on doing venison sausage. Most of them are Hunter Joe Schmuck who bought a kit from Cabelas. I want to mix my own spices and understand why I’m adding them. Thank you again for all your in-depth content!
Janet Smith- Eaton Rapids, Michigan
Hi Janet. Thank you for your kind words. I will do my best to get something going for you. Venison is very difficult for me to get but not impossible so I will see what I can do.
Hello Eric.
apologies if this has already been asked.
Can I substitute Saver Ye in place of the Nutritional yeast? if so, a one to one replacement?
Thank you
you could but the flavors are different. Nutritional yeast has more of a cheesy nutty quality where as SavorYe has a distinctive beefy savory umami quality
Eric
What Ratio Do You Recommend?
1/4 tsp to 1/4 cup of water ?
Any additional Sugar or Dextrose?
Thank You!
Depends on the quantity that you make.
Eric
On second thought I will use the encapsulated citric acid
Thanks!
Nice!!
What are your thoughts on using Formento instead of ECA?
I haven’t used it yet but I hear it produces similar results..
hi Eric, I’m making the summer sausage and I have both ECA and fermento. if I choose to try fermento do I just follow package directions or would it be different since it’s taking the place of the ECA? THANKS
I would just follow the package directions
So awhile back and for the 1st time I used ECA in snack sticks following the instructions as per the spice manufacturers recommendation for their Honey BBQ spice mix. They recommended an overnight cure in the fridge. No one else did though. Cannot say I was a fan of the overly sweet taste of the stick (Honey/BBQ) but what I did notice was a build up of this gelatinous goo at the bottom of the loop in the sausage. There was no mealy texture of the meat(breaking) that could come as a consequence to an overnight stint in the fridge as some folks warned but something was off. Not sure I will ever use the ECA again but maybe it would be different with a more savory spice blend.
Interesting. ECA wouldn’t cause the gelatinous goo that you are referring to. My guess would be softer collagen that broke down during the cooking, then solidified afterwards. A different product that does similar things is called Fermento..
Getting ready to make 40 pounds of this summer sausage with venison substituted for the beef. The recipe calls for 27 grams of all spice, that seems like a lot. Just want to make sure before I add that much.
It’s correct.
Can I skip the nutritional yeast and the instacure if I don’t plan on having it out of the fridge for long?
Also going to cook in the oven at probably the lowest temp 170?
Also going to add dehydrated Jalapaneo and high temp cheese if that matters at all.
Thanks!
You sure can.
Hey Eric, If i wanted to make this shelf stable how long should I keep it in my curing chamber? Looking for 40% weight loss or less? Thanks
if you want to make it shelf stable I would lose 35-40% moisture.
Eric,
I’ve loved watching your videos and reading your blog. Truly excellent content. You clearly live what you do. On this summer sausage, I know you said I need to cook it Immediately after stuffing since it uses ECA. I would like to cook via sous vide since it’s so precise. I have a coke smoke generator. Could I cold smoke it for a a few hours first if I cook it immediately thereafter? If yes, how long would you recommend for the cold smoking? Thanks!!
That sounds like a great idea. I would cold smoke for 4-6 hours then sous vide till finished..
Great instructions and recipe, easy to follow. What may have caused my casings to wrinkle?
Typically when you cook your sausage the casings start to tighten up afterwards. You can prevent that from happening by placing the sausage in ice cold water to drop the temp very fast. This will keep the sausage from having those wrinkles.
do you have any suggestions for times/temperatures for a pellet smoker grille? I have a smoke option, then it jumps to 180F and steps up from there.
what’s the lowest it will go?
I’m super excited to make these this weekend. 180 F is the lowest setting that isn’t just smoke. Thanks for the help
cool. It should be fine. Cook and smoke at 180.
Hello Eric, Can I follow this recipe and not use the citric acid and what will it do to the taste?
Thanks,
Bill
yes. The only thing it will change is the stability of this product and the tanginess. It’ll just be like a regular smoked sausage
Hi Eric, Could I use Fermento instead of the ECA? If so what would the amount of Fermento be? I’m starting with 5lbs of sausage. Also could I skip the nutritional yeast? I don’t have any on hand. What would the difference be without the yeast?
