Deer Sausage

[Walnut Beast]

Personally I would consider putting the cheapest cuts of meat from stores a big down grade. Getting away from low quality stuff from the store nobody wants to eat is not something I want to taint my tasty deer with. Some cheap cuts doesn't mean it's all going to have great fat flavor

[Magicman]

Go to the grocery store on Monday morning and buy the 'pull backs' which won't necessarily be the low quality cuts.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I used a Boston Butt here instead of the cheap sausage. I just posted the prices for comparison. I find it a little odd you can buy cheap sausage cheaper than ground pork, pork stew or Boston Butt.

   When we finish this I may try buying some beef hamburger and ground pork and make some out of that. As I mentioned before processing a deer is a lot of work or at least it is for me as I spend a real long time doing it. 

Lynn,

   Maybe what you describe is the cause of us occasionally finding pork loin on sale for $.99/lb. I stock up when I find that as they are very good and no waste. After cooking on the rotisserie as a roast we then eat sandwiches, BBQ, fried rice, pot pie, and even over rice with Indian stir sauce (Which may be odd as no self- respecting Asian Indian would likely ever eat pork. :D) until we use it up.

[kantuckid]

I buy Walmart early morning, yellow tag markdowns on meats. I look for pork shoulders, loins, pork sirloins, etc.. A large cut, on the bone, is often higher priced than a loin in pork, but you get the flavor boost.  In my freezer now and hold for about 6 months, so I grill them on charcoal and finish off in oven then pull the meat into bags where it keeps much longer cooked. Pulled pork sandwiches. I also watch for beef thats worthy of buying-cuts can be nots so attractive and sometimes not a great value lately as meats gone nuts retail.
Recently I bought some pork rib tips on markdown. Two big pkgs cheapo as the guy had set his price gizmo wrong and they were dirt cheap by mistake. I like Applebee's rib tips which are usually meaty, while store bough can be not so meaty as cut off further up the rib. These ones are the actual ends and lots of meat hanging on-can't wait to smoke them, freeze for handy meals.  
The sausage I mentioned at local plant is much meatier than grocery sausage. My comments are not toward choosing store meat just conversational stuff. 
I've had every kind of deer meat known and liked zero of it, just my taste buds talking. 
I began hunting at a very early age and know game meat well but we all know it's often not the cheaper route unless it's a pile of rabbits or squirrels. I'll take a pan fired young rabbit over most any small game. 
Back to deer sausage... ;D 

[WDH]

I clean my deer meat of all fat and silver skin.  It is essentially 100% lean.  Prepared this way, it tastes great with no gamely flavor.  We grind it for 100% lean burger.  I never add any fat, beef or pork.  We use it for taco meat, chili, stews, soups, etc.  If I want a grilled burger, I use beef.   If I want sausage, I get pork.  The 100% lean back straps are grilled and the other 100% lean steaks are sliced very thin and used in stir fry and oriental style dishes or chunked for soup and stews.  So, I don't try to replace beef hamburger or pork sausage with it, it stands on its own for its own purpose.  

I have had some deer sausage that was ok, but it generally had a lot of pork added to it if it was good.  Much of what I have had has not had the texture of good pork sausage and was sorta dry.  But, I know many people that swear by it.  Everyone is different and that diversity makes the world do around.  



 

[WV Sawmiller]

Danny,

   Your pan of deer meat looked a lot like I started with this time. It takes a lot of time and care to get it looking like that. I agree on the burger though and prefer beef to deer burger in most cases and especially when I make my soup.

Kantuck,

   Usually when I hear folks say they don't like deer I suspect poor processing or at least when they talk about a "gamey" taste. If people took a prime beef steer and handled it the same way they do their deer it would taste gamey too. I've seen people throw a deer on the hood of their car or in the back of the truck and haul it around showing it off a day or two then hang it up and a day or two later get around to skinning and cutting it up and guess what - it tastes "gamey". So would a steer. 

