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Making sausage

I did the ice bath a few times too in the past. It got rid of the wrinkles but all the fat seemed to stay between the casing and meat causing the outside to look worse than if I would've just left it alone with wrinkles.

Haha, yeah I've seen that too!
 
Question for you culinary/sausage experts ...

Got the metal Kitchen-aid grinder/stuffer and made my first batch of sausage from a recipe I found in MeatEater using some of the grind pile from the deer I had just shot and hung and some pork fat. It was edible. Way too much spice/seasoning which was undoubtedly a math issue when I tripled the recipe. So I wanted to try to make some more sausage but all I have now is frozen.

Can I thaw my frozen venison to make sausage and then re-freeze the sausage I make? I would be making raw sausage like breakfast sausage or Italian sausage. I don't have a smoker. Yet. (Another big-ticket purchase I had never considered until now. I blame on y'all.)
 
Question for you culinary/sausage experts ...

Got the metal Kitchen-aid grinder/stuffer and made my first batch of sausage from a recipe I found in MeatEater using some of the grind pile from the deer I had just shot and hung and some pork fat. It was edible. Way too much spice/seasoning which was undoubtedly a math issue when I tripled the recipe. So I wanted to try to make some more sausage but all I have now is frozen.

Can I thaw my frozen venison to make sausage and then re-freeze the sausage I make? I would be making raw sausage like breakfast sausage or Italian sausage. I don't have a smoker. Yet. (Another big-ticket purchase I had never considered until now. I blame on y'all.)

Yep, I typically freeze all of my scraps until the end of the season and then I thaw them grind all of them into burger at once and then refreeze them.

I used to be hesitant to do that until I heard Steve Rinella talk about how often he freezes/thaws, then refreezes meat and has never had a problem.

Edit: I also highly recommend this recipe. Double the cayenne and red pepper if you like it spicy.

 
Question for you culinary/sausage experts ...

Got the metal Kitchen-aid grinder/stuffer and made my first batch of sausage from a recipe I found in MeatEater using some of the grind pile from the deer I had just shot and hung and some pork fat. It was edible. Way too much spice/seasoning which was undoubtedly a math issue when I tripled the recipe. So I wanted to try to make some more sausage but all I have now is frozen.

Can I thaw my frozen venison to make sausage and then re-freeze the sausage I make? I would be making raw sausage like breakfast sausage or Italian sausage. I don't have a smoker. Yet. (Another big-ticket purchase I had never considered until now. I blame on y'all.)

A lot of people will have a different opinion here, but imo, absolutely. I have thawed meat before and then refroze it. I have always heard about hot it is a big no no, but I haven't experienced any adverse effects yet. Now, I try not to make a practice of it, but I have done it more than a couple times.

As far as wanting to try to find the right flavor, i would recommend trying it in smaller batches and seasoning it to taste. I find that most packages are pretty spot on for their seasonings, so I would do a 1 point mixture and see exactly what the flavor is like and then multiply everything times however many pounds of sausage you're making. I don't know that I have ever felt the need to double the amount of seasoning, but I have done it a bag and a half of seasoning instead of just the single..
 
Yep, I typically freeze all of my scraps until the end of the season and then I thaw them grind all of them into burger at once and then refreeze them.

I used to be hesitant to do that until I heard Steve Rinella talk about how often he freezes/thaws, then refreezes meat and has never had a problem.

Edit: I also highly recommend this recipe. Double the cayenne and red pepper if you like it spicy.


Thanks. This recipe is very similar to the one I made. The flavors are good, just overpowering.
@GCTerpfan I will cook up a small bit to taste from now on. I remember saying to my wife that I wish there was a way to taste before getting to far into the process. Being a numbskull, I made patties and links and vacuum sealed them all up and then tried one.
 
I always bone my deer out when I get them and freeze the meat till after season, been doing it along time. Killed 7 hogs Wednesday night, bone them out tonight and make 1,000 + lbs of summer sausage tomorrow along with a few hundred lbs of pork sausage and cook the heads & bones for a batch of blood sausage. Been doing for as long as I can remember with my dad, uncle and freinds, the older guys have since passed but we have a good group to keep the tradition rolling on. The smoke house will be going by mid afternoon then it's busch lite & BS time.
 
Knocked out the last of my deer meat I had set aside for sausage. Made almost 100#s today. Jalapeño and cheese sausage, Bacon Cheeseburger sausage, jalapeño bacon cheeseburger patty meat, and breakfast sausage patty meat.

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Awesome! I have been making sausage for a long time but switched to summer sausage about 6 years ago and developed a recipe my whole family loves so I have stuck to that the last 2 years without change. You have done a lot of work but will have a lot to enjoy! Keep hunting!
 
Just stumbled across this thread, wish I had earlier because sausage making is my jam!

First thing I want to say is hank Shaw’s book buck buck moose has some excellent sausage recipes in it. If any of you guys have that book and have made the bangers you know whats up, I made a batch of those this year in casings and just made another batch in patty form which I like better than links.

Also just a heads up, any of you Appalachian types that kill deer and dig leeks, breakfast sausage with leeks, or ramps as some of you southern boys like to call them, are fire. If you don’t know about leeks, you do now, I’m not talking about the big honking things in the grocery store, I’m talking about the bulbs of fire, aka the finest of all wild foods, aka allium tricoccum, aka spring time tonic, that you can find in the woods sprouting in the spring.

sausage maker for life!
 
For y’all sausage experts:

What makes the casing wrinkle like this

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It was doing great until the last couple minutes on the grill. Still tasted great. Just cosmetic.
To me that's how its supposed to look when its cooked right!! But I'm only an expert at eating it, not making it.
 
Just stumbled across this thread, wish I had earlier because sausage making is my jam!

