Smoked sausage and other things to do with deer.

[10-Ring]

I'm always looking for more ways to eat deer.  I'm blessed with good land to hunt and the land owner wants me to take out as many as possible as they are interfering with his farming.  I keep 3 families comprised of about 10 people fed throughout the year plus I give some meat away to other friends here and there.  Through the years I've learned what my family will and will not use, of course the backstrips and tenderloins, then we cut a few roasts from the hind quarters and pretty much grind the rest, we are always looking for new things to do with ground deer.  I sampled some smoked summer sausage last year and really liked it so I decided that I want to make some different kinds of sausages this year.  I want to make a cheddar jalapeno summer sausage, some Italian sausage and maybe some breakfast sausage.  That would be about 75 pounds.  I have a stuffer and have been looking at seasonings and casings at Gander Mountain.  I'm looking for tips on making sausage as I've never done it before.  I've read to add 20% pork fat.  Should I try to make it all at once?  Any other good ideas with what to do with deer meat? 

[Sidinman]

If you like summer sausage, I have a pretty good recipe.

Pretty simple and easy to make.

[CommsNBombs]

Vension jerky is really really good. Cut it down into long strips and smoke it. In college we would strip it and season it heavily then put it in a food dehydrator - Im sure actual smoking would make it SO much better.

Grinding it into hamburger meat is also another favorite, especially when you cut it with ground veal or fatback/bacon.

I want to get some to grind with some ground turkey - a little more lean, throw some hamburger helper in it for some sloppy joes

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[Handsome Rob]

I've never made summer sausage, but I make a ton of different links every year.
To start with, stay simple. Any store bought spice mix will be fine, although my preference is for the High Mountain seasonings. They're just right for the amount listed. A lot of spice blends are too strong & need to be cut back by around 1/3rd.
I generally use 25% pork fat in my mixes. Make sure to grind it along with your venison to ensure an even mix.
Last year I made up 20lb each of pork & sage, venison chorizo, venison apple & cranberry & spicy Italian. Smoked the chorizo cold for 6 hours too.

[Sidinman]

Summer Sausage:

 

2 lbs. ground venison

1/4 tbsp. of salt

1/2 tbsp. of black pepper

1/2 tbsp. of garlic powder

2 tbsp. of mortons tender quick (got to have this as it cures the meat & prevents spoilage or poisoning)

1 tbsp. of whole mustard seed

1 tbsp. of liquid smoke

3/4 cup of water

 

Mix all this up good & separate into 2 egual lumps, then rollinto sausage shapes.

Roll the rolls on course black pepper sprinkled onto wax paper.

Then roll the rolls up in tin foil & put in refrigerator for 24 hrs. to let the meat cure & seasoning set.

After 24 hrs. remove the tin foil & bake (or you can smoke) for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.at 350 degrees.

 

Let cool & roll in freezer paper, and tape shut.

Can be frozen for long term storage or just refrigerated & eaten at your leisure.

 

caution; do not let your hunting buddies have even a little bite, they will eat it all.

 

I've started adding some diced jalapeno's to mine of late, just for a little more spicey.

Edited November 3, 2015 by Sidinman

[bersaguy]

Last doe my grandson bagged for me, except for the back strips it was all made into hamburger. I can no longer do i myself some I have the Mennonites up in Kentucky do the burger and they add a touch of beef fat to keep it from being so dry and make it in 2 lb sticks. Great for chili or Hamburger helper or just about anything else you would use burger for. They also can make some killer Summer Sausage. Time before last I had them split up 1/2 burger and 1/2 Summer sausage. Great on Crackers or just sliced off and eaten. Their prices I find to be more than fair..............jmho

[cj0e]

Could also make some pemmican

[DWARREN123]

Jerky and sausage, ummm! Can't do any better in my opinion.

[Jamie Jackson]

I don't know if you pressure can or not, but venison is an excellent meat for such. You can take some of the less choice cuts, pressure can them (pints for 75 minutes ans quarts for 90 minutes iirc)...it will make the toughest cuts incredibly tender.