   You sound like you have enough experience with wild game that that is probably not the case but it happens so if you did not skin and process it yourself I'd check that out. And some people just don't like some foods and that is okay too. I'm not trying to criticize any one. The Brits I knew ate baked beans and baked tomatoes for breakfast. I'm fine with the beans but not the tomato. Just different preferences and what we are used to.

   Deer is much drier than beef or pork and you sure don't want that fat in it. We trim them good and make cube steak out of the hams, flour and fry them and serve with good gravy (often made from a can of mushroom soup) and serve with rice and some peas or corn and they are real good. Roasts go into a cast iron Dutch oven or roaster with a big can of cream of mushroom soup, fill the rest with taters, a big onion, carrots and maybe even a sweet potato or two, add water to the rim and cook covered in the oven at about 300*F till the taters are done and by then the meat is falling off the bones.

   We have served deer, turtle, coon, etc to a lot of guests who really liked it before they found out what it was. We pretty much prepare it just like we would beef except I know how it was processed.

[kantuckid]

FWIW: I have eaten deer processed by the pros. Some that went through processors, some from farmer neighbors who lived on their own livestock. One such neighbor, Taylor F. was in fact degreed in meat and during WWII a meat inspector.
Short story: Taylor farmed around 500 acres and during the war he lost his eye from a meat hook injury while inspecting beef on hangars. When he got drunk at out Flint Hills Fishing and Hunting Club, he'd pop his eye out and sort of cry in his soup. Fact was he was a decent bird hunter albeit with only one eye.
Deer was not legal game for much of my life, at least until I was early middle age. People in KS went either east to MO or west to the mtns for large game. The deer seasons in KS began right before I left for KY. I used to backpack with my KS cousin, a deer bow and rifle hunter with trophies all over his LR of the big ones. He tried to sway me via both meals at his home and pkgs of deer meat which none of it did I like. Believe me he and my neighbors knew whats what with deer or meat processing, not to mention that I worked in meat packing myself so a good bit I picked up there plus managing a grocery store with 2-4 FT meat cutters to hang around.
Deer chilis as close as I can say it was just OK for me. It is what it is and no intention to sway anyone with my tastebuds.
Other than bird hunting my favorite was small game. Coyote's in KS winter were my main rifle event to hunt on foot, not chasing around in a 4x4 like some did. Having shot rifle competition since 5th grade a deer was not a test of my shooting unless the moving target variety. I was far from even a state level top notch shooter but compared to the average shooter I was up there trying to win now & then. Mostly I shot smallbore prone, 50 & 100 meters and position indoors. My oldest son was a top ten shooter in college nationally, better than me for sure.
We watch deer from our living room windows, kind of scarce right now.  
Turtle I like, coon not so much. Many locals have eaten ground hogs they'd catch and feed on gardens scraps then eat, I kill and leave them so far. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Kantuck,

   Sounds like you gave it a fair test and that is all we can ask of anyone. Nobody can force someone to like the same things others do. My wife loves pickled beets, fried beef liver & onions, chicken livers, turnip greens and chow chow and such and I don't eat any of those things but I still love her. :D

   You make a good point about the deer though. There are way more of them all over this country now than there were when we were kids or even when the settlers first came here. They do well with modern agricultural practices and such.

   BTW - we just finished our first meal of the smoked deer sausage. Sausage, fried grits, biscuits with Scuppernong hull preserves and a big old glass of unsweetened iced tea. Life is good! The sausage was a little dry but definitely got a good dose of the smoky taste I was hoping for.

[mike_belben]

howard what dept in walmart did you find your casings? meat dept?  ive never found any. 

[WV Sawmiller]

They keep them in the sporting goods area. You should find a rack with jerky seasoning, summer sausage makings and the boxes of casings over close to the hunting and camping area. Good luck.

[WV Sawmiller]

 

While it was fresh on my mind I went ahead and took my sausage stuffer funnels with me to our local hardware store and I bought 3' dowels sized to fit the funnels. I brought them home and cut them off to about 1' long to use as "pusher sticks" the next time I use my sausage stuffer. These will be used at the end of the process to push that last plug of meat out of the tube. I will likely sand down the 1" tube a little as it is a very snug fit right now. A good snug fit means it will do a better job pushing the last little bit of meat out of the tube but it needs to slide easily.

