SAUSAGE!?

[GRIFF-POINT]

So i bought a stuffer,  grinder, and have a lot of venison. I want to try my hand at making sausage and snack Stix for the 1st time! I'm sure it been a topic here more than once but anyone have a good sausage recipe they are willing to share? Really hate to put all time and money into to have it dry of suck! Thanks!

[Bolt Action]

my family loves it when i make sweet italian. When I stuff it into links, the texture isn't ideal. I haven't quite perfected that part yet, so i just leave it as patties. regarding how much seasoning to use, i always just eyeball it. if you're unsure how much to use, start conservative and then try a  test patty. if it's good, you're all set. otherwise add more as needed until you have a flavor you like. as for the merlot, i usually use between a quarter and a half bottle per 5 or 6 pounds of sausage.

50/50 mix of well-trimmed venison and pork

salt, pepper

fresh parsley

parmesan cheese

merlot

fennel seeds

[Bucksnbows]

There are lots of kits I would suggest you start with. LEM Products is one good company that does this and there are others of course. 

[Bucksnbows]

1 minute ago, Bolt Action said:

my family loves it when i make sweet italian. When I stuff it into links, the texture isn't ideal. I haven't quite perfected that part yet, so i just leave it as patties. regarding how much seasoning to use, i always just eyeball it. if you're unsure how much to use, start conservative and then try a  test patty. if it's good, you're all set. otherwise add more as needed until you have a flavor you like. as for the merlot, i usually use between a quarter and a half bottle per 5 or 6 pounds of sausage.

50/50 mix of well-trimmed venison and pork

salt, pepper

fresh parsley

parmesan cheese

merlot

fennel seeds

Too coarse or too fine?  Some sausages taste better with a coarse grind and others with a finer grind. Your grinder should have two plates, one with larger holes and the other with smaller holes. I will typically rough grind my venison and then mix it with ground pork and my seasonings and then run that mixture through the finer grind before stuffing my casings. 

[Bolt Action]

13 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

Too coarse or too fine?  Some sausages taste better with a coarse grind and others with a finer grind. Your grinder should have two plates, one with larger holes and the other with smaller holes. I will typically rough grind my venison and then mix it with ground pork and my seasonings and then run that mixture through the finer grind before stuffing my casings. 

I've only tried single course grind so far. I'll usually cube and combine the meats, add seasoning, then course grind. When i've loaded into casings, i'd use the non grinding plate. i'm not sure what that one's called but it's plastic and allows the already ground meat to pass through. When i've done this, the flavor was good, but they came out dry... i've seen videos where guys will add milk powder or ice, etc to the mix before the second grind. i haven't tried these yet, but plan to at some point. maybe if i get another deer and have some meat to experiment with.

[GRIFF-POINT]

Awsome!

[GRIFF-POINT]

What is it that gives it the. Italian sausage flavor? The fennel

[Belo]

i've found most of the recipes that come on the back of a LEM package are good starting points. Just some things I've learned in no particular order.

Snack sticks seem to be harder than other types of sausage. I think it's the slimmer casing and maybe getting the time/temp right

Most successful I've been has been with breakfast and summer

Go heavier with fat. I think 50/50 is best, but this is controversial haha

some great videos out there with good tips on how to twist your links, this took me some practice and more than my fair share of blow outs. Pick a day when you're not going to be easily frustrated lol.

I also have done my grind during deer processing and then froze, thaw and mix seasoning and then stuff sometime in the spring and no real adverse issues and it makes for less work during hunting season and when you get a quiet day late winter/early spring.

[Moho81]

46 minutes ago, Bolt Action said:

I've only tried single course grind so far. I'll usually cube and combine the meats, add seasoning, then course grind. When i've loaded into casings, i'd use the non grinding plate. i'm not sure what that one's called but it's plastic and allows the already ground meat to pass through. When i've done this, the flavor was good, but they came out dry... i've seen videos where guys will add milk powder or ice, etc to the mix before the second grind. i haven't tried these yet, but plan to at some point. maybe if i get another deer and have some meat to experiment with.

Grind twice it will made a big difference in texture and is probably the only thing you are missing. 1. grind venison and pork. 2. combine and mix will all ingredients. 3. run it through the grinder again. 4. stuff into casing

 

Dry is usually lack of fat. Not only do you want to use pork but you also want a fatty cut of pork. 

[Bolt Action]

I'll give it a go with second grind and see how it comes out. Typically I'll grab a pork shoulder or butt and just cut chunks from that to combine with the venison. 

@GRIFF-POINT there are plenty of YT videos out there about this. A few years back I watched a bunch of them and most were pretty good. The ingredients I listed were the consistent ones across multiple recipes. Some folks were adding garlic, others added paprika, some red pepper, etc... I just took the most consistent ingredients and ran with it. I do like to add a little garlic and smoked paprika to mine, but the wife can't handle any heat.

Here are a few of the videos that i've referred to when i was starting out: ( i tried to post just the links without the giant windows...)

 

 

 

[Chef]

11 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

There are lots of kits I would suggest you start with. LEM Products is one good company that does this and there are others of course. 

Agreed. The sausage maker out of Buffalo sells some good kits too 

[escpen]

I just picked up some seasoning mixes from Better Backstrap to try out (https://betterbackstrap.com/collections/sausage-seasonings). 
 

What do you guys use for casings?

[Chef]

46 minutes ago, escpen said:

I just picked up some seasoning mixes from Better Backstrap to try out (https://betterbackstrap.com/collections/sausage-seasonings). 
 

What do you guys use for casings?

Salted natural hog 

[Mattypotpie8s]

Like @Bolt Action said, make test patties along the way to get the seasoning how YOU like it. For the fat, find a a place that butchers their own stuff and they’ll save pork fat for you & it’s quite cheap. Suresave is where I get it.

[virgil]

I use pork belly that I buy at Costco. I use about 60% venison and 40% belly. 
The best advice is to make small test patties as you go. Adjust your seasoning as you go.