You should use some water in a water pan when smoking summer sausage although you don't have too.
The dry smoke will set the smoke in the sausage.
After most of the sawdust/chips have burned, remove the pan from the smoker and let the pan cool for 5-10 minutes.
After this time, fill the pan half full of water and return to the burner.
High humidity also helps to cook the sausage without drying it out too much.
Summer Sausage is called summer sausage because of the fact that the summer sausage requires no refrigeration and can be kept without refrigeration even during the hot summer months.
Summer sausage got its name from the fact that when made the sausage needed little or no refrigeration, thus the sausages could be kept for eating in the usually warmer summer months.
Summer Sausage was made in Europe for hundreds of years (or longer) and immigrants brought their recipes to the new world.
2 slices of summer sausage is a serving of summer sausage.
One serving of summer sausage is considered 2 slices of summer sausage.
However of course you can serve more than 2 slices of summer sausage for person if you want too but 2 slices of summer sausage are considered one serving of summer sausage.
Summer Sausage does have a lot of sodium.
A summer sausage contains around 550 mg of sodium which is quite a lot of sodium so if you need to watch your sodium intake then you should eat summer sausage sparingly.
Summer Sausage does not contain or have any milk in it.
Although some processed meats have milk but summer sausage does not have milk.
Summer Sausage is most often dried sausage that goes through a fermenting and curing process using curing salt.
Although some types of summer sausage are also smoked summer sausage as well as cured sausage.
Summer sausage is fermented, and can be dried or smoked, and while curing ingredients vary significantly, curing salt is almost always used.
Seasonings may include mustard seeds, black pepper, garlic salt, or sugar.
Summer Sausage bought in the store does not need to be cooked.
The summer sausage bought in the store is already cooked and ready to eat.
You can eat summer sausage cold.
Summer Sausage is cooked and not raw.
You can slice up summer sausage and eat it without heating it up and eat it cold if you want too.
Normally summer sausage is served cold right out of the package.
Although some people may want to warm the summer sausage up there's no need to heat the summer sausage up.
I eat summer sausage right out of the package sometimes myself and don't heat it up first.
I've eaten a whole summer sausage myself although I always say that I'm saving some for later but it's so delicious that I keep a knife at my desk and will eat through the summer sausage within 10 to 20 minutes.
Summer sausage is meant to be eaten right from the package and it's not raw.
Just remember to remove the paper wrapper from around the summer sausage before you eat it.
If you've bought summer sausage from the store or your local butcher's shop, there's no need to cook or prepare it in any way.
Summer sausage can be served straight from the package and is an excellent pairing for any charcuterie board you want to serve at the next dinner party.