[kantuckid]

Yer a hightech redneck?  :D

[Texas Ranger]

Not hunting any more, I buy deer/pork sausage at the store, a local Texas product.  It is a dry link sausage and good.  The deer are farm raised.  Chappell Hill sausage.

[kantuckid]

Those folks @ Chappel Hill have some interesting products in their line of meats! 
First time I saw a newspaper listing Texas deer leases it was flabbergasting! to say the least. My buddy in KS who'd retired from the AF down there said they were triangular sectors from a central point to shoot into. 

Guy I bought logs off of yesterday is a hard core deer hunter and as some deer had come onto the pasture edges later where we were handling logs, he told his buddy he would "get that one" next year, pointing his finger. They got to talking about how anybody who didn't like deer meat was weird, I laughed and made my point that it's all about ones taste buds. Seems they had a new neighbor who from some city that disliked them killing Bambi's and didn't appreciate the sport.
 

[WV Sawmiller]

Yer a hightech redneck?  :D

No I'm a low tech redneck. :D A high tech redneck would have whittled out a set of appropriately sized plugs to screw on to the end of his muzzleloader ramrod or made them from appropriately sized (empty) beer cans. :D

[WDH]

I have never seen a high tech redneck, only low tech ones like Howard :D.

[WV Sawmiller]

I have never seen a high tech redneck, only low tech ones like Howard :D.

Said the man with his wallet on a chain, overalls, a brown Red Man stain down the driver's side of his pick-em up truck and his pit bull's head out the open passenger side window and a recent ticket for violating the country noise ordnance because of the the noise from the empty beer cans rattling in the back when he pulled up to the one caution light in his county. :D

[petefrom bearswamp]

Love all the input here.
Was a very poor year for me, Alas, I only got 2 yearling deer this year so no corned necks, jerky, pepperoni or summer sausage for us.
gave the hearts to my son for pickling because he does a better job of spicing than I do.
I think from the 2 deer I got about 15 pounds of burger.
I only separate out the loins, rounds and sirloin for grilling and flash frying meat, usually accompanied by fried mushrooms and onions.
Use the "ordinary" burger for meatloaf, chili  and such, keep the ground round scraps and eye of the round for burger patties.
BTW does anyone make liverwurst from the livers?

[kantuckid]

I have never seen a high tech redneck, only low tech ones like Howard :D.

Practical innovative type? vs techy stuff. As in a Joe Foxworthy PU truck swimming pool, etc..

[kantuckid]

Love all the input here.
Was a very poor year for me, Alas, I only got 2 yearling deer this year so no corned necks, jerky, pepperoni or summer sausage for us.
gave the hearts to my son for pickling because he does a better job of spicing than I do.
I think from the 2 deer I got about 15 pounds of burger.
I only separate out the loins, rounds and sirloin for grilling and flash frying meat, usually accompanied by fried mushrooms and onions.
Use the "ordinary" burger for meatloaf, chili  and such, keep the ground round scraps and eye of the round for burger patties.
BTW does anyone make liverwurst from the livers?

We made around 700 batch per day where I worked. One caveat to commercial braunswager is that they pull a vacuum on it before placed in a casing or fat wrapper as a pre-sliced luncheon meat. The recipe called for lots of onion & garlic powder. I worked for about 6 months as the spice blender before I went to foremans job in pkg and shipping. The sausage maker (head guy in a processed meat plant-like a brewmaster for meats)  told me that the onion and garlic should be in balance in any food. Only he, myself and the owner had direct access to the formulas which he locked in a safe each night. I've never heard of it made with anything but pork livers. Bound to be on web recipes nowdays. FWIW, The tiniest little bit of meat cure ruins an entire batch of braunswager. 
I'll stick with a lb of store bought which I buy every so often. I like fried liver & onions but shy away for as health illogical. 
Corned necks? seriously :D I used to buy a piece of real pepperoni for my lunch when I worked in a grocery store, some bread, 5cent coke and I'd bite off a chew. The stuff they sell sliced isn't my version of actual good, age seasoned, real! pepperoni. 
Deer meat off the lesser parts of the animal seems to be a good candidate for Mexican Chorizo sausage? 

