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Deer Sausage

Started by WV Sawmiller, November 27, 2021, 11:32:04 AM

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WV Sawmiller

   I forgot to take a picture but I ground up about 6 lbs of venison trimmings off a young spike yesterday. I added 2 lbs of cheap sausage for fat and 1/4 cup of prepared seasonings. I found we had an electric grinder I'd not seen or forgotten but cleaned it up and it worked like a charm and much easier than the hand grinders I've been using. I tried regrinding with the pork added but it did not handle that well but neither did the hand grinder on the last one I ground so I mixed by hand. We packaged it up last night. I use an ice cream scoop and make little meat balls that we press into patties in the vacuum sealer bags then vacuum and seal them. We packaged them last night and kept out a few for breakfast and had them with biscuits and grits for breakfast. They were very good with just the right seasoning mix.

   One of these days I may have to invest in a stuffer and make some link sausage and smoke some of them and see how they do. I have school bus stop shed full of hickory cut offs and could save some red oak which is also good for smoking. It should not ne that hard to make and use such a smoker.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

sawguy21

An old refrigerator or upright freezer works well. You are making my mouth water!
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

WV Sawmiller

SG,

   I know a guy with a sawmill where I can get cheap wood so building a smoker would not be a problem. :D I saw an old fridge made into a smoker one time and the guy was smoking crappie in it and it did work like a charm. I think he had gotten extras racks and had lots of extra space to lay them out to do a bunch at one time.

   Maybe I need to modify my school bus stop/shed/composting toilet and start selling smokers too. :D I would have to close up some gaps in there I have never worried about before but that would not be that hard to do. Now you'd got me thinking which is always dangerous. ;D
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

mike_belben

Hickory nut shells added a tremendously strong flavor to the semi wild pig i did recently.
Praise The Lord

WV Sawmiller

  I saved several bags of hickory sawdust I figured could throw on charcoal for flavor. A butcher where I grew up made famous smoked sausage and he always said red oak was actually better than hickory but people expected hickory so he used that.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

kantuckid

"Better smoke" is in the eyes of the beholder as is the item being smoked-or not. I bought some mark down, fancy gouda cheese'es at the wally deli in two versions-one is smoked, one not. The finely defined cheese taste is hidden by the smoke IMO and I actually like smoke flavors in meats & cheese. In my Little Joe smoker I use small chunks of both oak and hickory scraps and done right they make little, but a needed difference in flavor overall.  The larger fault is when meats flavor is covered up by smoke, not supplemented.  
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

barbender

I made some venison sausage this year, I mixed 10 pounds of pork and 15 pounds of venison. Threw a commercial breakfast sausage seasoning for 25 pounds in it, and wha-la! Simple and tasty sausage patties. I didn't make any links this time.
Too many irons in the fire

Tacotodd

I wonder what those patties would have tasted like if smoked. Any takers?
Trying harder everyday.

Walnut Beast

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on November 27, 2021, 11:32:04 AM
  I forgot to take a picture but I ground up about 6 lbs of venison trimmings off a young spike yesterday. I added 2 lbs of cheap sausage for fat and 1/4 cup of prepared seasonings. I found we had an electric grinder I'd not seen or forgotten but cleaned it up and it worked like a charm and much easier than the hand grinders I've been using. I tried regrinding with the pork added but it did not handle that well but neither did the hand grinder on the last one I ground so I mixed by hand. We packaged it up last night. I use an ice cream scoop and make little meat balls that we press into patties in the vacuum sealer bags then vacuum and seal them. We packaged them last night and kept out a few for breakfast and had them with biscuits and grits for breakfast. They were very good with just the right seasoning mix.

  One of these days I may have to invest in a stuffer and make some link sausage and smoke some of them and see how they do. I have school bus stop shed full of hickory cut offs and could save some red oak which is also good for smoking. It should not ne that hard to make and use such a smoker.
A good grinder will serve you well for years

 

 

WV Sawmiller

WB,

   I can't say for the grinder but that cuber sure looks just like mine I bought from Cabelas 6-8 years ago and it still works like a charm. I think I paid $100 for it back then and we have done many deer with it and it still works great. My wife normally does the cubing and she will run it through once then rotate the meat 90 degrees and repeat. She says a 3rd trip through and it is too chopped up to hold together so twice is it. The only issue I have is cleaning those cuber teeth. I wish I had a good high pressure hand washer to use on it. I have a good stiff plastic brush I go over with it several times in good hot soapy water till I don't see any sign of blood or meat then I rinse it good in scalding hot water and let it air dry.

