Blood retention in meat

[BKhunter]

I created a post last year about my homemade sausage not having the snap that store bought sausage has. it wasn't until this week when I took out a package of loose packed sausage and when i was forming patties the blood was dripping intensely when I was forming the patties. I now know the reason why my sausage doesn't have that snap is because it was retaining a lot of the blood and moisture. I tend to butcher my deer within a day or two of harvesting the animal. I am not sure if this is the reason. Any tips on how to solve this problem?

[Lawdwaz]

First off, are you comparing store bought pork sausage to your venison sausage?

[BKhunter]

Lawdwaz yes I am apologies for the confusion. I am grounding my own venison and casing it myself. It was retaining a ton of blood causing the casing to become mushy and chewy and I was packing them pretty full.

[jjb4900]

Lawdwaz yes I am apologies for the confusion. I am grounding my own venison and casing it myself. It was retaining a ton of blood causing the casing to become mushy and chewy and I was packing them pretty full.

are you using natural or synthetic casing?

[Lawdwaz]

Lawdwaz yes I am apologies for the confusion. I am grounding my own venison and casing it myself. It was retaining a ton of blood causing the casing to become mushy and chewy and I was packing them pretty full.

 

I'm sure you will get the process down with some guidance from the guys here and the sausage will be fine. 

 

If you do get your venison sausage to taste as good or better than pork sausage, congrats! 

 

Luck.............

[G-Man]

A lot has to do with how animal is killed, dropping animal in its tracks doesn't let it bleed out.

[BKhunter]

I am using natural casings. I was thinking that because I am not letting the meat age and am butchering it right away and packing it is the reason for so much blood staying in the meat. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I am using natural casings. I was thinking that because I am not letting the meat age and am butchering it right away and packing it is the reason for so much blood staying in the meat. 

has nothing to do with it.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

what type ot "snap" are you looking for?

[phade]

Maybe look at quartering the meat and letting it sit on ice in the fridge and swapping out the ice/melted water a couple days?

 

[BKhunter]

_{I understand venison sausage will never be like pork sausage from the butcher due to fat content and it is a different meat. The snap I am looking for though should be a little similar. Currently when I make my sausage due to the retention of blood and moisture the casing gets soggy and chewy. I am looking to eliminate this. I believe in order to do this I need to draw some of the blood out from the venison. Any tips on how to do this?}

[SteveB]

Phades post above is one way.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

_{I understand venison sausage will never be like pork sausage from the butcher due to fat content and it is a different meat. The snap I am looking for though should be a little similar. Currently when I make my sausage due to the retention of blood and moisture the casing gets soggy and chewy. I am looking to eliminate this. I believe in order to do this I need to draw some of the blood out from the venison. Any tips on how to do this?}

Are you using fresh or frozen venison? I find it hard to believe it is the extra moisture from the "blood" because about every recipe I see calls for adding moisture in one form or another. Can you explain what casing, what the recipe and process is that you are using?

[BKhunter]

I am using fresh and not frozen venison that was harvested within 24-48 hours of making the sausage. I am using natural casings from the butcher. The recipe that I am using is Michael Ruhlmans Italian sweet and hot sausage. Not to much moisture is added IMO with that recipe, but I could be completely misspoken as I am a novice at sausage making. One thing I was thinking this year is to grind the meat and let is sit for a day then drain off whatever blood comes out then make the sausage. not sure if that's a good idea though as when you age a whole roast you can trip it. Chop meat is not the same.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

I am using fresh and not frozen venison that was harvested within 24-48 hours of making the sausage. I am using natural casings from the butcher. The recipe that I am using is Michael Ruhlmans Italian sweet and hot sausage. Not to much moisture is added IMO with that recipe, but I could be completely misspoken as I am a novice at sausage making. One thing I was thinking this year is to grind the meat and let is sit for a day then drain off whatever blood comes out then make the sausage. not sure if that's a good idea though as when you age a whole roast you can trip it. Chop meat is not the same.

then you grill them?

