As avid outdoors people, we know the value of harvesting, preparing and enjoying the fruits of our passion. Whether we hunt big game, small game, fish or raise our own food, we all have this in common. For hunters, there is nothing like harvesting a deer, butchering it and making high quality and healthy food out of it. One tradition many hunting families have passed down is making venison sausage. This can be a fairly straightforward process that can be done with great success by anyone. The best part is you can create your version of venison sausage the way you like it. The recipes are endless, and experimenting by making your own changes only make it better.
We would like to share some basics of venison sausage making. If this will be your first batch or if you have been making it for years, we hope you will learn something.
Basic Equipment Needed:
Large mixing bowl
Meat grinder (hand crank or electric)
Grinder accessories: Stainless steel grinder plate (determines the consistency of the meat – fine or course)
Stainless steel cutting blade
Stuffing tube (sausage casings go over the tube, as the sausage is pushed through the tube with the casing over the meat.
Ingredients:
Venison
Pork Shoulder (pork Butt)
Sausage casings
Spices (salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, fennel, anise seed, fresh parsley)
Red wine (something you like to drink) or a full-bodied beer such as scotch ale
Strong/flavorful cheese (provolone)
The General Process
Cube all the pork and venison to a uniform size and chill.
If using hog or sheep casings packed in salt, rinse and soak in clean, cold water – soak for at least an hour then rinse.
Keep it cold! All the equipment that touches the meat should be cold (keep it in the refrigerator or freezer if possible or put ice on the metal and chill it down.
Mix all spices together in a bowl.
Use fresh parsley whenever possible.
In a large mixing bowl, add the chilled meat, spices, wine or beer and ice cubes.
Run everything through the grinder.
Make a sausage patty and fry it up. If it needs anything, make your final additions now.
Place the casings on the sausage tube.
Run the sausage through the grinder a second time and into the casings.
That is a basic overview. We will be creating a video soon to demonstrate start to finish.
Thanks for stopping by.
