Sausage suggestions

Hello! So, I’ve recently finished processing 2 deer and plan to make some potato sausage and italian sausage with some of it. Normally (according to my dad and others in the community that I talk to) people cut venison with pork so it isn’t so dry and lean. My dad likes 50/50 but after tasting a co-workers sausage made at 70/30, I’d much prefer less pork and more venison.

Problem is, I dont have pork and the only good quality (small farm/humanely raised) pork I can find is at least $7/lb. Im not saying that’s overpriced because I dont raise hogs and have no concept. But I am saying I dont want to go broke over sausage…and I also dont want to go the “normal” route and just buy a commercial pork shoulder from walmart or whatever. That’s too sad for me. Id almost rather go broke buying quality pork than be sad eating normal pork.

My dad bought a half hog from a local farmer and got a bunch of fat with it. Does anyone have experience or opinions cutting venison with straight pork fat instead of ground pork? Or do any of you have suggestions on some other fatty cut of beef that I could use instead of pork?

I do have the deer fat saved but I doubt that’s something that would be enjoyable to eat in sausage. I saved that with the chickens in mind.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Maybe try a small batch with just venison and see if you like it? Everyone I know uses about as much (or more!) pork than deer. To me, that always seemed to defeat the purpose of making it from deer. I make it from straight deer and sometimes add a little lard or coconut oil and I like it just fine. If a person wants to make something like breakfast sausage, and wants it to resemble pork sausage, then I guess adding pork would make sense. My palate considers venison the superior meat, though. I believe a lot of people's issues with venison stems from the fact that they want it to be something else. To turn it into something else, the more of that something else added the better, I guess.

Can you buy ground pork at a reasonable price?

If I were making venison sausage that is what I would use if I didn't have pork fat.

I save my scrap pork fat in the freezer during the year to have it available during deer season.

Jordan Holland wrote:Maybe try a small batch with just venison and see if you like it? Everyone I know uses about as much (or more!) pork than deer. To me, that always seemed to defeat the purpose of making it from deer. I make it from straight deer and sometimes add a little lard or coconut oil and I like it just fine. If a person wants to make something like breakfast sausage, and wants it to resemble pork sausage, then I guess adding pork would make sense. My palate considers venison the superior meat, though. I believe a lot of people's issues with venison stems from the fact that they want it to be something else. To turn it into something else, the more of that something else added the better, I guess.

I’ve got no issues with the taste of venison. But its too lean to hold together well as a burger and a dry, crumbly sausage just isn’t as satisfying as something with a little moisture and fat to it, in my opinion. If it were me alone, I’d probably be asking way fewer questions and be more experimental because I’m easy to please. But I’m married and also trying to split some of this with my dad. And my wife and dad are a little less easy to please when it comes to food.

Anne Miller wrote:Can you buy ground pork at a reasonable price?

If I were making venison sausage that is what I would use if I didn't have pork fat.

I save my scrap pork fat in the freezer during the year to have it available during deer season.

I can buy “normal” pork at the store for whatever it “normally” costs, but I dont want to eat that. I can buy locally and humanely raised ground pork for $7/lb but I dont want to go broke over sausage. But my dad already has pork fat from a quality pig so I’d like to use that since we already have access to it.

Do you have feral hogs where you live?

Any fatty meat will do, so use what you can get hold of, at this time of year duck is cheap here so I would use that, but any fatty animal will do. I think I would ask around if anyone has some extra un renderd fat you can buy, the source animal isn't to important.

I like using the straight venison as sausage although it can be a bit crumbly.  I sauté with some bacon grease and veg and scramble with eggs.  I can get away with using less meat and have it more dispersed throughout the dish.

For us it also works well in an Italian sauce where the crumble factor is a plus.

YES - use the pork fat! It will take some experimentation for you as far as what ratio to venison you end up preferring, and maybe it won't like the grinder in the same way as the pork meat itself. But it's well worth it.

Anne Miller wrote:Do you have feral hogs where you live?

I almost said “i wish” but quickly stopped myself haha…

No we dont, but if we did that would certainly be my pork of choice. There might be some in southern Wisconsin but thats just me guessing.

Skandi Rogers wrote:Any fatty meat will do, so use what you can get hold of, at this time of year duck is cheap here so I would use that, but any fatty animal will do. I think I would ask around if anyone has some extra un renderd fat you can buy, the source animal isn't to important.

I just posted in Facebook looking for local sources of pork fat. The only farms around here that sell directly to customers cant sell unrendered fat for some reason. I need to find someone who raises hogs but doesn’t sell directly to people and they will probably have some and not have any hesitation to sell or trade it.

Dustin Rhodes wrote:YES - use the pork fat! It will take some experimentation for you as far as what ratio to venison you end up preferring, and maybe it won't like the grinder in the same way as the pork meat itself. But it's well worth it.

Im hoping for a 70/30 mix. And someone told me to put the grinder head in the freezer and make sure the fat is half froze or it will be a mess.

My dad, taught by his, who was taught by his... and, I'm pretty sure my uncle and at least 2 of my cousins use(d) straight pork or beef fat in theirs. The bonus of using just the fat is that much less is needed. That makes the pork go further, and the venison flavor is more pronounced. The beef fat usually has a stronger flavor than the pork fat. Percentages would depend on what you're looking for. Hard salami will be different than Italian sausage, and both would be different from burgers or meatloaf. Personally, I think it would be great to play with your food, and experiment!

Deer fat, imho, it's not tasty, lol. I give it to the critters (dogs, chickens, ducks, & turkeys), as a small addition to their feed, in winter, when they need the extra calories.