[dbHunterNY]

I am using natural casings. I was thinking that because I am not letting the meat age and am butchering it right away and packing it is the reason for so much blood staying in the meat. 

 

I do my own processing.  I bone out everything usually that day.  put in all in meat tubs and put it in the fridge for a few days.  during that time the meat will drain and I put a meat pad in the bottom or drain off the blood so it doesn't degrade the meat in the bottom of the tub/container.  when it's hanging, I also hang them hind quarters up so some of it drains away from the better cuts of meat before I get to it.  you probably are adding a little water though to mix up meat and stuff the casings easier which would be common.

Edited April 13, 2015 by dbHunterNY

[Lawdwaz]

_{I understand venison sausage will never be like pork sausage from the butcher due to fat content and it is a different meat. The snap I am looking for though should be a little similar. Currently when I make my sausage due to the retention of blood and moisture the casing gets soggy and chewy. I am looking to eliminate this. I believe in order to do this I need to draw some of the blood out from the venison. Any tips on how to do this?}

 

Overnight me a care package and I'll report my results.

 

 

[wolc123]

I always get best results by letting a 1-1/2 year deer hang for about week with the hide on, prior to processing.  The hide keeps the meat from drying out too much and minimizes temperature extremes. I usually remove it the day prior to de-boning.   A 6 month deer can hang for 3 days and a 2-1/2 year old or older should go 10 - 14 days.     Last season was nice and cool throughout, and we had ideal in-the-garage hanging temps for the 6 month, 1.5 year, 2.5 year and 3.5 year + bucks that I butchered between mid-archery and the end of ML season.   On the typical warmer seasons, I skin the deer and hang the quarters in old refrigerators for the required times (same as above depending on age).  The quarters don't dry out as much inside the old refrigerators so the hides are not needed, and the temperature is controlled so insulation is also not needed.   I cover all the windows in my garage "butcher-shop" with foam insulation and as long as the daytime temps stay in the 50's or below, the meat ages well hanging with the hide on.  Any red meat should be properly aged prior to freezing and if you don't do that, you will end up with riger-mortise frozen into the meat, making it tougher.     Every deer I have processed this way has had better texture and flavor than the finest beef.    

 

I think most folks who don't like venison have not maintained proper control over the butchering process.  Cutting a deer up too fast is bad, as is letting it get too warm for too long.  Leaving it lay all night with the guts in doesn't do you any good either, nor does a drawn-out, suffering kill.     Proper aging after the kill is probably the most important, and most often neglected factor regarding quality of the product.  If more folks knew how to properly butcher a deer, I think we would see a lot less emphasis on antlers and more on the meat as it should be.   That said though, I still prefer the bucks as they taste the same as the does and usually have a lot less fat to trim away.   I feel very blessed to have been able to fill both of my buck tags last season, and receive a 3rd antlered one as a gift from a friend.   It is that tastey, little 6-month button buck that is in a class by itself in both texture and flavor however.    I usually end up with one of them every other year or so, and I never regret it.  Most years the bulk of our venison is doe meat and this is the first "buck-only" year I can remember.    

 

Care for the meat when freezing is important also.  We always eat the tenderloins fresh at about 4 days.  It was neat to get the chance to compare the tenderloins from a 6 month, 1-1/2 yr, 2-1/2 yr, and an ancient buck this past season, all prepared identically.  The 6 month was to-die-for, the 1-1/2 and 2-1/2 nearly identical, and the old boy just a little chewier but similar in flavor.  Other cuts and grind are vacuum sealed, except for about half of the first deer every fall, where we save a little time and money by just using zip-lock bags.    As long as you eat that within about 4 months, you can't tell the difference from vacuum sealing.   The vacuum sealed stuff keeps fresh for at least 3 years.   I always trim all the fat from the meat (even the grind), and never add pork to the grind.  At least half of our family's protein comes from venison every year and we all like it better than just about anything else.                                       

[BKhunter]

then you grill them?

