My family really enjoys summer sausage so I thought it would be a great thing to learn how to make.

I did see a kit a LEM to make the sausage and I know most people use game when making it and they tell you to add 20% pork fat to the mix but like to know would that be the same if I was using an 80/20 beef?

Also tied to get advice at the site I mostly use when I smoke meats but the answer I got was there was that summer sausage was cold smoked so they do not recommend doing it.

Kind of left me I thought it was called summer sausage because it was made so that someone could take it out to the field when working and did not have to worry about it spoiling in the summer heat?

Anyway has anyone made this in a smoker or over before any advice or recipes I should try? Thanks!

I don't think you absolutely HAVE to cold smoke summer sausage.

Last time I checked into smoking my own they suggested getting the internal temp to 165, which is the USDA recommended temp for beef anyway, and with the cure in there, you're good to go.

I've never done this before though...so take this with a grain.

Looks like this guy did pretty good! Now I need a sausage stuffer.
And grinder. And mixer.

Look at the Hi - Country kit also.  I use their kit for salami (cooked salami, not dry aged salami).  It  makes excellent salami.   I have hung mine in a brinkman water smoker and smoked to the proper internal temp, and Ive just done them in the oven.  Either way is fine, but its much easier in an oven with good temp controls.

Sometimes it isn't too clear in the directions, but they generally want you to use pork back fat, which doesn't break down as fast when cooking as other fats.  Sure, you can substitute other fat, but the results may not be exactly what you are expecting.  My location is vapor lock for back fat, so I use regular belly fat.

If you cold smoke meat, it is recommended that it have a proper amount of pink curing salt added, or bacteria can form in the meat.

As far as equipment, look at the Big Kahuna cold smoke generator from Smoke Daddy.  You can make most chambers into a cold smoker.

I'm not looking to Cold smoke at all! I'd like to do an authentic summer sausage!

Edited do to spelling.

Kit I was looking at is from LEM but will also check out the site you posted.

I havent done summer sausage yet, due to the recipes I have seen mention fermenting for a couple days, and I have nowhere that is around 85* with out dust and cat hair

Is fermenting needed?

I plan to do some kielbasa this weekend

ETA:They ALSO use #1 pink salt in the same recipes as added cure

You'll still want to use curing salt...

And IMHO, I've never heard of cold-smoked summer sausage. Maybe those folks were confusing methods. Summer sausage is usually started out at a low temperature (120ish) and very slowly ramped up until the meat reaches proper internal temp. The meat will remain in the danger zone for an extended period of time (so you need curing salt), and the slow ramp up is to ensure the meat proteins setup and stiffen before the fat melts. This will prevent fat loss or "fatting out" as many call it. IE, the chunks of fat in your sausage will be melted at full cooking temperature. If you run the smoker up to temp fast and quickly cook the meat the casing with "squish" the meat in, expelling the melted fat. However, if you slowly ramp up to temp the combination of time & temperature will allow the meat to "harden" and the casing cannot squish the meat down. So even when the fat melts, the pocket the fat is sitting in won't be squished closed; the fat will just stay in that pocket and then re-solidify once the sausage cools again.

Here-in lies your biggest hurdle. Fast temperature changes or fluctuations will cause it to fat-out. Most homeowner level smokers simply aren't capable of maintaining temperature precisely enough and ramping at a consistent rate to make summer sausage. I've made several batches in my UDS, never have I gotten one perfect. I'm currently in the process of building a large stainless, insulated smoker with a PID temperature controller and electric elements for the main heat (will still have a smoke box with real wood and fire for smoke generation) just for this reason.

So would making it out of 20/70 ground beef cover it in the recipe?

I don't understand what you're asking. Are you asking if making it out of a higher-fat-content meat will offset the effects of fatting out? Probably somewhat but you'll get a more wrinkled & shruken product and the texture will still be off because the "pockets" of fact will no longer be there which gives it a better taste & texture.

That being said, as I stated above, I've made several batches in my UDS and never got one right. The end product is still very edible.

Anything above 170* or so will melt the fat and "boil" the meat until casing breaks open