Carla Burke wrote:My dad, taught by his, who was taught by his... and, I'm pretty sure my uncle and at least 2 of my cousins use(d) straight pork or beef fat in theirs. The bonus of using just the fat is that much less is needed. That makes the pork go further, and the venison flavor is more pronounced. The beef fat usually has a stronger flavor than the pork fat. Percentages would depend on what you're looking for. Hard salami will be different than Italian sausage, and both would be different from burgers or meatloaf. Personally, I think it would be great to play with your food, and experiment!

Deer fat, imho, it's not tasty, lol. I give it to the critters (dogs, chickens, ducks, & turkeys), as a small addition to their feed, in winter, when they need the extra calories.

Im thinking that for potato sausage and Italian sausage that 70-80% venison to 20-30% pork fat should work out fine. If I make any “fresh” sausage I might do 30% fat or more. My dad likes 50/50 venison to ground pork shoulder. But since this is straight fat that will be a different ratio. Plus, I’d prefer heavy on the venison instead of heavy on pork/fat.

I’ve always heard that deer far isn’t tasty, but I hear people say all kinds of crazy stuff that I disagree with. I’ve never cooked with or even really eaten deer fat though, so I dont know. The most I’ve eaten has been the couple times I’ve cooked deer ribs. And the taste wasn’t a problem for me or my wife, the problem was the greasy, persistent texture of the fat once it cools down to room temperature. You really have to eat the ribs fast or keep them warm in the oven to avoid the fat thickening up.

I saved most of the deer fat from the 2 does I shot to give to the chickens throughout winter. I give them a chunk on the evenings before a cold (single digits or below) night and they go at it like piranhas.

"And the taste wasn’t a problem for me or my wife, the problem was the greasy, persistent texture of the fat once it cools down to room temperature."

That, exactly, is why I'm not a fan. It leaves a heavy, waxy coating in the mouth, that I just can't abide.

I don't hunt, no need, I have pigs. I do give lots of my pork to people. Loads of people around these parts use straight fat. Since my pigs are also straight fat it works out well. I must admit I give it away for free. When you have as many obese pigs as I do you just need freezer space. :P You know who I give it away to, people I know. So make some connections!

If you don't have access to local pork fat, maybe making an emulsified sausage that uses cream would work. To my mind, the bottom line is that venison needs a tasty fat for an intact sausage, cream could be your answer. I agree with others that if you want bulk sausage (not in a casing) you can add the fat separately. I'm regularly given ground venison, elk, bear by local hunters. I either mix it with ground pork (high fat) or when I'm frying it up I add fat, usually my sage and brown butter compound butter but that's just my preference. Honest-food.net has a lot of good game recipes. Best luck.

Without any Pork is doable and very tasty.

Making Venison or Deer corned Beef (Vension).

Easy to make just needs a bit time to cure.

1/2 gallon water
1/2 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 ounce Instacure No. 1 (sodium nitrite)
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds
6 bay leaves, crushed
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 cinnamon stick
5 chopped garlic cloves
3 to 5 pound venison roast

Boil it tender in the brine and let it soak for at least 4-5 days (or longer depending on the size of the ham)

Otherwise the German style Game Bratwurst (Brats)
(30 - 70 Pork Belly - Venison I recommend.)
(As kids we had to drive the Game out of the forest and after a day of hunting the kids got their share,
Mostly the Hare with most pellets under the skin or the deer with splintered bone fractions all over the body)

300-700 Grams Pork belly and Vension
1-2 Garlic
1 Onion
18 grs kosher salt
4 grs Pepper
4 grs allspice
1.5 grs Majoram
0.5 grs Nutmec
0.25 grs Rosemary
1 Tbsp Mustard Seeds
1 Tbsp Paprika
2 Juniper Berries dry
1 Egg
50 ml Red Wine

Mince, Mix and fill into a Lamb casing.

I loved the Bratwurst on a BBQ or just pan fried..

elle sagenev wrote:I don't hunt, no need, I have pigs. I do give lots of my pork to people. Loads of people around these parts use straight fat. Since my pigs are also straight fat it works out well. I must admit I give it away for free. When you have as many obese pigs as I do you just need freezer space. :P You know who I give it away to, people I know. So make some connections!

That’s exactly what I did. A local couple gave me a bunch of fat from the hogs they raised for themselves. They gave it to me for free and I’ll bring them some sausage once we’re done. Just what I was hoping for!

Just posting a little update:

So, we made a 15 lb batch of Italian sausage and it turned out fantastic. Heres the recipe, and just my disclaimer: all of these measurements are approximate. Im not too picky with careful measurements.

75% venison and 25% pork fat
3T sea salt
3T fresh ground black pepper
1T crushed red pepper
4T fresh coarse ground fennel seed
3T garlic powder. Wish I would have used minced
3T oregano
3T leek leaf powder
2T rosemary
1T thyme
1T basil
1T sage

We ground the meat and fat, added seasonings, mixed by hand and re-ground it again.

I had about about 2 cups of giant puffball mushroom powder rehydrating in 3 cups of cold water. We dumped that in while mixing everything right before stuffing the casings.

The finished product is fantastic! The only changes I’d make next time is minced instead of powdered garlic. And we should have stuffed a little less tight. We had several blowouts.

No need to add any grease to the pan before cooking as the 25% pork fat is plenty. We haven’t grilled any links yet and I’m curious if the fat will be perfect or a fiery flaming mess on the grill!

Ps: Merry Christmas!

Hi Brody,  Expect fire. When the casing drips a quick flair, a casing split can cause a flaming mess, but sometimes the char adds flavor. Being quick witih the tongs can make brown sausge, and I always have a squirt bottle handy for those blowouts.

Made Kielbasa today for dinner.

Merry Christmas and Blessings all year long everyone.