Thanks for all the hard work.
Anthony
I would just follow the directions on the label. You can skip the nutritional yeast. I would add some milk powder or even potato starch or corn starch for extra binding properties.
Hello Eric, could I use ground dehydrated lemon powder instead of the ECA? Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
I’m not sure. The ECA is a time release that first allows the meat to bind together, then acidifies. If you acidify first, then the meat’s proteins will denature, and you will end up with a crumbly sausage.
Eric, just a quick question. Do commercial processors making summer sausage typically use the water bath to cook them or an oven to cook them in. Most wouldn’t use a smoker I wouldn’t think as it takes much longer than the oven or a water bath. Thinking the water bath would be the quickest way to do this but your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Gregg
I’m not sure. I believe they use giant steam rooms or huge oven style rooms to cook this.
Is the fat supposed to render out when you soua vide? It made the casings loose. I used the water bath at the end also. Any advice?
If the fat renders, it means there was a problem in the process. Perhaps smeared fat during grinding (most likely cause)
Can I use Prague powder #1 instead of instant cure and are the ratios the same?
yes
Eric, would you think using a cold smoker tube for a few hours after stuffing and then cooking to temp would be safe? Or should I use the lowest temp on the smoker while also using a cold smoker tube to get more smoke on the sausage?
You can go either way. I would personally do the latter
Hi Eric. this is another great looking recipe. Why isn’t there any binder? Is it because of the nutritional yeast?
Thanks for the great lessons.
Yeah. You can add an additional binder and that wouldn’t hurt
Hi Eric I am a follower on your youtube. I want to know if I can use cure #1 ,encapsulated citric acid, pineapple juice for my liquid and xanthan gum as thickener in making a sweet style chorizo.
You can. As for the pineapple juice I would neutralize the enzymes in it by either pasteurizing it first, or by buying already pasteurized pineapple juice. I would also increase the acidity of the pineapple juice by adding a touch of baking soda (see my smoked pineapple sausage recipe). As far as xanthan gum, I would use no more than .1% – .5% in the recipe. If it were me I would hover around that .2% mark
This was a real hit with the family and all we changed was doubled the garlic and used a south Australian shiraz instead of water. the wine gave it a very nice depth and i found the recipe to taste much the same as the metwurst we get here in SA.
Very tasty recipe Eric, thankyou for the hard work you do
You are very welcome!! Glad it was a hit!!
Everyone loves it.
hi
please share chicken polony recipe
Eric, Love the channel, your knowledge has been inspiring.
I made this summer sausage using Venison and pork butt, Out of the park home run!!!
texture was perfect. The ECA gave it the perfect amount of Tang.
Working on the next batch now.
I am also on my 8th Capicola thanks to you
Excellent!! I love Summer Sausage and Coppa has got to be my all-time favorite whole muscle cure.
Hi, I have some dextrose on hand that I would like to use up, would subbing this for sugar produce similar results?
Not really as the starter culture would have more food to eat and it will over acidify your summer sausage
I note that you have added sodium erythorbate to the seasoning list since, as you corrected, ECA won’t function as a cure accelerator because it doesn’t releases only at the end of the cooking process. Question: can I grind,season and mix the meat without ECA, let it “cure” uncased in the fridge overnight and then add the ECA the following morning, stuff and smoke? I don’t have erythorbate and don’t want to buy a minimum 8 ounce bag only to use a scant amount in 1000g of sausage. Thanks in advance.
Yes, that would work.
Erich,
i want to use your summer sausage recipe adding Jalapenos and cheddar cheese. do i need to adjust the other seasonings?
nope. Keep everything the same and make your additions.
I’ve made this before, great recipe! It’s on the smoker now, I have a friend at the lodge who helped me grind/stuff last night and it’s been in the fridge for about 11 hours so hoping for the best. They came out of the fridge feeling exactly like they did going in so hopefully it’s not a loss.
This recipe is delicious! It has become my go-to for summer sausage. I’ve tried several different recipes that really didn’t work for me (taste-wise) glad I found this one.
Nice!!! Thanks for the comment