Calling all venison sausage makers... I need help.

[skyhightree1]

I have decided to try making my own sausage out of 1 hind quarter. First question I have is do you remove the silver skin off of it and the ligaments and whatever else those tough things are? I butchered the hind quarter and trying to remove all ligaments and silver skin seems I have wasted alot of meat. I found at walmart the seasoning mix to make 5 lbs of sausage for 4 bucks a pack thats what I used as well as sage brown sugar salt red pepper flakes. For fat content I used pork sausage I cant find any fat back or beef fat to use around here. I made some sausage and it taste better than my last batch from my deer processor but I wondered if yall had any good sausage recipes for deer or could give me any pointers on what I should do or not do.... I posted I wouldnt have to bother Jo again since I have my butcher book but it didn't cover deer sausage lol I also will be purchasing a electric grinder soon im not sure how many more times I can convince my kids hand cranking a sausage grinder is fun :lol2:

 

[3waycross]

2 parts venison to 1 part gound pork butts. Then season it the way you want! Been doing it that way for 30 years with Elk, Antelope, and all kinds of deer!

You can grind a little bacon in there but DO NOT use any bacon that is called smoked, maple, or honey cured. Your sausage will taste like candy if you do!

 

[M5farm]

Go to a retail store Winn Dixie publix etc talk to the meat manager tell him you want to buy some fat trimming they will have some beef and pork they can sale you. I prefer beef fat it keeps longer. I.use 25 to 30 % . I use leggs seasoning. Course grind fat and meat then mix seasoning. On you second grind add a few ice chips to the mix. It will grind easier and not be gummy.

 

[presmudjo]

Will Hopkins meat market in Sanford sell you beef fat?

 

[3waycross]

Go to a retail store Winn Dixie publix etc talk to the meat manager tell him you want to buy some fat trimming they will have some beef and pork they can sale you. I prefer beef fat it keeps longer. I.use 25 to 30 % . I use leggs seasoning. Course grind fat and meat then mix seasoning. On you second grind add a few ice chips to the mix. It will grind easier and not be gummy.

Not picking a fight but beef trim is used to make burger. Pork for sausage. You are right that beef lasts longer as it does not go rancid but if you can't eat your sausage in 6 months then you are making too much sausage.

BTW what you want is called 60/40 trim, but be advised especially in pork it can have some small pieces of bone in it. For the beef trim you should look for a local processor and buy the 60/40 beef trim from him. Just make sure it's off of white fatted animals.

 

[Alan]

I went on a back fat finding mission a couple months ago. All the local super markets received their meats already trimmed to 1/8. Finally found back fat at old time butcher shop in Portland, 45 miles away.

Post pics of the sausage! :tiphat:

 

[M5farm]

Go to a retail store Winn Dixie publix etc talk to the meat manager tell him you want to buy some fat trimming they will have some beef and pork they can sale you. I prefer beef fat it keeps longer. I.use 25 to 30 % . I use leggs seasoning. Course grind fat and meat then mix seasoning. On you second grind add a few ice chips to the mix. It will grind easier and not be gummy.

Not picking a fight but beef trim is used to make burger. Pork for sausage. You are right that beef lasts longer as it does not go rancid but if you can't eat your sausage in 6 months then you are making too much sausage.

BTW what you want is called 60/40 trim, but be advised especially in pork it can have some small pieces of bone in it. For the beef trim you should look for a local processor and buy the 60/40 beef trim from him. Just make sure it's off of white fatted animals.

If you ain't never tried it don't knock it . I have 20 years exp in grocery business with 5 years in meat market. My dad taught me with his limited experience of 45 years as a butcher. So forgive me you don't know what your talking about :tiphat:

 

[Jogeephus]

Sky, just use your sausage book and use the venison as filler. You want at least 30% fat content in your sausage to make it right else it will be dry so be careful and only use really fatty butts. If the butts are lean you need to up it to 50/50. You are right about the waste on a white tail. While it seems wasteful you will increase you storage time considerably by trimming the tallow off the deer since this will go rancid quick not to mention all the trouble that crap causes in your grinder.