We enjoy the tenderloins and backstraps grilled of course and usually cook the roasts in a dutch oven, but canning the venison gives you some delicious and tender meat for various soups and stews.

Canning preserves the meat for several years, quite safely, as well.

We ate a quart jar of home canned smoked sausage (from 2010) earlier this week...canned with sliced jalapenos...very tasty! :up:

[Wiljo05]

If you pass by Nashville, stop by Butchers Supply. It's on 3rd avenue. They have the best summer sausage cure and seasoning I've found. The packets come sized for 25lbs of meat and less than a couple bucks. You can also get the sacks and anything else there as well for what I think is a good price.


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[10-Ring]

Summer Sausage:

 

2 lbs. ground venison

1/4 tbsp. of salt

1/2 tbsp. of black pepper

1/2 tbsp. of garlic powder

2 tbsp. of mortons tender quick (got to have this as it cures the meat & prevents spoilage or poisoning)

1 tbsp. of whole mustard seed

1 tbsp. of liquid smoke

3/4 cup of water

 

Mix all this up good & separate into 2 egual lumps, then rollinto sausage shapes.

Roll the rolls on course black pepper sprinkled onto wax paper.

Then roll the rolls up in tin foil & put in refrigerator for 24 hrs. to let the meat cure & seasoning set.

After 24 hrs. remove the tin foil & bake (or you can smoke) for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.at 350 degrees.

 

Let cool & roll in freezer paper, and tape shut.

Can be frozen for long term storage or just refrigerated & eaten at your leisure.

 

caution; do not let your hunting buddies have even a little bite, they will eat it all.

I've started adding some diced jalapeno's to mine of late, just for a little more spicey.

I'm going to give this a try I have two questions.

1)  Do you mix in any pork or other fat?

2)  It sounds like once you roll it up in the wax paper you leave it in the wax paper until it is consumed, is this correct?

[Sidinman]

Yes leave it in the wax paper.

 

As for the fat I never add any fat.

The ground I use is what I got straight from my processor.

I'm pretty sure he adds some when they grind it.

 

Last year I got some of the venison made into reg. sausage,

but we weren't all that crazy about it. 

So the last few times I've made this sausage I used one lb. of reg. ground, & one lb. of that sausage.

It seem to make little difference.

Hope that helps.

[tercel89]

Summer Sausage:

 

2 lbs. ground venison

1/4 tbsp. of salt

1/2 tbsp. of black pepper

1/2 tbsp. of garlic powder

2 tbsp. of mortons tender quick (got to have this as it cures the meat & prevents spoilage or poisoning)

1 tbsp. of whole mustard seed

1 tbsp. of liquid smoke

3/4 cup of water

 

Mix all this up good & separate into 2 egual lumps, then rollinto sausage shapes.

Roll the rolls on course black pepper sprinkled onto wax paper.

Then roll the rolls up in tin foil & put in refrigerator for 24 hrs. to let the meat cure & seasoning set.

After 24 hrs. remove the tin foil & bake (or you can smoke) for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.at 350 degrees.

 

Let cool & roll in freezer paper, and tape shut.

Can be frozen for long term storage or just refrigerated & eaten at your leisure.

 

caution; do not let your hunting buddies have even a little bite, they will eat it all.

 

I've started adding some diced jalapeno's to mine of late, just for a little more spicey.

 

 

 Hey on the recipe , do  you add any foreign fat to it at all ? Like pork or beef ?  If not then great . Just let me know and thanks for posting !

[tercel89]

I do all my own butchering and I eat almost everything except the organs. But this year I plan on keeping the heart and liver and cooking those. I cut up a lot of the deer into steak , stew meat , stir fry meat , and so on. The neck meat is like a big curtain of meat . I roll/cut it off the neck and slow cook it in the crock pot. I make stir fry meat from the shoulders in the front. This year I'm keeping a whole rear leg and freezing it and the in the Spring when the temp warms up I'll  slow cook on my open BBQ pit . My biggest thing is that I like keeping all my deer  meat pure and I never mix it with foreign meat fat from pork or beef. To me I enjoy it being pure since they are not filled with antibiotics and hormones like pork and beef are now days.

