Beaver cooked prior to grinding

[Trapper87]

I'm new to sausage in general. Been trapping beaver for the state for 3 years now. I always just made jerky or burger out of them.

You'd think theyd have a good yield. However a 50 pound beaver might yield 15 pounds of very lean beef like meat. However I would like to expand my repitore a bit and increase my yield.

I was thinking after breaking them down and vac sealing the carcass if they could be cooked sous vide then the cooked meat hopefully fall off the bone tender then ground course seasoned and then ground again to better distribute the seasoning before stuffing and then curing/fermenting and or smoking is possible?

Most recipes I find the meat is ground first then cooked.

Wonder if those with more experiance might have some ideas or recipes to try.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Can't help you with the sausage making part of it but welcome from Iowa, stop over to roll call and introduce yourself there as well.
And now you have me craving some beaver meat!

Ryan

 

[BGKYSmoker]

I dont think I would cook the meat then stuff for sausage. Process the meat and grind, if needed add some pork butt ground in the beaver. Mix is and use cure 1 and might not hurt to use some Trehalose to cut the game taste out. After mixing I would use some sort of colander so any blood drips out. Fridge the mix for couple days in the fridge......I did this when I ground Kudu and turned out really good for summer sausage.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Pre cooked meat will never bind in sausage mass. It will fall apart. Fresh grind for sausage, then cook down the rest for soups or stew but not sausage.

 

[DougE]

Pre cooked meat will never bind in sausage mass. It will fall apart. Fresh grind for sausage, then cook down the rest for soups or stew but not sausage.

What he said. Protein extraction is what binds sausage and you won't get that with pre-cooked ground meat.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I'm a true rookie when it comes to making sausage, but my thoughts are to bone out the carcass, weigh the boneless meat and add enough pure beef fat to it to make the mixed product around 30% fat, at least. Grind it all together and then make whatever sausage you want...

 

[jcam222]

Welcome,now y'all need to tell me what wild beaver tastes like. I'm prepared for both serious and joking answers lol.

 

[JLeonard]

Welcome,now y'all need to tell me what wild beaver tastes like. I'm prepared for both serious and joking answers lol.

I’m glad someone else said it cause I was thinking it! And a state sanctioned wild beaver trapper!

Jim

 

[Gonna Smoke]

now y'all need to tell me what wild beaver tastes like.

Chicken, of course...

 

[DougE]

I'm prepared for both serious and joking answers lol.

I just ain't gonna go there. Being banned once was enough for me. lol

 

[SmokinEdge]

Welcome,now y'all need to tell me what wild beaver tastes like. I'm prepared for both serious and joking answers lol.

Lol, you didn’t get out much did you Jeff. It’s delicious!

 

[TNJAKE]

 

[chopsaw]

tell me what wild beaver tastes like.

EDIT ,,,,,,,,

 

[Brokenhandle]

Kind of hard to explain Jeff, it has a richness to it. To me a tri tip has such a rich beefy flavor compared to other beef. Maybe Eric can help explain it. It's darn good...but then again, I think woodchuck is good also!

Ryan

 

[Trapper87]

Welcome,now y'all need to tell me what wild beaver tastes like. I'm prepared for both serious and joking answers lol.

Well beaver is a very fine meat. Its akin to beef but crossed with venison. Not gamey at all. Butchering them is a pain. Little knife breakers. Lots of tight nooks and crannies that even my pocket knife let alone a flexible filet or boning knife can get into. They even got some meat in funky areas up in the pelvis that are very difficult to get as well as the backstrap atop the pelvis leading into the flapper proper.

Not a lot of fat either. The fat is mainly in the flapper (the leathery tail) and not the flapper proper (the area behind the hind legs that contain the muscles that control the tail). Aside from the flapper the fat is contained in their feet. The dense thick undercoat is what keeps them warm not fat. I would say overall they are probably less then 10% fat. Not a hard fat either think more akin to snot on the flank steaks. Comes off easy enough if rubbed with salt. However if I gave ya jerky from them youd swear its beef or a less gamey venison.

Very tasty though. Tails are spoken for for either lardo or tail oil for other trapping jobs. Everything loves beaver. From mink and river otter to coyote bob cat and Fisher cat. Lost a trap to a black bear once. Went 6 foot into a tree an into a 160 conibear set for Fisher to get the chunk of beaver spine I had used as bait. I even use beaver in my coon cuffs (dog proof traps) for raccoon and oppossum.

This trapping job where I'm at now plenty of fox and coyote sign going out onto the beaver pond ice trying to find a beaver to snack upon.

Was just given a recipe for Zwiebelwurst a spreadable oniony german version of nduja that's 50/50 fat to meat and a recipe for pinkel a German sausage that uses cooked groats to bind the sausage on another forum that fit the bill as at least a starting point.

Morbidly humorous hamburger recipe

1 pound beaver meat course ground to 1 ounce of maple smokehouse seasoning and then ground through the fine plate. Best burgers ever. I'm sure the ghosts of the maples the beaver gnawed on in life are laughing.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Well beaver is a very fine meat. Its akin to beef but crossed with venison. Not gamey at all. Butchering them is a pain. Little knife breakers. Lots of tight nooks and crannies that even my pocket knife let alone a flexible filet or boning knife can get into. They even got some meat in funky areas up in the pelvis that are very difficult to get as well as the backstrap atop the pelvis leading into the flapper proper.

