Deer Sausage Info

[jck 1234]

This site has alot of info to read an lean. I thank all of you for that. I just need a few direct question answered.

A friend gave me a deer this winter an its just in bulk meet. I only eat deer sausage but didn't want to not accept his gift. He had it in the fridge a few days I got it an put it in the freezer.

1. Can I unfreeze it an make sausage and smoke it an freeze it again?

2. I will need a grinder an figure about 150.00 for the budget what should I get?

3, Is there a step by step process i need to learn and where can i fined it?

4. I will also need to know how to smoke it once i figure out how to make it.

I know Im asking alot so thanks in advance for any help.

Regards

Jerry

 

[smokinhusker]

I am a noob when it comes to sausage making, but I killed a mule deer and a cow elk this past fall and I've made snack sticks, breakfast sausage, Italian sausage and summer sausage from my meat. I thaw it, grind, season, stuff and smoke and then freeze with no problems. Anyway, not knowing what kind of sausage you want to make, I can't give you any pointers or direct you to links.

There are folks here that have way more experience than I do in sausage making. You can also try a search for deer sausage or the specific kind you are wanting to make.

I use a lot of the Hi Country Seasoning Kits for jerky, snack sticks and breakfast sausage with outstanding results. I haven't tried their summer sausage yet, but Hi Mountain's Summer Sausage is pretty good. 

I have an LEM #8 Grinder and the LEM 5lb Stuffer, which both work quite well for smaller batches. I stuffed with the grinder and just didn't like the consistency of the meat but that is me.

 

[coffee_junkie]

This site has alot of info to read an lean. I thank all of you for that. I just need a few direct question answered.

A friend gave me a deer this winter an its just in bulk meet. I only eat deer sausage but didn't want to not accept his gift. He had it in the fridge a few days I got it an put it in the freezer.

1. Can I unfreeze it an make sausage and smoke it an freeze it again?

2. I will need a grinder an figure about 150.00 for the budget what should I get?

3, Is there a step by step process i need to learn and where can i fined it?

4. I will also need to know how to smoke it once i figure out how to make it.

I know Im asking alot so thanks in advance for any help.

Regards

Jerry

Jerry,

1. yes no problem doing this at all, some reccomennd freezing game first to kill any parasites in the meat. I do it all the time and make small batches (25 lbs) at a time.

2. Any chance you can pool your $ and get a $300 grinder? If not this is the best one for the money in my opinion (it has metal gears) http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200451267_200451267 and it leaves you with some extra $$ for pork....

3. http://www.hicountry.com/spices-custom-seasonings.html, go here and click around, there are download links for each specific types of sausage. There is also a very good calculator to give you the fat/meat ratio. If you need help finding something just let me know

4. You want to make smoked sausage but didn't ask about a stuffer, you wil pull your hair out stuffing sausage with your grinder, it can be done and for your first time it will work. I would suggest making bulk/fresh sausage out of this deer.

 

[saltysteele]

Hi guys,

New here, but not new to meat and sausage making.  My dad raises beef cattle and we butcher them in his meat shop.  He used to be a hog farmer, until 2 years ago, when he sold the farm to semi-retire.  Still has his cattle to keep him busy, though.

Anyway, we also make venison salami and snack sticks for people in our area.  He turned the venison portion over to me this past fall, and we processed about 1,000 pounds of salami and snack sticks.  While I can't give out the recipe (it's his proprietary recipe that he has perfected over 15-20 years; he would kill me), I will say that as long as the meat has been properly kept, there is no harm in freezing it.  We freeze it all until we get a couple hundred pounds ready to be processed, then process it in 50 pound increments.  We do not de-bone or anything like that, only accept trimmed and clean venison, but 75% of it comes in frozen in freezer bags.

Also, we've found to get best results, you do need some fat.  We add around 1/3 pork with pork fat.  Makes for a great blend that is moist, flavorful and keeps our customers coming back for more.

Don't be afraid to mix it up.  You don't have to only stick to mixes labeled for salami or snack sticks.  We made a chorizo snack stick this past fall that people are loving, as well as habanero, cheese and cracked-black peppercorn stick that will set your mouth ablaze.  In addition to that, we also do regular, cheese, jalepeno, sweet barbeque and others.

