Need Some Recommendations

[johnh12]

I have some venison and some wild pig that a friend gave to me. I would like to grind and mix it up 50/50 with some A.C. Leggs #10 for breakfast sausage. Each 8oz seasoning pack will do 25# of meat. I have some 1# bulk bags from Academy to use also.
I know the venison is really lean and I don't think the wild pig has that much fat either.
Will I need to add some fat or go as it is?
Rather than trying to find some fat to buy I've heard that adding cheap raw bacon to the grind and mix will satisfy the fat requirement but don't know at what ratio it should be added. It may add some flavor also but don't know for sure.
Also, after the finish mix should it go in the refrigerator to dwell for a night or just stuff the bags right away?
Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[Northshore Smoke]

I'd go see my butcher and get some pork fat, but that's me. Depending on how much meat you have total I'd make the fat content be around 20%.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Get rid of as much of the fat off the venison as you can. Make your fat content 100% from pork. The percent lean content is up to your personal preference. 80/20 is a good place to target for most sausage, but I like personally like my breakfast sausage a little closer to 25-30% fat. Yup go talk to your butcher or slaughterhouse and get what pork fat you need. You can use raw pork belly too, but will be more expensive. Just don't say "Bacon" because that will infer it is already cured and smoke even though it will still be raw.

 

[phatbac]

deleted

 

[johnh12]

How about using lard in place of fat bought from the butcher?
It's rendered from pig fat.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Right. Its rendered already, so no. Lard wont work. Don't worry the pork fat will be super cheap. Keep it ice cold or even frozen before, during and after grinding it up and mixing to prevent smearing. Or just leave your venison/wild hog sausage lean without adding any more additional fat.

And yes, you can stuff directly into your bags after mixing. But I would let it rest a bit either in the bags or in your mix tub before freezing. This is to give the spice mix some time to its thing to flavor the pork.

 

[johnh12]

Thanks. I didn't think it would be that easy. Now I need to find a reasonably priced butcher around here.

 

[johnh12]

I talked with the only butcher in the vicinity and he said he only stocks fat during the hunting season but he also said the mix of deer and pig should be good without any added fat. It ended up being about 23+ pounds, about 15# of which is pig.
I went ahead and dumped the whole package of Leggs #10 since it was so close to the 25# mark. Hope I didn't overdo it by too much.
I also added some crushed red pepper to add some to the bite.
I ground it through the 4.5mm blade in the Cabela's #32 grinder and it didn't look like it needed a second grind so I left it there. That thing is a beast! It ate the whole batch and only had a few ounces of meat and sinew/silver skin left in the auger when done. The dog went crazy over that.
I mixed it all up and instead of water I added some Bud Light just for fun.
I'ts sitting covered in the refrigerator for the night. I plan to stuff it into the 1# LEM bags sometime tomorrow and then off to the freezer.

I'll keep out a pound for a taste test on maybe Saturday.

 

[browneyesvictim]

Way to go John! Wish I could sample with you. I am confident it will be amazingly better than anything you could by at the store.

That's odd for a butcher to not keep some fat around. Especially if they make their own sausage. Around hunting season around here it is harder to get because it is higher demand.

 

[Northshore Smoke]

I've always had trouble getting pork fat here in this part of Louisiana. We finally have a Grocery store that will sell it, Rouses, but they charge a high price for the stuff. What I learned is go make friends with a restaurant owner, you know a small private place. A few meals and drinks is all it takes. Talk to him about pork fat and his suppliers, you might be surprised. I was getting 120 lbs. case of pork fat for around .90 cents a pound. It had some good meat on it too.

 

[jimmyinsd]

I've always had trouble getting pork fat here in this part of Louisiana. We finally have a Grocery store that will sell it, Rouses, but they charge a high price for the stuff. What I learned is go make friends with a restaurant owner, you know a small private place. A few meals and drinks is all it takes. Talk to him about pork fat and his suppliers, you might be surprised. I was getting 120 lbs. case of pork fat for around .90 cents a pound. It had some good meat on it too.

that sounds more like pork trim prices in these parts. I have never tried to buy just fat, but I paid about .90 for some 70/30 pork trim a couple months back. great way to buy blending meat for sausage IMO.