   Our little electric grinder is a Rival brand and I think my wife said in the past they tried it and it clogged up too much but it worked fine on this batch. I don't know how big the motor on it is. Maybe I did a lot better about removing the silverskin this time. It did clog up pretty quickly when I tried to re-run the ground deer meat and pork sausage mix. I might should have stuck it in the freezer for a while and get it chilled better. I know most meat is supposed to grind much better when nearly frozen.

   I am getting more and more tempted to try some link sausage and smoke some of it. Just remembering that good old smoked pork sausage we used to get as a kid makes me hungry for some and deer ought to be even better.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

rlahaise

Cheap no name grinder and my wife with a knife makes for a lot of ground venison in a hurry..
We add 25% ground pork from Costco before seasoning and I have a cheap sausage mixer as  well that does a good job and eliminates the need for regrinding with the pork.. (if you must grind them stick it in the freezer for a hour to firm it up) .
Smoker fuel comes from my workshop.. maple, alder and cherry so far..

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 ,

WV Sawmiller

   Does your wife have a sister available? :D That sure looks like one hard working lady and that table looks like you are about ready to feed the whole forum. digin1 Thanks for posting.

  I try to add pork (Ground pork, pork stew or a Boston butt) 4:1 deer to pork. Last time I could buy 2 lbs of cheap sausage cheaper than 1 lb of ground pork so that was what I used. I just added seasoning based on the amount of deer meat used.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

barbender

They had pork shoulders on sale so that's what I used. I've decided to quit fighting with my venison being to lean. For my burger, I mixed  1lb of beef suet in with 15 pounds of venison. That makes a burger that my kids like so much that they will turn their noses up at beef. 

 Rlahaise, that is so e professional looking sausage work👍🏻👍🏻

I got frustrated with my countertop grinder and bought a decent sized model this year. I think it is .5 hp, it grinds great and it is nice and quiet. The old one may just need the blades sharpened, which I tried to do myself but either my technique did not work, or? I wanted to throw it across the room so I decided it was time to move on😊

 TT, I'll be looking to put some smoke to a few of those patties👍🏻
Too many irons in the fire

Walnut Beast

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on November 28, 2021, 03:47:55 PM
WB,

  I can't say for the grinder but that cuber sure looks just like mine I bought from Cabelas 6-8 years ago and it still works like a charm. I think I paid $100 for it back then and we have done many deer with it and it still works great. My wife normally does the cubing and she will run it through once then rotate the meat 90 degrees and repeat. She says a 3rd trip through and it is too chopped up to hold together so twice is it. The only issue I have is cleaning those cuber teeth. I wish I had a good high pressure hand washer to use on it. I have a good stiff plastic brush I go over with it several times in good hot soapy water till I don't see any sign of blood or meat then I rinse it good in scalding hot water and let it air dry.

  Our little electric grinder is a Rival brand and I think my wife said in the past they tried it and it clogged up too much but it worked fine on this batch. I don't know how big the motor on it is. Maybe I did a lot better about removing the silverskin this time. It did clog up pretty quickly when I tried to re-run the ground deer meat and pork sausage mix. I might should have stuck it in the freezer for a while and get it chilled better. I know most meat is supposed to grind much better when nearly frozen.

  I am getting more and more tempted to try some link sausage and smoke some of it. Just remembering that good old smoked pork sausage we used to get as a kid makes me hungry for some and deer ought to be even better.
The tenderizer is made for the grinder. Loosen the quick set screw and the grinder part comes off and the tenderizer goes on and tighten set screw. The tenderizer parts come out pretty easy one with the gear and the other with gear and spline shaft

Walnut Beast

Quote from: barbender on November 28, 2021, 07:09:01 PM
They had pork shoulders on sale so that's what I used. I've decided to quit fighting with my venison being to lean. For my burger, I mixed  1lb of beef suet in with 15 pounds of venison. That makes a burger that my kids like so much that they will turn their noses up at beef.

