Fat back vs pork butt

[AustinMc]

just going to be doing some elk summer sausage this weekend(which is why I needed to know about temp gage) but the recipe I have(Jalapeno/cheddar SS) is calling for fatback. What is fatback?? and can I just use a pork butt.....I was thinking on doing 80% elk/20% pork butt. Will this be enough pork fat, or would a mixture of 70/30 be better(not as dry)

 

[bregent]

I guess fat back is from the back of the pig, but the fat cap from the shoulder is perfect for sausages. I've used belly fat as well and it works great too.

 

[biteme7951]

Since your elk has zero fat I would recommend 60 elk and 40 pork. This is what I use for venison and works well for me

Barry.

 

[AustinMc]

thank you for the answers, helps out greatly..........60/40 is what I'm going to run with

 

[bregent]

I don't have experience with game, but if elk has 0% and assuming pork shoulder runs at about 30%, a 60/40 will give you around 12% fat. That seems too lean to me.

 

[jimmyinsd]

venison is pretty much lean meat like your elk, so I typically go 50/50 with that and pork butt. you might want to try that and go leaner if you next time if you think its to fatty. overly lean sausage is hard to eat, but you would really have to miss a long was on the fatty side before you get a product that is unpleasant. also, small batches to start with. learn the game on the little field before you swing for the fences at Wrigley in my opinion. 5 to 10 pound batches are manageable without overly committing. how much can your stuffer hold in one fill?

 

[AustinMc]

think I might run the 60/40, but also chew up some pork trim in also......think for 10 lbs....add 1lb trim

 

[AustinMc]

wow....thank you for all the input....greatly appreciate, and I agree.....I am a little worried about doing a big batch...I have a 15lb stuffer, and figure I could do about 10 lbs in my smoker (Bradley)....think I have about 20ish lbs of meat, and using what you mentioned about 50/50, gives me 40lbs..........10 lbs(pork included) summer one day, 10lbs(pork included) of sticks the next, see where I am sitting with that, then wash, rinse repeat next weekend

 

[tallbm]

just going to be doing some elk summer sausage this weekend(which is why I needed to know about temp gage) but the recipe I have(Jalapeno/cheddar SS) is calling for fatback. What is fatback?? and can I just use a pork butt.....I was thinking on doing 80% elk/20% pork butt. Will this be enough pork fat, or would a mixture of 70/30 be better(not as dry)

Hi there and welcome!

Pork backfat is just straight pork fat. I use it to make my wild game sausage. Since my venison and my wild pork are almost always pure and lean (no fat) the pork back fat makes things nice and simple. The ratio 80/20 Meat/Fat is perfect for doing sausage and when you have 99%lean meat. The math is simple too. 5 pounds of sausage = 4 pounds meat, 1 pound fat for 80/20. 10 pounds of sausage is 8 pounds meat, 2 pounds fat. Do increments of 5 or 10 from there.

If you can score pure pork fat then I would highly recommend you go that way and then all of this 60/40, 50/50, 70/30 guesstimation is easily resolved because you know exactly how much fat you have and how much meat you have.

Plus I really really really like the idea of knowing ONLY my wild game is the meat in the sausage and that the fat is the only part that is added. It feels a little odd to me to do all that hunting, processing, and then to add store bought meat to the mix when all you really need is just the fat.

I go to the butcher in the area and buy trimmed pork backfat each year when I am doing my yearly game processing :)
I hope this info helps :)

 

[AustinMc]

it helps out tremendously.....thank you....now to find some fatback.......cheers