Venison Italian Sausage

[nycredneck]

A chopped onion and a side of broccoli.

[crappyice]

A chopped onion and a side of broccoli.

Would you mind taking a picture after you cut it? Seriously! I want to see the inside since mine was sort of dry tonight.

If it’s gone already, did it look like this?




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[TACC]

Interested as well

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[goosifer]

38 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Would you mind taking a picture after you cut it? Seriously! I want to see the inside since mine was sort of dry tonight.

If it’s gone already, did it look like this?




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How much fat as a % of total weight did you put in your recipe, crappyice? I went with 15% last year and it was too dry. This year I went to 30% fat. It looks much better. I haven't eaten any yet, but suspect I can cut back to 25% next time. Also, what size grind on the fat did you do. Sometimes if the grind plate size is too small and or the fat is not cold enough, it melts in the grinder, and you loose the distinct blobs of fat in the sausage. Hope you don't mind my interjecting. Just trying to help.

[crappyice]

Mind? Are you kidding? I don’t have a clue what I am doing so any input is welcome! The recipe I follow called for 50-50 ground venison to ground pork. My mistake I think is that I used pork loin as my 50 of ground pork- very little fat(it’s what I had on hand). I ground both venison and pork with the “wagon wheel disc” (New to grinding as well so no technical terms will be used since I don’t know them!) and then combined the two with the spices recommended(too much fresh garlic I think) and ran it through the largest hole plate I had.
I don’t think cold was the issue since the meat was mostly frozen(could be bent with some force)


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[Robhuntandfish]

I use a 60 venison/40 ground pork. Since it's already ground I don't worry about it melting or separating.  I mix it in after I already ground the venison.  The breakfast sausage comes out great. 

[tommyc50]

try using fat back instead of pork.

[mowin]

I use a 60-40 mix, but like my pork on the fatty side, so I do add some back fat if it looks to lean.  

I freeze my grinder head to help keep meat cold while grinding. I'll stick it back in the freezer for a few minutes if I think the meat is getting to warm.  Adding ice to the mix also helps keep the meat cooler. 

[crappyice]

Where are you guys getting your fat back? I’ve seen the vacuum sealed blocks on my grocery store that are salted and like $5 for small block. The butchers are reluctant (due to a “store policy”) to give me scraps for some reason about not being able to sell scraps not suitable for the table or something. Not many old school butchers around Westchester - my best bet may be Arthur ave(aka little Italy in the Bronx) where there are some butcher shops that process larger cuts


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[Dom]

7 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Where are you guys getting your fat back? I’ve seen the vacuum sealed blocks on my grocery store that are salted and like $5 for small block. The butchers are reluctant (due to a “store policy”) to give me scraps for some reason about not being able to sell scraps not suitable for the table or something. Not many old school butchers around Westchester - my best bet may be Arthur ave(aka little Italy in the Bronx) where there are some butcher shops that process larger cuts


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I get my pork from Josef Meiller Slaughterhouse in Pine Plains NY.518-398-7711 I try not shopping at local/supermarkets except for every day stuff/canned foods and such

[goosifer]

8 hours ago, crappyice said:

Mind? Are you kidding? I don’t have a clue what I am doing so any input is welcome! The recipe I follow called for 50-50 ground venison to ground pork. My mistake I think is that I used pork loin as my 50 of ground pork- very little fat(it’s what I had on hand). I ground both venison and pork with the “wagon wheel disc” (New to grinding as well so no technical terms will be used since I don’t know them!) and then combined the two with the spices recommended(too much fresh garlic I think) and ran it through the largest hole plate I had.
I don’t think cold was the issue since the meat was mostly frozen(could be bent with some force)


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Yeah, you used the good stuff, pork loin, instead of pork shoulder/picnic/boston butt. When you buy ground pork from the store, this is the cut where it comes from. This cut from the pig is approximately 20% fat. Pork loin, depending on how its trimmed, has a lot less. In addition to using ground pork, I like to use pork fat to boost up my fat %. I go to stores that have a butcher department and that make their own sausage and ask for  pork fat or "pork trimmings". Depending on when they made their last batch of sausage, they may have some, may not. Sometimes they charge me, sometimes they don't. The answer seems to vary by who I ask. It is definitely a PITA. Sometimes, they will have beef fat, and I might through a little in the sausage, but I'd rather save that for venison used like ground beef.

For disc size, the recipe will usually give you a hole diameter. For Italian sausage, I like a bigger diameter, like 3/16" or 1/4". Sometimes a recipe will specify a bigger hole size for the fat, but at around 3/16" or 1/4", I don't think it matters. If you use your grinder to stuff, once everything is mixed, they usually give you a flat "peace sign" blade that just helps move the sausage mix along, rather that grind it. Or do like you did with the largest hole plate you have. 

