Summer Sausage Has Nothing to Do With Summer

The name is a leftover. Summer sausage got called that because it was cured to survive warm months without refrigeration, back when that was a genuine problem rather than a marketing angle.

Nobody needs that solved anymore, and the sausage stayed anyway, because what makes it keep is also what makes it taste good.

What Curing Does to Flavor

Curing and smoking concentrate. Water leaves, flavor stays, and the result is denser and more assertive than fresh sausage, with a tang from the fermentation that a fresh product cannot produce.

That density is why a thin slice does more work than a thick one, and why summer sausage belongs on a board rather than on a plate with a fork.

The Elk One

Elk summer sausage is the one people drive here for. Elk runs lean enough that it needs beef added to hold together as a sausage, which is what ours has, and the result keeps the clean flavor of the animal without going dry.

If somebody in your family hunts, this is the flavor they are chasing when they take a deer to a processor. The difference is that ours is made in a USDA plant by people who do it every day.

The House Sausage

Our Chalet Summer Sausage is a beef and pork blend and the one we make most of. It is the baseline, the one that goes in gift boxes, and the one to buy if you are not sure.

Beef Mountain

Beef Mountain is smokier and heavier than the house blend, which makes it the better match for sharp cheese and for anyone who finds the standard version too mild.

How to Slice It

Thin, against the grain, with a sharp knife. A thick slice eats like a meal and a thin one eats like a snack, and a board full of thick slices stops moving after ten minutes.

A twelve ounce sausage sliced properly feeds more people than it looks like it should, which is the practical reason to bother.

What Goes With It

Sharp cheddar, a cracker with structure, and something acidic. Mustard is the standard answer and a hot pepper jelly is the better one.

That combination requires no cooking, no timing, and no equipment beyond a knife and a board, which is why it has fed people at gatherings in this state for generations.

Keeping It

Unopened, our summer sausage is shelf stable and lives in a cupboard. Once cut, wrap it and refrigerate it, and it holds for a good while after that.

That is the entire storage instruction, and it is the reason a sausage in the fridge solves more unplanned meals than anything else you could keep there.

Questions We Get

What makes it summer sausage?
It was cured to keep without refrigeration through warm months. The name outlived the need.

Does elk summer sausage taste gamey?
No. Elk is cleaner and milder than most people expect, and the beef added keeps it from drying out.

Does it need refrigeration?
Not until it is opened.

Where is it made?
Our USDA plant in Belgrade, Montana.

How much do I need for a party?
About a half pound of meat per person if the board is the main food, less if there is a real meal alongside it.