Deer Sausage

[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.

[sawguy21]

An old refrigerator or upright freezer works well. You are making my mouth water!

[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

[mike_belben]

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

[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.

[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.  

[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.

[Tacotodd]

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

[Walnut Beast]

  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.

[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.

[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👍🏻

[Walnut Beast]

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]

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.


 

[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. 

[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.

[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. 

[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.

[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. 

[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.

[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 

[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.

[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? ???

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'm thinking I can drain the leftover casings, put them in a ziplock bag and cover with salt and freeze them. I was wondering if anyone else has tried this or has another way to save them. I hate to waste things. When you open a pack they are all tangled and dry and no way to separate out just a few that you need so you have to soak the whole package. Once soaked and soft you can separate and rinse them out individually but when you run out of meat there is going to be some casings left over. I hate to see them wasted.