Good luck, and don't be afraid to experiment/stray from the straight and narrow !  :)

 

[gersus]

Welcome jck 1234! You'll find that with this and about every other hobby it takes more money to get up and rolling than you really want... there are starter ways of doing things and better, faster ways, equipment. My advice is to read, read, and read some more on this forum. There is plenty of info here for making venison sausage. I've posted a few and so have many others. Then, if you have questions ask away, the folks here are plenty helpful. 

It is worth the effort though, deer sausage is awesome! :)

 

[BGKYSmoker]

This site has alot of info to read an lean. I thank all of you for that. I just need a few direct question answered.

A friend gave me a deer this winter an its just in bulk meet. I only eat deer sausage but didn't want to not accept his gift. He had it in the fridge a few days I got it an put it in the freezer.

1. Can I unfreeze it an make sausage and smoke it an freeze it again?

2. I will need a grinder an figure about 150.00 for the budget what should I get?

3, Is there a step by step process i need to learn and where can i fined it?

4. I will also need to know how to smoke it once i figure out how to make it.

I know Im asking alot so thanks in advance for any help.

Regards

Jerry

Welcome to the SMF jck

You will find lots of answers to your questions here. There are no stupid questions and ones that have been asked before we can answer again.

1. Yes you can thaw, grind, make sausage and re freeze.

2. Lots of good inexpensive grinders out there for small batches. A Kitchen Aid mixer with grinder attachment works well, but the KA used as a stuffer sux.

3. Find a book like Rytek Kutas and read it. What some processes work good for some members might not work good for others.

4 The book will guide you on the procedure on how to smoke, Times,temps and so on. Not all sausage smokes the same.

Stay away from the old push horn type stuffers, you will just spend to much energy and get upset. There are some nice stuffers at Northerntool.

I do allot of venison and you will need to have a fat cut in to it.

Ask

Read Ask again if needed.

 

[weisswurst]

a lot of good comments. The horn stuffers will work but they are a pain.The book by rytek kutas is my bible.there are several others but for the beginner to learn how to safely make sausage this is the one.In the beginning i would stay away from the more exotic stuff.As far as venison compared to other meats , in my opinion , it is not much different.It is leaner , drier, fat between muscle layer can be stronger tasting.I think it is called tallow.Be sure you remove tallow , add some fat and water and the results are fantastic.The meat tends to hold the flavorings and spices ( like venison chili)

  Also i would advise a new sm to stay away from recipes that make claims about no need for cures , etc until yuo know what you are doing. and the very last thing is to ask alot of questions and know what you are asking. I dont mean know the answer but know what you are observing. Use the best machinery you can afford and you do not need the most expensive.happy sausage making weisswurst

 

[oden010]

The rytek book is great on procedure but as far as the recipes go I haven't found one in the book yet that I like.  To each their own.

 

[sturgis bbq]

We mix our venison 50/50 with pork (boston butt).  makes the venison go farther and adds the needed fat.  We started grinding with and Oster Kitchen center and ground many many deer, might be able to pick up a used one very reasonable.  Have since moved to a 1HP commercial grinder from cabelas and have never looked back.  You can find many great recipes online to make your own mix with to save buying the premix, also tastes better as you can adjust to your taste preference.  Wild game can be frozen, thawed and refrozed with no problem as others have mentioned.

 

[bbqonice]

our recipie is the same for whatever type of meat is the base.

if venison...for a 30lb batch its 20lbs venison then 10lbs 70 30 ground pork.

if Moose...same mix...if just ground beef then still same.

we find...like Sturgis BBQ says....the ground pork gets more value out of the deer.  we never do straight venison or moose.

the key for us is the 70 30 mix also...done the 80 20 but not fat enough.  If we got a bad ground batch we have added in a 1/4 slab of bacon.

 

[tennsmoker]

BB,

i know that you answered the last post a mo ago, but I'm kinda puzzled with your comment!! 

"If we got a bad ground batch we have added in a 1/4 slab of bacon"

My question is what is a bad batch that would require adding bacon??!!

thanx,

al