Making sausage question
Elk
I have 12-15 pounds of elk I am going to make sausage from. I have about 10 pounds of pork scrapes I got from the butcher at local grocery store. So my question is what percentage venison to pork fat should I mix. I have heard 1 to 1, also 1 part pork to 2 parts venison. What have you done that works well?
I like about 25% pork to elk and a bit more for deer sausage.
I am looking to make more of a breakfast sausage. Not links or smoked summer sausage. A lot of what I read 10-25% seems low
We used to go 50% pork on all of it - particularly when we dropped it off at a butcher. I’ve cut back on the fat in recent years. It is better with more fat, but not as good for you.
What - next are you going to suggest beer is not as good for me as water?
Nope. Never!
Guy’s gotta have a cold beer every now and then!
Been surprised at how good our sausage turned out cutting the pork down. Also don’t add fat to our burger any more. No complaints!
1/2 pork butt, 1/2 veni makes great home-made breakfast or hot sausage. Tastes like pork sausage. Mmmmm!
20% if it's all fat or primarily fat.
What kind of sausage are you wanting to make?
Try this recipe, it's really good for breakfast sausage and can also be rolled up into a meatball if you add egg and breadcrumbs. It's a recipe I've tinkered with for a few years and finally got it right where I want it.
8 lbs game meat
2 lbs pork fat
5 tbsp kosher salt
1 tbsp white pepper
2 tbsp sage
1 tbsp garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 tbsp mace
1 tbsp ground thyme
1 tbsp paprika
Grind the meat and fat on course grind, then mix up the spices in a 2 cups of ice water and add to the meat. Mix well with your hands or meat mixer, then run through the course grind a second time.
Keep in mind there's no cure in it so your meat should be well-preserved from field to fridge and get it vacuum sealed quickly. I like to do 1-1.5 lbs in a ball which I then drop into a vacuum seal bag and then seal, then flatten out the meat by hand after the bag is sealed so that the bags stack nicely and thaw quickly.
Here’s another recipe similar to Idlly’s for approx 5lbs
More of a breakfast sausage taste.
I like to add cayenne too, but the kids won't eat it if I do, so I just douse mine with Tabasco after it's cooked.
I’ve gone 30% in the past for breakfast sausage.
So 6 pounds pork trim with 12 pounds elk. That is about 33% pork trim. To much pork fat?
I like 15% fat for smoked summer sausage.
Double for grilling/cooking sausage
All depends on how much grease you want
I got back 60# of elk sausage today. I have tried multiple recipes. My advice is to cot it with pork, 3 parts elk to 1 part pork. Add coarse pepper and if possible make the grind more coarse than fine. Enjoy.
Will you be using hog casings or collagen casings?
Not planning on using casing. Making more of a breakfast sausage. Will wrap about 1 pound in Saran Wrap and then freezer paper. Made sausage a few times before but always used a pork shoulder @ about 50%. First time making with pork trim. Here is a picture of some antelope and elk with pork shoulder.
Good tip about flattening the bag out, Ike. Thanks.
My brother-in-law makes sausage from venison and he uses 50-50 ratio for breakfast sausage. He also buys pork butt from the butcher, not just pork fat. For burger he uses a 70% venison to 30% pork mix.
I do 25 perfect pork to elk for sausage or brats.
But for burger I do strait elk!
I'm sure no one cares, but I use no more than 10% by weight if it is in links and no more than 25% for breakfast sausage. But, I like mine lean. Quite often, I use ground pork tenderloin when I can get it on sale. I never use, just pork fat. I put my breakfast sausage in socks-cloth tubes and then hang them in the smoker for an hour on low heat, high smoke. I use a sausage seasoning I got from a local sausage company many years ago. Do not know for sure, what all is in it. I do about 60-pounds a year.
We make 1000s of lb of wild game sausage every year, for 12 lbs of lean meat 3 lbs of good pork fat, works for most tipes of sausage
For my summer sausage, I use 9 lbs elk meat, 4 lbs ground pork.
Sorry, I left off Bowriter need not reply on first post.
I will grind in next few days and update how it turned out! Thanks for all the post. Most go with less fat than I was leaning towards. Probably dial back to around 30% or a little less on trim.
I'm eating some venison maple links for breakfast right now and will be making spicy links and some chorizo this weekend. I go 1 to 1 ground pork for all my venison sausages.
I mostly know what I like for adding spices but would like to knowing what you are using for chorizo. If you would not mind sharing.
Hank Shaw's recipe. It's pretty spicy but not too spicy for me and the friends I've shared it with. The first time I made it, I found it was way too salty so I cut the kosher salt about in half. I use my usual 50-50 venison/pork mixture. If you don't have a Mexican grocery handy, you can order the ingredients you can't find off Amazon. I think the achiote paste is a must but I've skipped the tequilla when I didn't have any handy.
I also don't stuff this in casings. I like to make little patties to eat with my eggs. My gf likes to chop it up and mix with scrambled eggs, then top with cheese in a breakfast burrito.
Tabasco?? Get with the program!
I ended making adding about 1/3 pork trim. I kind of eye balled. Then after making a pound or 2, cooked a couple patties to see what I thought. Seemed to turn out good. So went with that on the rest. Now have lots of sausage in the freeze. Thanks for the impute.
Made some sausage on Tues using the recipe posted above by Idyll. 6lbs deer, 2lbs pork fat. In our house it has been called, "the best sausage in the world."
like WAK my favorite mix is 50/50 lean pork cuts (like butt) with attendant fat, rather than adding just pork fat to venison. When I just add fat I use about 15% for a very lean sausage
How long do you guys let salami dry and cure before you eat it? Rory
Had an Amish butcher in OH that made the best breakfast sausage ever. We purchased a large quantity from him, but by the time we got to the last of it, the taste was not a good. He said not to freeze sausage for more than 3 months. Now I just bag and freeze the raw meat and make the sausage as I need it. America's Test Kitchen also did a taste test on store bought sausage and claimed you should only by the precooked sausage for the same reason.
If adding pork fat, 20% to 25%. If pork trimmings or pork butt then I add more or if I want it lean I keep it at 25%. Meatballs and hamburgers I add more pork than fat or add around 15% beef fat.
Glad you guys liked it Jethro. It's my go-to for making meatballs and mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with burger makes a great meatloaf or even inside enchiladas.
I made 10 lbs of Chorizo with the recipe that midwest linked. The ingredients require a "mexican market," but I bet you could order them online. I followed the recipe except instead of adding all the steps, I ground the meat through the course ground, mixed up and then added all the other ingredients including the spices, vinegar, and tequila, then hand mixed it and sent it through the course grind again and packaged in bulk and it's amazing.
I did 1/2 Ancho and half Pasilla for the spices and then followed directions for the rest, but also added a little paprika. Definitely use ground mexican Oregano.
I didn't find the recipe to be spicy at all, but then I grew up in Southern California and I put hot sauce on everything. Next time I make it I'm going to try 1.5x on the spices as the flavor of the venison drowns out the spices a bit compared with pork Chorizo.
When I processed deer, I used one whole pork butt (fat left on) to about the same weight in venison or any other game. The pork butt with the seasonings usually turned out perfect tasting sausage.
We do no more than 10%. Try some soy binder to keep moist if you are stuffing and smoking.