(more coming in next post)

 

 

[goosifer]

For the dry sausage you have, here are some ideas on what to do with it:

1. brown it and add to pasta sauce

2. cook it confit method (poached in pure pork fat) see link

3. make chili with it

For figuring out fat ratios, I made a little spreadsheet I use. It's useful to tweak the mix based on what you have on hand. The target fat ratio doesn't move all that much. I don't know how to upload a spreadsheet, but here is a screenshot of a sample sausage mix for now. Inputs are in blue text in the # column

		Item Contains		Item Contains
item	#	%meat	%fat	#meat	#fat	%ofTotal
venison	2.5	100%	0%	2.5	-	50%
pork fat	1.0	0%	100%	-	1.0	20%
beef fat	-	0%	100%	-	-	0%
pork shoulder	1.5	80%	20%	1.2	0.3	30%
Total	5.0		26.0%	3.7	1.3	100%

 

Here is a link to the spreadsheet: venison sausage fat % calculator

Edited January 14, 2018 by goosifer

[crappyice]

For the dry sausage you have, here are some recommendations on what to do with it:
1.

The anticipation is killing me...

Thanks for the above info- the venison burgers I made were the right consistency and juiciness(ground mostly with fat and trimming). Clearly that’s the key


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[Robhuntandfish]

2 hours ago, crappyice said:

The anticipation is killing me...

Thanks for the above info- the venison burgers I made were the right consistency and juiciness(ground mostly with fat and trimming). Clearly that’s the key


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The best thing I have found for a burger mix is 10 lbs of ground venison and a 3 lb pack of bacon ends and pieces ground up. Comes out great

[NYBowhunter]

When making my hot dogs, dry sausage, sausage, burgers and meat balls i almost always try to shoot for a 50/50 ratio of venison and fatty pork. This has proven to provide a moist product. I have even done a 60/40 mix with pork being 60 when making sausage and that provides for an even juicer product. 

[crappyice]

When making my hot dogs, dry sausage, sausage, burgers and meat balls i almost always try to shoot for a 50/50 ratio of venison and fatty pork. This has proven to provide a moist product. I have even done a 60/40 mix with pork being 60 when making sausage and that provides for an even juicer product. 

I then start to worry if it can still be classified venison sausage? Does it keep the venison flavor or is it lost in the pork?


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[goosifer]

Well, maybe go 51/49 in case a sausage inspector comes by. Give a couple of different venison/pork/pork fat recipes a try till you find the one you like the most. It's like how some guys like to make a burger with 100% venison. Not for me, but if they like it that way, great.

[crappyice]

Well, maybe go 51/49 in case a sausage inspector comes by. Give a couple of different venison/pork/pork fat recipes a try till you find the one you like the most. It's like how some guys like to make a burger with 100% venison. Not for me, but if they like it that way, great.

Ha. I just don’t want to lose the venison flavor. I also hate experimenting with venison- so many friends and colleagues have come to like all the stuff I make that I seem to run through it quickly- bad batches make me angry!!!


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[crappyice]

Giving it another go today- 21/2lbs of venison..2lbs pork fat.

Going to grind, mix and season now and stuff tomorrow - this CANT be dry!!!

 

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[Robhuntandfish]

That's a lot of fat.  Would go that percentage of ground pork but not fat alone.  

If you grill that it's gonna be flame on. Lol

[crappyice]

Yeah I only used a little more than half after I saw it all ground up


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[crappyice]

Epic fail number two it seems.



So I ground and spiced the mix last night. Figured I’d stuff today. Started and it seemed fine for about 3” of sausage and then started to change color-feel really gummy and look like liverwust.
Only thing I can figure is the meat was too warm - I stopped and put the rest in the freezer and will try again at halftime. I fried up The goop I scooped from the auger the taste and texture seems pretty good.

Sucks


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[Robhuntandfish]

I've found that just regular ground pork works the best.  Good mix of fat and right texture.  60/40 venison to ground pork.  Less work too. 

Venison jalapeño brats

[tommyc50]

46 minutes ago, crappyice said:

Epic fail number two it seems.



So I ground and spiced the mix last night. Figured I’d stuff today. Started and it seemed fine for about 3” of sausage and then started to change color-feel really gummy and look like liverwust.
Only thing I can figure is the meat was too warm - I stopped and put the rest in the freezer and will try again at halftime. I fried up The goop I scooped from the auger the taste and texture seems pretty good.

Sucks


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yeah man dont get discourged this is a learning process.If you look @ my post you'll see the same with me but i take waht works and i like and dont bother with the rest. the most important thing is cold everything the grinder parts in the freezer. the bowls and the meat in the freezer for an hour and after you grind and mix the meat[ oh yeah another thing im going to try add the spices before i grind them and see if its better]. When you grind you create heat and like you said the meat becomes goo and stick to everthing. Also what size casing you using it looks like 38-42 mm i use 28-32 mm hog casing

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 1/14/2018 at 1:26 PM, NYBowhunter said:

When making my hot dogs, dry sausage, sausage, burgers and meat balls i almost always try to shoot for a 50/50 ratio of venison and fatty pork. This has proven to provide a moist product. I have even done a 60/40 mix with pork being 60 when making sausage and that provides for an even juicer product. 

would you share the hotdog recipe and process?