 

[Anonymous]

Just to add one tip..take that old fashioned grinder, take the handle off, and put a 1/2 hp motor on it with a drive coupler from grainger. (If you have grainier up there, it's a contractor supply house)
That grinder will eat up everything you throw at it as fast as you can load it.
You can also use a big hammer drill and put a bolt in the handle shaft.

 

[3waycross]

If you ain't never tried it don't knock it . I have 20 years exp in grocery business with 5 years in meat market. My dad taught me with his limited experience of 45 years as a butcher. So forgive me you don't know what your talking about :tiphat:[/quote]

Like I said I wasn't trying to pick a fight BUT since you are, with statements like "you don't know what you are talking about". Now for my credentials I make on avg at least 500lbs of game sausage a year for me and my friends and I SELL more freakin sausage in a year then you have sold in your lifetime. I also guarantee that i have sampled more varieties of sausage including some incredible European types than you will ever see in your lifetime! So maybe next time you can disagree without being insulting!

REMEMBER ME I AM THE GUY WHO SELLS FOOD FOR A LIVING!! To the tune of around $75,000,000,000 worth over the last 30 years. During that time i have sold at least 10 varieties of sausage a week for a total weight of approx 1,000lbs. Last time i looked that was approx 1,560,000 lbs of sausage. That's what i sold, not my company, ME!

Sausage is made with PORK especially game sausage as it sweetens it and adds fat at the same time. You can make it with horseturds and call it sausage but it AIN"T sausage.

So M5 I have a question for you. Walk over to the meat case in your Dad's store and tell me how many kinds of Beef based sausage that YOU made are for sale in your store? Second question, as I already know the answer to the first. If you don't make it to sale to the public on a regular basis why would you make it for home consumption, out of a meat that is already dry. Pork(especially leaf lard) fat renders off and leaves a sweet sausage flavor. Beef fat renders off and leaves a hamburger flavor and you know it. That's why I recommend using 60/40 beef trim to grind with your venison for BURGER.

There are definately some boutique sausage makers who will use some beef but the VAST majority will use pork the majority of the time.

For a point of reference here is a website i pulled up at random with a bunch of venison sausage recipies. I believe only one of them calls for beef and that was a reicpe for Summer sausage which we made 150lbs of using Goose breast and PORK butts about 2 months ago.
http://www.lets-make-sausage.com/venison-sausage.html

Now on a friendlier note i will admit that when asked my old country Italian Grandfather told me that their recipe for Sopressata(hard salami) in Italy called for

1 old Sow & 1 old Donkey> He did say that when they came to America they dropped the Donkey requirement and went straight pig.

 

[M5farm]

I commend you on being successful in your sales and your worldly travels. I'm just a hick that ain't never been nowhere. I respect your opinion and apologize for insulting your expertise. But if you refer back to my original post I suggested where to find pork and beef fat . I then made a statement that "I prefer beef fat" I assume you thought that because "I" suggested making sausage in a way that is against some law That it's not a possible to use beef fat to make sausage that taste as good or better than sausage made with pork. I like pork sausage. I like beef sausage. And I like deer sausage made with both pork and beef. It's a personal preference and was only a suggestion to sky to try something different. Spices are what makes sausage no matter the meat used . I won't argue with you any more cause I need to start calling the customers (300-400 a year) that we have processed deer for over the last 10 or so years and apologize for making the beef based deer sausage that there doctor had recommended them to try because of there health . I would ship you some of my special sausage but it's a long way from Florida to Colorado . I will offer you this next time you make a small batch of your favorite recipe make a pound or two with some beef fat and try it. If it doesn't meet your expectations pm me the cost wasted meat and spices and I will send you a refund. 100% Money back guarantee

 

[HDRider]

Skyhigh - you sure start a lot of arguments..

