# Swan Summer Sausage



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Wow, this is a good one, much better than duck or goose summer sausage.

Used 1 1/2 swans, all of a tough old bird and one-half of a young swan. Made about 13 pounds of sausage, about 7.5 pounds of swan and 5 pounds of pork butt. What was left in the bottom of the stuffer we used for burgers. It was just great. I love the flavor of a swan but they can be dry and tough, hard to cook, like a wild turkey. The spices in this recipe are the basic ones for summer sausage plus some coriander. Coriander is lemon-like, a great addition to any wild game sausage.

Swan Summer Sausage #12

7.5 lbs - swan (meat from 1 1/2 swans)
5 lbs - pork butt 
6 tbsp - Morton's Tenderquick cure
2 tbsp - sugar
2 tbsp - coarse black pepper
1 tbsp - mustard seed
1 tbsp - coriander
1 tsp - garlic powder
2 cups - water
1 tbsp - liquid smoke if cooked in oven

Cube meat or grind thru 3/4" plate.
Mix all ingredients well, keep frosty.
Grind thru 3/16" plate.
Stuff into 1 1/2" to 2 1/2" diameter casings.
Refrigerate for 48 hours.

Using fruitwood, smoke until internal temp is 152°F.
Or:
Bake in oven 6 to 8 hours @ 190°F until internal temperature is 152°F

The raw swan summer sausage was stuffed into 1 1/2" diameter x 12" long fibrous casings. What was left in the bottom of the stuffer was formed into patties and cooked in a skillet with a little bit of water; really good, nice and plump with a mild flavor:









Half of the sausages were smoked at 165°F for 3 hours and then finished in the oven. The other half was cooked entirely in the oven. Both were put in an ice water bath when the internal temperature reached 152°F. The ice water bath helps shrink the casing tight to the sausage.









It's really good. Even Mrs. Goob who asks, "How can you eat a pretty bird like that? enjoyed the sausage.









whoo hoo, whoo hoo, whoo hoo


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## duneman101 (Nov 6, 2009)

awsome goob!


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## nickpan (May 6, 2008)

looks good! would you recommend the same recipe but for ducks and geese? i need to start cleaning my freezer out...


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

nickpan said:


> looks good! would you recommend the same recipe but for ducks and geese? i need to start cleaning my freezer out...


I think it would be fine. In my opinion it may have a slight liver taste inherent with ducks and geese that swans don't have.


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## nickpan (May 6, 2008)

Thanks, i have been reading through your other "sausage" post as well and i have really enjoyed it, are there any recipes in there that would be a better choice for ducks/geese as far as a summer sausage goes?


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

nickpan said:


> Thanks, i have been reading through your other "sausage" post as well and i have really enjoyed it, are there any recipes in there that would be a better choice for ducks/geese as far as a summer sausage goes?


The duck sausage recipe in that thread is a good one, in my opinion, but it's pretty "ducky" tasting.

Adding a little more garlic and onion powder will help although I didn't do that here. This recipe is the basic summer sausage recipe with the addition of coriander. I didn't jack up the garlic or onion powder. Coriander is good for taming wild game flavor and I use it in antelope sausages.

Grinding the meat thru a fine plate blends the pork and duck flavors well. Mixing the two meats, pork and swan in this case, well before grinding is very important; mix, mix, mix. I grind twice, once thru a big plate like a kidney plate or a 3/4" hole plate, and then again thru a small 1/8" plate. Each time the two meats get mixed together more. And the smaller the grind the less pronounced the wild game flavor will be.

I've made attempts to temper that ducky flavor with dried fruit; cranberries and apricots. Both were failures, as a matter of fact the apricot one got moldy very quickly...probably something I goofed up.

Swan, crane and wild turkey have a great flavor but can be so hard to cook without rendering them tough and dry. I'm going to use this recipe with them often.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I changed the rate of Morton's Tenderquick from 7 tbsp to 6 tbsp. The recommended amount is around 6 1/3 tbsp, so I should have rounded down instead of up....safer that way.


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