First thing I want to say is hank Shaw’s book buck buck moose has some excellent sausage recipes in it. If any of you guys have that book and have made the bangers you know whats up, I made a batch of those this year in casings and just made another batch in patty form which I like better than links.

Also just a heads up, any of you Appalachian types that kill deer and dig leeks, breakfast sausage with leeks, or ramps as some of you southern boys like to call them, are fire. If you don’t know about leeks, you do now, I’m not talking about the big honking things in the grocery store, I’m talking about the bulbs of fire, aka the finest of all wild foods, aka allium tricoccum, aka spring time tonic, that you can find in the woods sprouting in the spring.

sausage maker for life!
Found a whole bunch of leaks last spring scouting on public... literally everywhere in a hardwood swale. Was able to show my daughters what leaks were for the first time. My dad and I used to collect them and cowslips every spring. Love leak soup with venison sausage. Never ever had it in the sausage before but that sounds delicious!!! I was reading in the NYS Conservationist that typically when you find areas with leaks they were most likely first nation garden locations..... pretty cool to think we are eating from the same legacy of planted leaks the natives planted since whenever.
 
Never ever had it in the sausage before but that sounds delicious!!! I was reading in the NYS Conservationist that typically when you find areas with leaks they were most likely first nation garden locations..... pretty cool to think we are eating from the same legacy of planted leaks the natives planted since whenever.

leek sausage is a life changing experience.

That is very interesting info, I have never heard that before, thanks for sharing!
 
Question for you culinary/sausage experts ...

Got the metal Kitchen-aid grinder/stuffer and made my first batch of sausage from a recipe I found in MeatEater using some of the grind pile from the deer I had just shot and hung and some pork fat. It was edible. Way too much spice/seasoning which was undoubtedly a math issue when I tripled the recipe. So I wanted to try to make some more sausage but all I have now is frozen.

Can I thaw my frozen venison to make sausage and then re-freeze the sausage I make? I would be making raw sausage like breakfast sausage or Italian sausage. I don't have a smoker. Yet. (Another big-ticket purchase I had never considered until now. I blame on y'all.)

Yes. I always freeze all my meat, the at the end of the year, I thaw and make sausage, then refreeze.
 
leek sausage is a life changing experience.

That is very interesting info, I have never heard that before, thanks for sharing!
You got a recipe or amount of leeks you add to say 5# of sausage? I want to pick some leeks this spring for next winters sausage...
 
Yes. I always freeze all my meat, the at the end of the year, I thaw and make sausage, then refreeze.
Literally about to have a freak out because I can’t find my grinder and I have meat that’s about to have been in the cooler long enough.
 
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You got a recipe or amount of leeks you add to say 5# of sausage? I want to pick some leeks this spring for next winters sausage...

4 lbs of Venison
1 lbs of pork fat
1 TBS Crushed Red Pepper Flakes(go easy)
TBS Kosher Salt
1 TBS Sage
1 TSP Cayenne Pepper ( go easy)
3 TBS of Medium Ground Black Pepper
1 TBS Granulated or Powdered Garlic
1 Cup Ice Water
1 cup or so of chopped leeks, bulb and leaf

this is a rough guide I use. Any breakfast sausage recipe would probably do but this is what I base mine off of. I kind of tend to guesstimate with the leeks. Fry and try a little as you go is what I recommend. I like a 25% fat ratio for my sausage. I usually like patties for breakfast sausage, last year I tried links with leeks in them and the were not nearly as good.

I will freeze some whole muscle groups, wait till spring for leeks, make sausage, and re freeze. I’ve tried freezing leeks and it never seems to go well, so I freeze deer parts to make sausage with fresh leeks.
Hope this helps.
 
4 lbs of Venison
1 lbs of pork fat
1 TBS Crushed Red Pepper Flakes(go easy)
TBS Kosher Salt
1 TBS Sage
1 TSP Cayenne Pepper ( go easy)
3 TBS of Medium Ground Black Pepper
1 TBS Granulated or Powdered Garlic
1 Cup Ice Water
1 cup or so of chopped leeks, bulb and leaf

this is a rough guide I use. Any breakfast sausage recipe would probably do but this is what I base mine off of. I kind of tend to guesstimate with the leeks. Fry and try a little as you go is what I recommend. I like a 25% fat ratio for my sausage. I usually like patties for breakfast sausage, last year I tried links with leeks in them and the were not nearly as good.

I will freeze some whole muscle groups, wait till spring for leeks, make sausage, and re freeze. I’ve tried freezing leeks and it never seems to go well, so I freeze deer parts to make sausage with fresh leeks.
Hope this helps.
I was thinking of saving some until the leeks are ready. Great tip,thank you.
 
My dad and I made almost 100lbs of meat yesterday. The women did help pack bags and clean. We did a million brats, a bunch hamburgers with his new patty maker (which was slick), and the rest we ground with beef fat. I’m sore from the hand crank stuffer but other than that I’m happy with a full freezer. Next year my boys will be helping out for sure.
 
Forgot to mention, if any of you leek diggers make snack sticks out of a jerky shooter/meat caulking gun, a handful of chopped up leeks goes great mixed in with your favorite recipe.
 
I have not read all the replies on this thread so I do not know if anyone has put a lazy mans sausage recipe on it.

I like a mild heat sausage so I take one pound of cheap store bought pork fatty HOT sausage and mix it with two pounds of ground deer meat. Outcome, three pounds of mild lazy mans sausage.
 
Made the annual batch yesterday. Had a couple friends come help and make theirs. 13 hours yesterday and 3 more today because we ran out of casing and had to make a run this morning. Think we made about 250 -300 lbs of link and breakfast patty sausage. Glad that’s over! Time to enjoy.
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