Smoked Summer Sausage
On December 07, 2022
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This smoked summer sausage makes for a delicious appetizer, snack, or side anytime you’re craving some tasty smoked meat. It pairs beautifully with cheese, nuts, and fruit on a charcuterie board for a perfect party platter.
Smoked Summer Sausage
Summer sausage is a snack board staple when we’ve got friends or family around who like to munch while they visit. Smoky, savory, perfectly spiced beef is so good sliced thin and served with yummy mustard, cheese, and crackers.
This recipe for smoked summer sausage is made with ground beef and a happy little combo of salt, pepper, and seasonings to give the meat a fantastic flavor. Once smoked, it’s delicious on a charcuterie board or sliced up for a quick snack whenever you need a little BBQ meat treat.
Ingredients for Smoked Summer Sausage
The ingredients for this smoked summer sausage are fairly simple, and you’ll likely find most of these in your pantry. Here’s what you’ll need to make this sausage.
- 1 pound 85/15 ground beef
- 1 Tablespoon Morton’s Tenderquick
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- 1/2 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon whole celery seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
How to Smoke Summer Sausage
Let’s make ourselves some delicious summer sausage, shall we? Here’s how to smoke summer sausage.
- Make the sausage. Combine all ingredients for the summer sausage in a mixing bowl. Massage the meat well to thoroughly mix the seasoning into the meat.
- Form the loaf. Dump the meat out on two large sheets of plastic wrap. Roll the meat into a long cylinder shape (about 2 inches in diameter). Press all the air out of the meat and roll it tightly. Twist the ends of the plastic and place the whole thing in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.
- Smoke. Preheat the smoker to 180 degrees F. Remove the sausage from the plastic wrap and place it directly on the grill grates of the preheated smoker. Close the lid and smoke for 6-8 hours. Remove the sausage when it reaches 160 degrees F.
- Rest. Rest the sausage for 1 hour.
- Store and enjoy. This sausage can be enjoyed right after the rest time, or you can store it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks until ready to use.
How Long to Smoke Summer Sausage
With your smoker preheated to 180 degrees F, it takes 6-8 hours to smoke summer sausage.
This is a fairly wide span of time, and for a good reason. Summer sausage needs to be cooked to a temperature of 160 degrees F, and it may take anywhere from 6 to 8 hours to reach this temperature. Instead of watching the clock, invest in a reliable meat thermometer, and smoke the meat until it hits that final target temperature.
Tips for Smoking Summer Sausage
Don’t let smoking your own cured meat scare you away from the process. It’s pretty straightforward and easy. Here are some tips for smoking summer sausage.
- Use a different meat base. This summer sausage base is SUPER versatile. Swap the ground beef for your favorite game meat to use that venison, elk, or buffalo grind.
- Try a jerky cannon. Want to make snack sticks instead of one large sausage? Easy! Use a jerky cannon to press your sticks and smoke for 2-3 hours instead of the 6-8 needed for the larger sausage.
- Plan ahead. Morton’s Tenderquick cure isn’t always readily available at grocery stores, but a curing agent is requisite for this sausage to prevent spoilage during the cooking time and to help you achieve that signature pink color. It is easy to order online and have delivered so you can get the results you want. There are other types of curing agents, but Tenderquick is particularly great at these dry mixed/quick cured sausages.
More Sausage Recipes
Looking for more sausage recipes to try out on your smoker or grill? These are a few of my favorites to try out today.
Smoked Summer Sausage Recipe
This recipe was created for you, backyard griller! Here at Hey Grill Hey, we’re in the business of helping you make better BBQ, feed the people you love, and become a backyard BBQ hero. You can find more of my smoking and grilling recipes here on my website (browse the Homepage for inspiration) on Instagram, YouTube, or our Facebook Page.
Smoked Summer Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef 85/15
- 1 Tablespoon Morton TenderQuick
- 2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon whole mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon celery seeds
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Mix the sausage. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and massage with gloved hands until the seasoning is completely mixed into the meat.
- Mix the sausage. Lay out 2 large sheets of plastic wrap. Dump the meat mixture out onto the center of the plastic wrap. Fold up the long sides of the plastic wrap and roll the meat into a cylindrical shape, about 2 inches in diameter. Use pressure when rolling to remove air bubbles and create a tight roll. Twist the ends of the plastic wrap to complete the shape and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Smoke. When you're ready to smoke, preheat your smoker to 180 degrees F with your favorite hardwood. I like hickory for this summer sausage. Remove the sausage roll from the plastic wrap. Set the sausage on the grates, close the lid, and smoke for 6-8 hours, or until the sausage reads 160 degrees F internal temperature.
- Enjoy. Rest the sausage for at least an hour before slicing and serving. If refrigerating, cool to room temperature before wrapping tightly in plastic wrap and storing in the fridge. Smoked summer sausage will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Was a great recipe but way to much salt
Tried your recipe: way too salty. Leave thr kosher salt out, probably will be fine.
Thanks
Made the mistake of not reading the comments before I made this. Unfortunately it ruined two lbs of meat. Way too salty. No need to add the kosher salt. Also 160 seemed high for the final temp, was a little dry.
I’ve made this a number of times and agree with the comments that the salt needs to be cut way back. I now add very little salt beyond the cure. I’ve also started adding other spices — rosemary, thyme — with good success.
Question — can cure #1 be used instead of tender quick? I’ve seen other recipes that use this instead and it avoids the nitrate
Way too much salt. I’m going to half the salt at least. Also could use more Mustard seed and red pepper flakes. I made 2 logs 1 1/2 pounds each, and smoked @ 175 degrees, for 4 hours until the internal temperature was 155 degrees, That was perfect, then as soon as I took it out of the smoker wrapped it tight, in plastic wrap (watertight), and put it into ice water until cold. Turned out GREAT!
Five stars for recipe instructions. One star for spices. Way too salty for my taste. I will probably to this again with 1/2 the salt and pepper. Otherwise, nice texture and flavor. I made 3 lbs so I trippled all of the spices. Big mistake.
Agreed, way too much salt. I’m going to half the salt too at least. Also could use more Mustard seed and red pepper flakes. I made 2 logs 1 1/2 pounds each, and smoked @ 175 degrees, for 4 hours until the internal temperature was 155 degrees, That was perfect, then as soon as I took it out of the smoker wrapped it tight, in plastic wrap (watertight), and put it into ice water until cold. Turned out GREAT!
Loved this. Made a log with ground 85/15 beef and a log with ground turkey over a cherry/hickory wood chip blend.I cored the turkey and stuffed with smoked cheddar.The turkey log seems too salty? My kosher salt was coarse grain, not fine. Finer grain, based on surface area, would result in more salt, and turkey doesn’t have a lot of fat-render to sweat moisture/salt off…We had a control module issue on the temps in the smoker bc of the cold snap were in … So it took a long time. Set at 180, grate level was 160… After adjusting, things cooked off fine.My question is: can I reduce, and to what safe degree, the salt content? Or any advice on it? Thanks. Love the site!!
Love this. Easy prepping and taste/texture so good.
Want to try this recipe but have never used Tender Quick. Looked it up and noticed Morton recommends 1 1/2 teaspoons per pound of meat, as do many other sites. Just want to make sure I’m using enough to cure the meat but don’t want it too salty. Any thoughts?
I want to make this for Christmas gifts. Can I add pork or Italian sausage?
Absolutely!