Sausages

Cumberland

Coarse, Peppery English Coil Sausage

Cumberland is a smoked sausage built on a 50% lean meat / 50% pork blend, using lean wild game or lean beef. Finish at an internal 160°F (71°C), stuff into 29-32 mm natural hog casing, grind at Coarse (3/8") then Medium (1/4"). Exact amounts scale to any batch weight in the DeepWoodz Smokehouse app for iPhone and Android.

Cumberland is never twisted into links. It is one long rope, coiled flat and skewered, and you cut off what you want after it cooks. Pepper is the flavor, coarse and plenty of it, with sage and thyme behind, and fresh herbs taste noticeably brighter than dried. Like any British banger it carries rusk, which soaks up water and gives it a soft, juicy bite. Cook it gently and do not prick the casing, or the juice ends up in the pan.

• Peppery
• Herb
• Savory
• Classic

Internal temp

160°F (71°C)

Casing size

29-32 mm

Casing

Natural Hog

What goes in it

• Kosher Salt
• Black Peppercorns (toasted, coarse cracked)
• Ground White Pepper
• Fresh Sage (finely chopped)
• Fresh Thyme Leaves (chopped)
• Ground Mace
• Ground Nutmeg
• Cayenne Pepper
• Ice Cold Water
• Rusk (or plain dry breadcrumbs)

Amounts are calculated for your batch weight in the app — including the cure, which is held at a fixed, food-safe rate.

The meat

Lean Wild Game · Lean Beef · Pork Butt · Pork Shoulder

Bear or wild hog: take it to 165°F and hold 3 minutes. Freezing, smoking and curing do not reliably kill trichinella — only heat does.

How it's made

1. Cube the meat and pork, trim off silverskin and gristle, and chill until the edges are firm. Keep everything below 34°F.
2. Toast the whole black peppercorns in a dry pan until fragrant, about 1 minute. Cool, then crack them coarse.
3. Grind everything once through the 3/8" plate, or the 1/4" plate if the game has a lot of sinew.
4. Mix all the dry seasonings together, salt included, then stir in the chopped sage and thyme.
5. Add the seasonings, rusk and ice cold water to the meat. Mix 1 to 2 minutes, only until the meat is tacky and the rusk has soaked up the water.
6. Fry a small test patty and taste it. If it tastes flat it is under-salted, not under-spiced.
7. Stuff into 29-32 mm hog casings as one long rope. Do not twist it into links.
8. Coil the rope flat into a spiral and push two skewers crosswise through it to hold the shape.
9. Refrigerate overnight before cooking.
10. Cook the coil over medium heat in a pan, on the grill, or in a 375°F oven, turning once, until the internal temperature reaches 160°F. Do not prick the casing.
11. Rest 5 minutes, then cut into portions. Wrap and freeze what you will not cook within 2 days. Cumberland is usually made with pork. Our recipe uses half lean wild game or beef and half pork butt.

Before you start

• Venison to pork fat ratio