Culver correct I am grilling them.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

Culver correct I am grilling them.

sorry for so many questions but it can be so many things. is it the casing or the meat itself that you expect to snap more? I suggest using the coarsest grinder plate you have. make sure the knives and plate are sharp and don't run it through twice. start on very high heat and then when the color is right move them to a low heat area or even indirect heat. I am really having a hard time imagining it is a "too much blood" issue. is the inside of the sausage soaking wet after cooking? and are you adding pork butt of fat to the recipe? 

[BKhunter]

sorry for so many questions but it can be so many things. is it the casing or the meat itself that you expect to snap more? I suggest using the coarsest grinder plate you have. make sure the knives and plate are sharp and don't run it through twice. start on very high heat and then when the color is right move them to a low heat area or even indirect heat. I am really having a hard time imagining it is a "too much blood" issue. is the inside of the sausage soaking wet after cooking? and are you adding pork butt of fat to the recipe? 

 

Culver,

 

It is the casing that is the culprit here. The reason why I believe it is the moisture in the meat is when I browned some loose packed sausage in a pan the other day it filled up with liquid and really slowed the browning process. I did not over crowed the pan either. Then the left overs I had I went to form into patties and the amount of blood that came pouring out shocked me. Also. every time that I have made sausage from scratch using venison, the plate that I put them on after grilling fills up with liquid. This year I believe I will try aging the meat to see if this corrects the issue as I was using the smallest die to grind and was only running it through once not twice. I am also using pork back fat when I make mine and am using a 3/4 venison to 1/4 pork fat ratio. No need to apologize for the questions. I am grateful for any help here solving this dilemma. You have been a great help in some of my other posts as well. Thanks again!

[Culvercreek hunt club]

The stuff you  browned was frozen and then thawed though. right?

I have even had the issue with beef. You can really cut down on that by heating the pan prior to adding the meat. We cut our up right away in most cases. I am NOT a fan of aging. If you ever saw fillet minion aging and that nasty green gunk on it...nope not of me...lol. Maybe we avoid some of the moisture issues because we just chunk up and vacuum seal the chunks in large portions (10 # or more) and freeze it. Then our sausage is made in February or March. There is liquid in the package when thawed but not too much. We drain it off and grind and have to add water to our recipes to get it to flow nicely in the stuffer. Never a wet sausage, even our uncured Italian. I have to admit that most of our Italian goes bulk into vacuum bags in 1# packages. then pressed into a flat rectangle about 1/2" thick after sealing. We like patties better than links because the cheese, onions and peppers stay on a hamburger style bun better than a hotdog style bun.

[jjb4900]

are you vacuum sealing it? from my experience there will usually be a lot of liquid in the bag when you defrost vacuum sealed meat, I guess the sealing somehow draws the liquid out of the meat, but I've never had a problem with the meat itself retaining too much liquid................I usually cut a hole in the bottom of the bag and put it in a colander to let it drain as it defrosts.

[BKhunter]

Culver -  Are you refreezing your meat after you make your sausage? I didn't think that was good for the meat, so i was doing everything at once. Let me tell you that it is a lot of work and my back is killing me by the end of processing the deer. I once did two by myself along with the sausage making process it was brutal. 

 

jjb - I am vacum pocking my sausage after I make it. I do see blood in the bag as well when I thaw it out. That could be an issue as well as the casings are sitting in the blood as the sausages thaw. I generally make the sausage then freeze it. Very rarely am I eating them right as I make them.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

We do and never have and issue. It is especially OK if you are doing a cured sausage or one that is smoked. But our Italian is refrozen with no issues. It is ground as partial frozen, our Meat grinder has horse power about equal to a V8..lol. It sure works better that way. the first batch f sausage we make on that day is the Italian and is sealed and back in freezer in about an hour from when we start.  For the Italian the way we form it a seal it, once it is thawed we simple cut the flat package into quarters and you don't even have to form patties. They are done for you. Then it is easy to use in things like sauce, chili and other recipes.

 

butchering and doing sausage in one sitting.....can't believe you didn't have to make a trip to the chiropractor...lol. My old back couldn't take tat in one step