[10-Ring]

Whew boy!  Tonight I ground up the deer that I killed Saturday.  It yielded 19 pounds of meat minus the back straps.  Cubed ask of that up, ground it and added about 5 pounds of pork fat.  I was getting all of the ingredients together to put in the meat and realized that I didn't have enough garlic powder.  I'm pooped, gonna clean up the kitchen and head to bed and finish this project tomorrow.  I hope it's good because in making 25 pounds of it and I've spent about $60 on ingredients.

[leroy]

Ya might want to try corning some of the venison (...think corned beef recipe here...)... Some of the best venison i've ever tasted was corned... It's great because the venison is so naturally lean...

 

leroy

[deafdogdief]

Summer Sausage:

2 lbs. ground venison
1/4 tbsp. of salt
1/2 tbsp. of black pepper
1/2 tbsp. of garlic powder
2 tbsp. of mortons tender quick (got to have this as it cures the meat & prevents spoilage or poisoning)
1 tbsp. of whole mustard seed
1 tbsp. of liquid smoke
3/4 cup of water

Mix all this up good & separate into 2 egual lumps, then rollinto sausage shapes.
Roll the rolls on course black pepper sprinkled onto wax paper.
Then roll the rolls up in tin foil & put in refrigerator for 24 hrs. to let the meat cure & seasoning set.
After 24 hrs. remove the tin foil & bake (or you can smoke) for 1 to 1 1/2 hrs.at 350 degrees.

Let cool & roll in freezer paper, and tape shut.
Can be frozen for long term storage or just refrigerated & eaten at your leisure.

caution; do not let your hunting buddies have even a little bite, they will eat it all.

I've started adding some diced jalapeno's to mine of late, just for a little more spicey.

This is what I use! Funny to see it here. I don't use the liquid smoke. Instead I smoke it for several hours. It's really good and actually healthy.

[deafdogdief]

Hey on the recipe , do you add any foreign fat to it at all ? Like pork or beef ? If not then great . Just let me know and thanks for posting !

Nope. It's what I use and you don't need to.

[tercel89]

Nope. It's what I use and you don't need to.

 

Awesome ! Thanks for the information .

[tercel89]

Do you have to use that Mortons Tender Quick or can you use regular salt ? I am asking becuase it's gonna be sitting the refridgerator before it gets baked and afterwards too.  I'm just wondering .

[Omega]

Do you have to use that Mortons Tender Quick or can you use regular salt ? I am asking becuase it's gonna be sitting the refridgerator before it gets baked and afterwards too.  I'm just wondering .

Tender Quick is a mild cure and needed for any sausage to keep botulism at bay which regular salt does not.

[10-Ring]

Just wanted to do a quick update I made about 25 pounds of sausage using Sidinman's recipe.  I did change up a few things.  I used powdered mustard instead of mustard seeds and I added cheese and jalapenos.  I cooked the sausage in two batches the first at 350 for about an hour and 15 minutes.  I cooked the second batch at  300 for an hour and it was much better.  I will be using sausage casings in the future as the wax paper left a huge mess.  I love the sausage and have gotten nothing but compliments on it.

[CommsNBombs]

Just wanted to do a quick update I made about 25 pounds of sausage using Sidinman's recipe. I did change up a few things. I used powdered mustard instead of mustard seeds and I added cheese and jalapenos. I cooked the sausage in two batches the first at 350 for about an hour and 15 minutes. I cooked the second batch at 300 for an hour and it was much better. I will be using sausage casings in the future as the wax paper left a huge mess. I love the sausage and have gotten nothing but compliments on it.

I can attest to this! 10 Ring gave me some for my Mosin stock and it was amazing

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[gregintenn]

Where does one purchase the Morton's Tender Quick curing salt? My local grocer doesn't have it.

[Omega]

Where does one purchase the Morton's Tender Quick curing salt? My local grocer doesn't have it.

I had to order it, and had to get three bags which will probably last for years.