Rlahaise, that is so e professional looking sausage work👍🏻👍🏻

I got frustrated with my countertop grinder and bought a decent sized model this year. I think it is .5 hp, it grinds great and it is nice and quiet. The old one may just need the blades sharpened, which I tried to do myself but either my technique did not work, or? I wanted to throw it across the room so I decided it was time to move on😊

TT, I'll be looking to put some smoke to a few of those patties👍🏻
You got that right! Smart kids 👍

WV Sawmiller

WB,

   Sure looks like the same parts but here is my manual cuber/tenderizer. Simple to use and works great.


 
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

bannerd

Glad she's getting the meat between the ribs, so many people toss that away.  We typically grind that part up and make venison sticks but there is a good 2-5 lbs in there depending on the deer. smiley_clapping

mike_belben

the starving dogs have got to eat something or theyll dig under fences and raid the burn barrel so i am happy to give them rib meat and goopy trimmings.  i feed my dogs raw cubed up deer for treats too, stuff thats full of connective tissue. i figure its good for the dogs health and will save me in vet bills. 
Praise The Lord

WV Sawmiller

  The last time I trimmed the silverskin off the meat for grinding I put the little pieces in a bowl and nuked it for about 5 minutes before I fed it to Sampson, my world famous catfish dog, and he seemed to like it better than raw.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

mike_belben

i flung a bowl of trimmings out the door onto the grass at the 3 dogs yesterday and the little one (roxie) ate it like a lawnmower while the other two were just looking at the bowl in my hand.  no chewing necessary. 5 seconds at most. 
Praise The Lord

WV Sawmiller

   Okay, I shot a big (120 lb) doe Monday to try making some smoked sausage. Got a set back when my new sausage stuffer did not have the funnels but went back to the store yesterday and they pulled a set for me out of another so today I started off the day making some summer sausage from a mix I bought at the sporting goods store (Dunham's) where I got the stuffer. I made 8 lbs of that. The recipe called for 8-1 lb rolls with no casing. I decided to case them using the largest funnel (1") in the kit.


I first set me up my 1X8 and ratchet strapped it across the bannister on the corner of my front porch and lag screwed the stuffer to it. Here is a pan of meat ready to be stuffed.


Here is an in process picture. The stuffer says it is 5 lb capacity but I found 3-4 lbs was much more workable. In this picture I have the casings on the funnel in front. This was the first time I'd ever used a stuffer or casings but they softened up and rinsed out clean and slid on to the funnel/spout pretty easily. The handle was a little hard to push and I'd have to wiggle it side to side a little to get it to press down and some of the meat always squeezed past the seal but I'd put it back in the hopper and push it down on the next load. It is a 2 person job with the wife guiding the sausage in the pan as it was stuffed. A big work table would have made things easier but this was not too hard. I'd tie off at the start and end and once each case was stuffed I'd go back and pinch a flat spot and twist to the desired length. I put the summer sausage in the oven and cooked them till internal temperature exceeded 165*F.


Here is the first batch. Probably a little drier than most people prefer but they are real tasty. I sealed 4 packs and have another batch in the oven now.

Once I finished the summer sausage I started on 24 lbs of smoked breakfast sausage. I changed to the 3/4" funnel and the cases slid on much easier and most of the time one loading would fill a whole casing. These went pretty fast.


Here is one of the 3 pans we made. Then I put them on my smoker. The ends are about rusted out but when Caveman comes with his welder we'll fix that. :D


My roommate In Saudi built this and I bought it off him when he de-mobbed about 20 years ago. It needs the overhaul  but I think there is some life left in the old girl.


Opened view. I cut a second piece of expanded metal so I'd have 2 racks for cooking at the same time. Both are maxxed out and it is holding pretty steady with hickory chunks at about 200 degrees. These are breakfast sausages and will not be fully cured, just smoked for flavor.