 

[3waycross]

I commend you on being successful in your sales and your worldly travels. I'm just a hick that ain't never been nowhere. I respect your opinion and apologize for insulting your expertise. But if you refer back to my original post I suggested where to find pork and beef fat . I then made a statement that "I prefer beef fat" I assume you thought that because "I" suggested making sausage in a way that is against some law That it's not a possible to use beef fat to make sausage that taste as good or better than sausage made with pork. I like pork sausage. I like beef sausage. And I like deer sausage made with both pork and beef. It's a personal preference and was only a suggestion to sky to try something different. Spices are what makes sausage no matter the meat used . I won't argue with you any more cause I need to start calling the customers (300-400 a year) that we have processed deer for over the last 10 or so years and apologize for making the beef based deer sausage that there doctor had recommended them to try because of there health . I would ship you some of my special sausage but it's a long way from Florida to Colorado . I will offer you this next time you make a small batch of your favorite recipe make a pound or two with some beef fat and try it. If it doesn't meet your expectations pm me the cost wasted meat and spices and I will send you a refund. 100% Money back guarantee

Great answer M5. The only thing you want to be careful about believing is that somehow beef fat is healthier for you than pork fat. It all builds up in your arteries.

I have the Lipitor to prove it!

BTW Does Florida allow you to process deer in a public market? You would never get away with that here, and for good reason. I worked as a skinner when i was a kid and after seeing the way most folks took care of their game I was pretty sick to my stomach. Everything from dirt to maggots and then they expected us to make it taste good!

 

[Alan]

So if I understand what's happening ...... We're comparing the size of our sausages and using them for a pizzing match? :lol: :lol: :hide:

 

[3waycross]

So if I understand what's happening ...... We're comparing the size of our sausages and using them for a pizzing match? :lol: :lol: :hide:

Actually we just agreed to disagree, and you jumped in a day late and a sausage short :cowboy:

 

[highgrit]

Well I know nothing about making sausage. But when I make summer sausage I use no fat at all. I use venison and no-melt jalapeno cheese and other assorted spices. And to my friends and I it's the best summer sausage we have ever ate. 3Way you got the 6 months timeline dead on for having all your sausage ate up. It gets that old taste after that for sure.

 

[3waycross]

Well I know nothing about making sausage. But when I make summer sausage I use no fat at all. I use venison and no-melt jalapeno cheese and other assorted spices. And to my friends and I it's the best summer sausage we have ever ate. 3Way you got the 6 months timeline dead on for having all your sausage ate up. It gets that old taste after that for sure.

That's definately the pork fat going rancid. Now if you use some cure you can avoid some of that but to me the whole point of making my own is to avoid the use of cure!

 

[Alan]

So if I understand what's happening ...... We're comparing the size of our sausages and using them for a pizzing match? :lol: :lol: :hide:

Actually we just agreed to disagree, and you jumped in a day late and a sausage short :cowboy:

I have never had a compliant from my wife about a short sausage ........ That may because she has completely forgot about it.

 

[M5farm]

Alan "I" prefer party sausage.

Deer processing in Florida you have to charge for the processing only. We charge by the pound and could do 1000 a year if we wanted to. If it doesn't look good when we get it quartered in ice chest they can't leave it. If its trashy we charge extra and tell them not to come back. We don't skin or gut them. You can not resale wild.game in Florida with out a bunch of regulation.

 

[Alan]

Well I know nothing about making sausage. But when I make summer sausage I use no fat at all. I use venison and no-melt jalapeno cheese and other assorted spices. And to my friends and I it's the best summer sausage we have ever ate. 3Way you got the 6 months timeline dead on for having all your sausage ate up. It gets that old taste after that for sure.

That's definately the pork fat going rancid. Now if you use some cure you can avoid some of that but to me the whole point of making my own is to avoid the use of cure!

Even if you vacuum seal it and freeze? Just 6 months?