VENISON SAUSAGE

Hi, my name is Jack, and I am going to help you in several different ways in this post.

Venison is a very lean, healthy product that prepared correctly will provide a lot of great healthy meals.

I will have your family and friends begging for "more".

I will talk to you about several topics as we go through this process.

• Discuss how much sausage you want to make.
• The proportion of pork to mix with the venison.
• How to prepare your meat for your grinding process.
• How to grind your meat so that it won't be too course.
• The handling of your ground meat.
• Seasoning your ground meat.
• The packaging of your final product.
• Ideas on using your sausage in recipes.
• And finally, the cooking of your venison sausage.

So, lets get started!

HOW MUCH SAUSAGE DO YOU WANT TO MAKE

  Most people only use the less desirable parts of the deer (ex.. "NOT THE BACK STRAP"), for their sausage, however, you will find that the more deer meat used, the more sausage you will produce.  Now, I am a firm believer in saving the Back Strap myself, but that's your decision.  One thing you need to keep in mind.  The amount of sausage you make is determined by not only the amount of venison you use, but how much pork you are going to have to add to keep your sausage from being too dry.  That brings us to the next step.

HOW MUCH PORK DO YOU MIX WITH YOUR VENISON

The amount of pork that you add to your venison is dependent on your preference.  Do you like your sausage to be dry or to have some grease in it?  Most people, including myself, like to a mixture of 70% venison and 30% pork.  I have tried to use ground pork purchased from the supermarket but, it becomes costly.  I use pork butt cubed in small enough pieces that will go into my grinder.

HOW TO PREPARE YOUR MEAT FOR GRINDING PROCESS

After harvesting your deer, make sure all of your meat is clean and free from hair and any other unwanted items that might end up in your sausage.Trim all the meat so that there is no Grissel or bone included in the pile that is to be ground up.  Now, it really doesn't matter if you leave some fat, since you will need some for consistency of your sausage. But, I advise you to let the fat from your pork take care of that.  Set aside your venison to be used later.
Follow this process for preparing your pork to be used in your sausage.
You can do one of two things when it comes to mixing your venison with your pork.  Either grind your meat together, or grind them separate to be mixed later.  I prefer to grind each separate and mix them together afterwards, this way I can add my seasoning and mix it all together as I go.

HOW TO GRIND YOUR MEAT SO THAT IT WON'T BE TOO COURSE

If you don't already own a grinder, you can pick one up at your local Sporting Good Store or try to get a deal on one online.  I suggest that you read all instructions for your grinder and get familiar with it before grinding. New grinders come with different blades that allow for course or fine grinding.  The course blade is good for chili meat (another topic for me to look at posting), but I suggest that you use a fine blade for your sausage so that your meat doesn't chew like steak instead of sausage!

THE HANDLING OF YOUR GROUND MEAT

This is probably one of the most overlooked steps in the process.  Be very careful that your meat is protected from any air particles or debris that could contaminate it.  Have you ever had scrambled eggs and you are the one person in the whole room that found that one egg shell that managed to get in the whole bowel of eggs you dipped them out of?  Well, how would you feel if after all your preparation, someone bit into something that accidentally found it's way into your sausage?  Handle your ground meat with care and have your area clean before mixing in your seasoning.

SEASONING YOUR GROUND MEAT

You have a lot of options that you can use when it comes to seasons for your sausage.  You can shop at your local supermarket or shop online for a variety of great products.  I use a local company's "Old Fashioned Sausage Seasoning".  One 12 ounce jar of seasoning will make 50 pounds of sausage.  You also have the option of using a homemade recipe from another source.  Whichever or whatever seasoning you use, make sure you blend it in with your pork and venison evenly so that all your sausage taste the same.  Uneven mixture of your seasoning will cause your sausage to taste good to some and not so good to others.  Let's please everybody!  Some people even mix their seasoning with a small amount of water to help distribute the seasoning evenly.  I don't do this but, it works.

THE PACKAGING OF YOUR PRODUCT

You may want to use your ground sausage as a patty, breakfast type sausage or you might like to stuff your sausage using a variety of casings, either natural or synthetic.  If you decide to stuff your sausage, you may like to smoke it on a grill or a smoker to enhance the flavor.  After proper smoking of your links they can be wrapped in standard "Freezer Wrapping Paper" and store them in your freezer for later enjoyment.  If you decide to keep the breakfast type pan sausage, I suggest that you use "Plastic Freezer Bags" instead of raping it in paper.  This will allow you to stack it in your freezer better and allow you to see your sausage through the plastic.  I use quart sized bags for my storage so that I don't have to thaw out so much at one time.  Remember, you are making a lot of sausage and want to be able to pass it out to your family and friends for their enjoyment and you don't want to give them too much at a time!!  Keep them coming back for more.  I know, I get enjoyment out of being able to pass out the good stuff.  Don't use bags that say "Storage Bags", they don't keep frozen foods fresh.

IDEAS ON USING YOUR SAUSAGE IN RECIPES

You have opened up a lot of possibilities for enjoyment with something that you made with your own hands!  The Internet has endless ideas for using your venison sausage in various recipes.  Here are a few that I enjoy.

• Using venison sausage instead of hamburger in or Mexican cornbread.
• Using venison sausage in your chili instead of hamburger meat.
• Using venison sausage for your tacos or nachos.
• Putting venison sausage in your cheese dip.
• Venison sausage bread.
• Meat pies using venison sausage.
• Stuffed bell peppers with venison sausage.
• Smothered potatoes with venison sausage.
• Hot tamales with venison sausage instead of pork.
• Shepherds pie with venison sausage.

The possibilities are endless for the use of your venison sausage.

COOKING YOUR VENISON SAUSAGE

Remember, your sausage has pork in it and needs to be cooked well done.  If it has been smoked in links, try putting some links into a skillet with a small amount of water, on low heat, to help steam them a little first.  As the water cooks the venison sausage, the grease will start to drain out and cause somewhat of a base for the venison sausage to cook in. When the water has completely evaporated, continue to cook the venison sausage until the outside is browned to your liking.  If you have the raw ground venison sausage, remove the venison sausage from the packaging and form into patties to your size preference.  Don't make them too thick, as you want them to cook through and through.  Cook them, flipping them in the skillet to prevent them from burning, until they are a well done.  Venison Sausage is best eaten warm but is just as good cold.

ENJOY AND BE SURE TO POST YOUR COMMENTS!

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