EDIT/ADD-On:


  Okay, I went ahead and pulled them off the smoker. I had too many on there for them to get that nice dried out, wrinkled look. They will still require cooking before eating but they should have that nice hickory smoked flavor. digin_2
EDIT #2: We just finished bagging and vacuum sealing the smoked sausage and they turned out to be a lot better cured and a lot drier than I had thought. They would probably be safe to eat but I did not see that magic 165*F when I tested them so we'll cook them when we go to eat them to be safe. We ended up with 3 more bags of summer sausage and another left out to snack on. We had 31 packs of the smoked breakfast sausage. Pretty good turn out. Now all I have left to do is package up 12 lbs of corned deer still processing in solution in the downstairs fridge.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

kantuckid

I dis-like deer meat but do know from meatpacking that arriving at the meat:fat ratio is critical to good sausage. 
Since a deer isn't a fatty animal, I wonder what recipes people might use with lean deer meat like I see? Some animals have fat that might taste better than deer? 
Seasonings are often way overpriced so as you move toward becoming a sausage maker I'd try mixing your own. An easy e.g. of my point is that dry rubs such as the one I make sells for far too much in tiny bottles and easily mixed at home from the same spices. Some herbs like sage are easy to grow. I have no clue whats best for deer meat as a spice. 
Looks like fun. 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

WV Sawmiller

Kantuck,

   You definitely do not want deer fat! It is like biting into a green persimmon. I use pork and I have used beef. I have used cheap sausage and just added spices based on the weight of the deer meat since the pork was already seasoned. I have used ground pork or ground my own from a Boston butt or pork stew and seasoned for the whole batch. You can actually buy cheap, store brand sausage here cheaper than a Boston butt, pork stew or ground pork. In this case I bought and ground a 6.5 lb Boston butt and left all the fat in the mix. It was not that easy to grind and I had to cut into small chunks and had it nearly frozen to go through the grinder. I usually use about a 4:1 deer to pork mixture and was pretty close to that this time. Or I may use the same mix with cheap beef hamburger if I'm using beef. If you have a local butcher you could just get the pork or beef fat but the last I asked they sold it for nearly the same price as the cheapest cuts of beef or pork. They usually have some use or market for it around here.

   The seasoning cost me $4.99 (Before my 15% store discount) and did 24 lbs of meat. The summer sausage mix cost me $2.49 before discount and each did 2 lbs of meat. I bought 4 boxes and did 8 lbs so about $8.50 for each.  Yes, you could buy and mix cheaper than that but these were convenient and simple to use and did not break the bank.

   If I were making my own mix I'd be doing it for personal taste issues not for the price.

   I bought 2 boxes of hog casings from WalMart. I think I paid about $10 a box and used about 1.5 boxes for everything. I did not try to save the leftover casings as not worth the effort. They come in a plastic pack sealed in salt. You soak them half an hour or so then separate and rinse each one out individually. I am sure if I were doing a lot I could find them in bulk and much cheaper but these were very convenient.

   I know there are easier stuffers to use but for less than $60 I was well pleased with the Weston brand, tinned, 5 lb manual stuffer I bought. Its not perfect but well made and I'd recommend it to anyone for family use. I may look for an additional, larger 2" or so funnel for making larger summer sausages. Next time I will make more summer sausage as they are very good. We made 32 lbs of sausages. The next time go to the hardware store I'll take the three funnels and find a dowel to fit each to make a pusher stick to push out that last plug of meat and not waste it. I'll just leave them in the box as a kit.

   The hardest part for me is boning out and trimming the deer meat followed by the grinding. I spent a lot more time cutting out way more fat and sinew/silver skin and tendons than most people do. My little electric grinder did not work here. I probably have the wrong cutter and too small a screen plate but with a good electric grinder that part would be easy too. The stuffing really was pretty easy.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

kantuckid

We have a local pork processor that began maybe 4-5 years ago. They truck, kill, the whole thing. I never get in there as closed when we go by but sausage on sign-4# for $10, etc.. I did buy theirs froma Mennonite store that resells and VG. 
We like Hillshire Farms version of their Kielbasa too much to play at sausage making. 
I tried the Alabama famous pork sausage-Conecuh and found it just OK, too much fat, not even close to several others in retail. 
In packing plant we bought truck loads of pork trimmings in frozen bags for smoked sausages. I think they were 40/60 but 1960's are now a while ago?  :D 
Kan=Kansas;tuck=Kentucky;kid=what I'm not

WV Sawmiller

   I think I can buy the cheapest pork sausage in my local Kroger grocery for about $2.29/lb. When you fry it up the results are probably half the size of the patties we started with. The taste is not bad but the health value and such is pretty questionable. My 4:1 deer to pork may be a little dry for some people's taste.

  I am not trying to suggest the most economical way to obtain your summer and smoked breakfast sausage is to kill, butcher, grind, stuff and cook/smoke your own. If you want that special, one of a kind taste treat you should try it.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

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