[WV Sawmiller]

Pete,

  I shot this deer specifically to make sausage. I'd shot 2 earlier and we were pretty well set on the other cuts we like.

  I know people corn the rougher cuts like the necks and such and I am sure they are very good. I absolutely hate deboning the neck but when you cook it whole, bone-in, it pulls right off the bone and makes a very nice, tasty meal. We cooked the neck off this one. There was not a lot as I had shot her in the neck but we cooked what I had as a roast. We pulled it off the bone and made sandwiches and what was left I added BBQ sauce and had several good BBQ sandwiches from it.

  I corn the choice cuts - loin, tenderloin & briskets. In fact I took out the last batch yesterday and we vacuum seal it. Made 9 packs I think so about 1.5 lb average as I put 12 lbs of meat in to corn. A little bigger packs than we usually make for the two of use. It is probably my wife's favorite part of the deer and it is really pretty easy to make. I think many people will take roasts that have some age on them and corn them to extend the life and improve the taste of them.

  Prior to this I only made bulk sausage or canned the trimmings which is also an easy process and convenient to use on the spur of the moment. I learned a lot this time and will be making more stuffed, smoked sausages in the future. One thing I will do next time is save the leftover casings. I think I will drain them, pack them in salt in baggie  and fill it with salt and freeze it till the next time I need some. If others have a better way to save left over casings.

   As to the livers I do not save any of the organs - liver or hearts. I suspect the hearts would be very good corned but have not tried it.

[kantuckid]

Not that I've seen it lately on a meat shelf-we made tube chili (like fresh pork sausage pkgs) at the meat packing plant from beef hearts frozen in 90lb boxes then chopped up for the meat aspect of a ready to eat chili product. 
Our "roast beef loaf" for sandwiches was 90lb boxes of frozen Mexican bull meat which consisted of large chunks of pure red muscle, maybe 3-4# chunks, mixed with a bouillon product and gelatin. 
Organs were once very common in grocery meat shelfs, now I see them where many Hispanics shop along with off cuts of poultry.  

[WV Sawmiller]

   In February 2008 we did a tour of Cameroon in west Africa and we stopped in one little village for lunch. The grill was a 55 gallon metal drum with about a 12" square cut out at the bottom. The wood for the fire was pushed in as needed or a piece or two could be pulled back if it was getting too hot. They had a piece of heavy welding wire on top and they'd throw chunks of beef and such on there to cook. When done the chef would carve it off in thin slices and serve with salt, some thin sliced onions and a little local seasoning. It was pretty good. 

   While we were eating we watched the sous chef preparing a sheep's stomach which had been sliced open and cleaned/washed out. He put the heart, kidney, and liver inside the stomach then pegged it shut with toothpick sized pegs. He then threw the stomach on the top of the grill to cook. He flipped it over a time or two but it did not take very long to cook. My wife went over and took some pictures of the process and talked to the chef who seemed happy to talk with a white lady especially one who was interested in his work. When done the chef would slice through the stomach making about 1/4" cuts and each slice included some of all the organs. The local patrons were lined up and pushing to get to the front before they ran out so it was apparently pretty tasty to their way of thinking. 

[WV Sawmiller]

   How do you experienced sausage stuffers save your left over casings?

[kantuckid]

When I worked in packing plant there were two types of casings-natural and manmade, and both were edible on purpose. The exception was wiener casings which were cellophane back then, probably plastic now & fresh pork sausage type casings. The wiener peeler used steam in a box to loosen that non-edible casing then a razor blade cut the casing and strings and casings went in a box below. FWIW, if you remember red hot dogs-the color came from red casings that transferred the color, meat was mostly the same. IMO, it's hard to get a really good hot dog now days! (A topic for another day huh?)
Products like larger summer sausage (no-refrigeration required if the cure is such that's allowed) the casings are thicker and tougher so people peel them and throw away.
I've never heard of casing reuse? ???