Soak the Casings. Place 3 to 4 fibrous casings in a bowl of water and let them soak for about 30 minutes while you prep everything else. This softens them up and makes stuffing easier later on.

Grind the Meat. If your meat isn’t already ground, run the venison and pork through a coarse grinder plate separately. Then mix the two together and grind them again to combine evenly.

Mix the Cure & Seasoning. In a large bowl, stir together the cure, water, and all of your seasonings. Once that’s ready, mix in the ground meat. You can do it by hand, with a stand mixer, or run it all back through the grinder one more time to get it fully incorporated.

Stuff the Casings. Using a sausage stuffer or a grinder with a stuffing attachment, fill your soaked casings nice and firm. Aim for a 2½ to 3-inch diameter casing for a classic summer sausage look and bite.

Let It Rest. Transfer the stuffed sausages to the fridge and let them sit undisturbed for 24 to 48 hours. This resting time helps deepen the flavor and lets the cure do its thing.

Smoke the Sausage. Preheat your smoker or pellet grill to 175°F. Hang the sausages (or lay them on racks if needed) and smoke them for about 4 hours, or until they hit an internal temp of 155°F.

Cool & Store. Let the sausages cool naturally to room temperature. Once cooled, you can refrigerate or freeze them. Vacuum sealing is ideal for storage, but tightly wrapping in foil or freezer paper works fine too.