Rendered fat.....whats wrong?

[jkc64]

If the meat being too wet is a real concern, I would allow it to drain in a strainer in the frig over night....Strainer sitting in a bowl to catch the drippings......Just my thought....ShoneyBoy

I don't know enough to know if this a factor or not. It was brought up earlier that ground deer is very moist. I don't know if this contributes to binding issues or not. I'm just trying to provide all info to find a resolution to my problem. I think the main problem is how I handled the fat. Thanks!

 

[shoneyboy]

I’ve never had a real concern about my meat being too wet……Just don’t add a lot of additional water….I mix my meat, seasonings and a little water…..Stuff it and allow it to sit in the refrigerator overnight……Are you allowing your sausage come up to room temperature before starting to smoke it ? It needs to “dry out” a bit before you start smoking it also…….

 

[deersmoker58]

The only fat in the meat is what is on the deer.  The processor does not add fat and I don't add any either.  It's 100% deer only.  That is pretty much the same process i follow.  Give it a try without adding any fat and see what happens. 

The first time i tried it I started the temp too high and what little fat from the deer rendered and settled in the bottom of the casings.

 

[shannon127]

Deer fat is pretty hardcore...like suet X10.  Looking at your Summer sausage photos that deer must have been corn fed.  The last buck I shot did not have that much fat over his entire body.  I have to come down to Maryland to do some hunting.  Great looking sausage

 

[deersmoker58]

Thanks!  And you are correct.  corn, soy beans, and such.  They taste much better than the mountain deer i used to hunt in SW Virginia!

 

[shannon127]

Hmmmm....small cow with antlers!!

 

[boykjo]

I assume you had something like this

fat out.jpg

• boykjo
• Dec 16, 2012

 

[jkc64]

I assume you had something like this

fat out.jpg

• boykjo
• Dec 16, 2012

Had I let it cool I guess it would have. I have had a few beef sausages come out like that. I wish I had pics to show you, when I took the ss out of the poach I could feel the ss floating in about an 1/8 inch of fluid all the was around the inside of the casing. I cut it open and drained all the fat then rinsed good in hot water and dried. It has a good taste but there is no fat in it whatsoever. I guess that makes it healthy.

 

[exromenyer]

First I would like to thank everyone here at SMF. Without this site I wouldn't have a clue what I was doing or how safe it was.
I have made several summer sausages, snack sticks and cured sausage. Most have come out pretty good some have been real good. I follow the advice I find here on the site, measure cure watch my temps start without smoke to dry and add smoke for as long as I want. I use Lem and AC Legg seasonings as they are available local for me. Until a couple of weeks ago I have only used various mixes of ground chuck 80/20, ground round 90/10 and ground pork. A few weeks ago I received about 25lbs of ground venison no fat added. I tried sticks first 4lbs lean venison with 1lb pork fat(the hard fat off the cap on a butt) smoked as usual not exceeding 165 and all the fat rendered out. Next I wanted to try something different so I mixed up a small batch of SS, 20% of the same fat I used before. This time I wanted to try poaching I put the SS in a water bath and worked the temps up to about 160-164 till IT hit 153 and put in the ice water again all of the fat was rendered out. Both taste pretty good but are somewhat dry and crumbly, I assume this is because all the fat is gone. I use Lem 1 1/2 X 12 fibrous for the SS and Lem 17mm or local 19-21mm collagen for the sticks. The beef and beef/pork turn out good either way but the venison won't hold the fat. I use ET732 thermos that I check from time to time for accuracy. Sorry so long winded, I'm just trying to provide all relevant info so maybe someone can help with my fat issue.

Thanks,

John

John,

I'll chime in here. I'm no expert, YET, but I did 4lbs venison burger, 1lb pork fat cap from a boston butt... I ran the pork thru the grinder and then hand mixed the venison in with it. I read some of the other guys comments and maybe sending the pieces of pork fat thru the grinder with some venison in it would help make sure it doesn't break down. I also mixed the seasoning and water in by hand also as I have found running it thru the grinder to much almost emulsify's it.

Here is thread I posted and my Snack sticks came out awesome.....i had a few questions on my post but regarding the temp gauge.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/132363/venison-snack-sticks-qview-and-questions

Tony

 

[jkc64]

John,
I'll chime in here. I'm no expert, YET, but I did 4lbs venison burger, 1lb pork fat cap from a boston butt... I ran the pork thru the grinder and then hand mixed the venison in with it. I read some of the other guys comments and maybe sending the pieces of pork fat thru the grinder with some venison in it would help make sure it doesn't break down. I also mixed the seasoning and water in by hand also as I have found running it thru the grinder to much almost emulsify's it.
Here is thread I posted and my Snack sticks came out awesome.....i had a few questions on my post but regarding the temp gauge.
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/132363/venison-snack-sticks-qview-and-questions
Tony

Those look like some good sticks. I am pretty sure that grinding the fat the way I did is the culprit, of many sticks, link sausage and lots of summer sausage have come out pretty good. I have had my share of fat outs but this time it was like the sausage was floating inside the casing.

Thanks all for the replies, I'll try to start getting some pics so I can show what I am doing rather than tryibng to explain it.

john

 

[checkerfred]

I have this same problem and have tried everything....I've tried grinding the fat with the deer and it didn't work...yesterday I made some and used fatback from a hog we slaughtered....ground with the deer...the fat was mostly frozen but I could still cut it into chunks..the deer was already ground...it just doesn't wanna hold the fat....I'm at a loss....I'm thinking of trying to mix 30% pork butt with the deer

 

[diggingdogfarm]

I'm thinking of trying to mix 30% pork butt with the deer

50% would be even better, preferably meat that hasn't been previously frozen because sometimes it doesn't bind as well as fresh.
Also, fat doesn't have to be warm to smear. sometimes using fat that's too cold can be counterproductive because it doesn't move through the grinder as easily and can smear.


~Martin

 

[checkerfred]

I may try that then....would adding some kind of binder help? All of my deer is frozen...actually all of my meat is because we have our own beef/hogs slaughtered and I process my deer

 

[diggingdogfarm]

I don't use binders, but many folks do.

~Martin

 

[jkc64]

Suprised to see this thread pop back up. I took a couple of bad pics of the sticks I made just to show. They taste great but are dry and crumbly. I haven't made any deer sticks since these so I haven't had a chance to try a different process.

IMG_20130215_203128_688.jpg

• jkc64
• Feb 15, 2013

IMG_20130215_203139_149.jpg

• jkc64
• Feb 15, 2013

I peeled the casing off and have enjoyed them very much. I almost like them enough to want to repeat my mistake.

 

[checkerfred]

Well just finished my ss and after wiping off what seemed to be like a 1/4 inch of melted fat it tasted good...and surprisingly it had some fat still inside the meat...better than what i made last time but still not where i want it to be.....my snack sticks seem better...one recipe called for nf dry milk but i dont think it made a difference

 

[BGKYSmoker]

To high of a temp causing a fat-out making the casing separate from the meat causing the fat to cavitate between the casing and meat. This makes for a dry crumbly sausage.
 

 

[checkerfred]

So what should be the highest temp you go up to for bringing the sausage temp to 152 degrees? My recipe says 165 i think but I've read not to go higher than 170 (smoker temp that is).I've tried staying at 160 but even after about 10-12 hrs it's still only at 135-140 internal temp