Not a lot of fat either. The fat is mainly in the flapper (the leathery tail) and not the flapper proper (the area behind the hind legs that contain the muscles that control the tail). Aside from the flapper the fat is contained in their feet. The dense thick undercoat is what keeps them warm not fat. I would say overall they are probably less then 10% fat. Not a hard fat either think more akin to snot on the flank steaks. Comes off easy enough if rubbed with salt. However if I gave ya jerky from them youd swear its beef or a less gamey venison.

Very tasty though. Tails are spoken for for either lardo or tail oil for other trapping jobs. Everything loves beaver. From mink and river otter to coyote bob cat and Fisher cat. Lost a trap to a black bear once. Went 6 foot into a tree an into a 160 conibear set for Fisher to get the chunk of beaver spine I had used as bait. I even use beaver in my coon cuffs (dog proof traps) for raccoon and oppossum.

This trapping job where I'm at now plenty of fox and coyote sign going out onto the beaver pond ice trying to find a beaver to snack upon.

Was just given a recipe for Zwiebelwurst a spreadable oniony german version of nduja that's 50/50 fat to meat and a recipe for pinkel a German sausage that uses cooked groats to bind the sausage on another forum that fit the bill as at least a starting point.

Morbidly humorous hamburger recipe

1 pound beaver meat course ground to 1 ounce of maple smokehouse seasoning and then ground through the fine plate. Best burgers ever. I'm sure the ghosts of the maples the beaver gnawed on in life are laughing.

Tried the tail once, can't remember how we did it but we weren't fans of it!

Ryan

 

[jcam222]

Well beaver is a very fine meat. Its akin to beef but crossed with venison. Not gamey at all. Butchering them is a pain. Little knife breakers. Lots of tight nooks and crannies that even my pocket knife let alone a flexible filet or boning knife can get into. They even got some meat in funky areas up in the pelvis that are very difficult to get as well as the backstrap atop the pelvis leading into the flapper proper.

Not a lot of fat either. The fat is mainly in the flapper (the leathery tail) and not the flapper proper (the area behind the hind legs that contain the muscles that control the tail). Aside from the flapper the fat is contained in their feet. The dense thick undercoat is what keeps them warm not fat. I would say overall they are probably less then 10% fat. Not a hard fat either think more akin to snot on the flank steaks. Comes off easy enough if rubbed with salt. However if I gave ya jerky from them youd swear its beef or a less gamey venison.

Very tasty though. Tails are spoken for for either lardo or tail oil for other trapping jobs. Everything loves beaver. From mink and river otter to coyote bob cat and Fisher cat. Lost a trap to a black bear once. Went 6 foot into a tree an into a 160 conibear set for Fisher to get the chunk of beaver spine I had used as bait. I even use beaver in my coon cuffs (dog proof traps) for raccoon and oppossum.

This trapping job where I'm at now plenty of fox and coyote sign going out onto the beaver pond ice trying to find a beaver to snack upon.

Was just given a recipe for Zwiebelwurst a spreadable oniony german version of nduja that's 50/50 fat to meat and a recipe for pinkel a German sausage that uses cooked groats to bind the sausage on another forum that fit the bill as at least a starting point.

Morbidly humorous hamburger recipe

1 pound beaver meat course ground to 1 ounce of maple smokehouse seasoning and then ground through the fine plate. Best burgers ever. I'm sure the ghosts of the maples the beaver gnawed on in life are laughing.

Thanks for the explanation. Was very enjoyable read. Gonna Google that German nduja. Sounds awesome.

 

[Trapper87]

Tried the tail once, can't remember how we did it but we weren't fans of it!

Ryan

Yeah the tail is pure fat and connective tissue. The whole mountain man roasting over the fire till the skin blistered is sorta true and sorta not.

What was popular for trappers back then was meat that they had caught, hardtack type biscuits, and whatever they could forage or any dried goods they could pack in or trade for. The roasting on the fire till the skin blistered and scraped it off was more survival food during the periods where game was hard to come by. For that reason it was prized for its fat. The fat is important to avoid rabbit starvation. That is where your body needs fat and will break down your own muscles to try to get that fat. Any lean meat can lead to rabbit starvation. It was not the delicacy most equate with delicacy.

Part of the reason for this is linguistic. Back in them days the flapper was used interchangeably between the leathery tail and the flapper proper between the hind legs and infront of the leathery tail. You had to be in the know kinda like how beaver has different meanings today to understand how it is ment which I'm sure moderation is cringing for the jokes to start.

The part they really loved was the flapper proper unless you are talking about making pemmican in which place tallow from the tail was prized but not as prized as the tallow from a plump fall bear to make your pemmican. The fat from coastal spring bears or any spring bear that relied on fish for the first food of the year often imparted an unpleasant fishy taste to your pemmican. Still holds true today. Same with the fat of sea ducks.

Though seaduck fat has its uses like everything else.