 

[johnh12]

Bagged the sausage yesterday and did a quick fry for a taste test. It seemed a bit mild for my taste but the wife liked it. I'll have to add something when I cook it to add more of a bite. I didn't want to go so hot that others didn't like it. I can always add but can't take the heat away.
Here's a question about the bagging process.
String, tape, or hog rings?
I tried some hog rings that I got from Tractor Supply because Academy was out. They are too big to close tight enough.
Do the 3/8" ones from Academy close tighter? They are only about $3 per hundred but that comes with $8 shipping because they aren't carried in the store.
Went with string but that's a two person job and I couldn't get all the air out of the bags.
Tape machine??? Some reviews say the one from LEM is great and others say it's junk.
Thoughts????

 

[jimmyinsd]

Bagged the sausage yesterday and did a quick fry for a taste test. It seemed a bit mild for my taste but the wife liked it. I'll have to add something when I cook it to add more of a bite. I didn't want to go so hot that others didn't like it. I can always add but can't take the heat away.
Here's a question about the bagging process.
String, tape, or hog rings?
I tried some hog rings that I got from Tractor Supply because Academy was out. They are too big to close tight enough.
Do the 3/8" ones from Academy close tighter? They are only about $3 per hundred but that comes with $8 shipping because they aren't carried in the store.
Went with string but that's a two person job and I couldn't get all the air out of the bags.
Tape machine??? Some reviews say the one from LEM is great and others say it's junk.
Thoughts????

no experience here, but the hog rings I have for summer sausage are 2 big so I double the end of the casing over after I twist it up and then the hog ring has enough material to crimp down on.

 

[johnh12]

Thanks Jimmy, that's a decent idea.
I'm hoping that someone can confirm the size needed for the LEM 1# bags. It seems that both products marketed by one company should work but that's not always the case.
Also still hoping for some real experience with the tape machine.

 

[buzzy]

John. I’ve been using a bag taper for several years. I did have issues with it in the beginning but got pass most. To start with tape doesn’t work that well in a cold environment which is where everybody is grinding & packing their meat. My shop is unheated unless someone is there to tend fire. I take mine in the house 2-3 days before needing then set next to stove in shop the day of use. The bags need to stay clean for tape to stick. Pork is the hardest one to keep clean. Also I only tape around 200-300 bags a year. I threw out original tape after 4 years. It just went bad. To be expected Everything is good now but have a few here an there that need taped twice. Still time saver. Happy grinding

 

[johnh12]

Thanks Buzzy. I called and talked to the folks at LEM. They don't recommend the hog rings for the bags as they can puncture them.
The did recommend the tape machine but stated that it is temperature sensitive. Too hot or too cold will cause the tape to degrade or just not stick right. She recommended that it be kept in the house until ready to use. All of my processing is small scale and done in the kitchen area of my house so that's not a problem.
She also talked about the tape being too old so I'll order the machine and tape next hunting season since I believe we're done for the summer.

 

[chopsaw]

Thanks Buzzy. I called and talked to the folks at LEM. They don't recommend the hog rings for the bags as they can puncture them.
The did recommend the tape machine but stated that it is temperature sensitive. Too hot or too cold will cause the tape to degrade or just not stick right. She recommended that it be kept in the house until ready to use. All of my processing is small scale and done in the kitchen area of my house so that's not a problem.
She also talked about the tape being too old so I'll order the machine and tape next hunting season since I believe we're done for the summer.

When I stuff into 1 lb meat bags ( I think that's what you are doing ) I use the twist ties off of the bread loaves and hot dog , hamburger buns . I save alot of them . Works great .

 

[johnh12]

That's another great idea.

 

[buzzy]

I take it u already have the horn for grinder that u grind & stuff bags at same time. If not u might want to check into that

 

[johnh12]

I have several tubes for the grinder but prefer to use the Hakka stuffer and avoid the constant on and off if using the grinder.
After grinding I mix the seasonings into the meat and let it sit covered in the refrigerator at least overnight. Then into the stuffer to fill the bags. Same routine is used for link sausage just with bags instead of casings.