Sausage

[segsarge]

Anyone have a recipe for summer sausage from scratch? I've been using the mix packages from LEM. It makes a pretty good product but had to place another order with them because I let myself run out. Sent for summer sausage, brats and Italian. Wife scoffed at me for the Italian sausage mix (she's Italian and American Indian). Says there's some special method to making it and if you don't get it exactly right it's not fit to eat. I think it's the fact that I'm going to try using venison. Summer sausage is the only way she'll even try to eat deer meat.
Need to get a recipe for just mixing my own ingredient's and quit paying for the packets.

[bigjohn]

That LEM Italian sausage mix makes great Italian rabbit sausage, never tried it for dear.

[bigjohn]

I did corn a deer roast and it was excellent. Made for some awesome rubin sandwiches.

[krank]

I tried to make my own seasoning. It is simple with hog but not deer. I bought a package of seasoning on Amazon that does 25#. By golly it tastes perfect. Also broke down and bought hog fat.(cheap). Used natural casings.

[segsarge]

Been using the collagen casings. Can't seem to get the hang of natural casings, they always seem to split.

[krank]

I have developed a list of what not to do more than what to do.
We played with casings and found the naturals do split IF you feed them too fast. That was a problem with using a snout on a meatgrinder to fill. Now we use a stuffer and control the rate we fill.
Collagens are fine and cheaper.
Seasoning has always been my downfall. It tastes good but it doesnt have a classic flavor. No two batches the same. To fix that we weigh and measure and follow the directions.
Fat will make or break you. All the sausage we make with no fat has a good flavor but a funky gritty texture. Some people buy pork butt on sale for 99 cents. I have had some luck with bacon and bacon grease. Finally found a butcher that saves me pork trim. He charges me a token fee.
Smoking? You are on your own there. Some make big salalmi logs and smoke them before freezing. We make the 1 1/2 stuff and figure it needs to be grilled before eating. I suppose a guy could smoke them but that would be a constant vigil. I am old school and dont have a fancy remote control rig.
Jerky? Glad you asked. I have finally mastered jerky. I take a chunk of meat and a fillet knife and cut perfect slices. Nothing but perfect slices and rejects get ground.
I throw the slices straight in the smoker with no seasoning. By the time I am done slicing the stuff in the smoker is getting dry. At that point I throw it all in a mixing bowl. I add one bottle of soy and one whictishire and one Louisiana hot. The jerky soaks it up in 15 minutes. Then I slap it on the dehydrator.
Marinading that red bloody meat doesnt work worth a damn. Two days of that and you have a tiny bit of absorbtion. My backwards method soaks it all up.
Finally, we take all the grind and put it in a bowl with storebought jerky seasoning. Run it through a jerky shooter and put it in the dehydrator. Smoke it later if you want.
40 years ago, I got the idea of smashing a snout on a meat grinder to squeeze out a ribbon of ground meat. Squirt it out on a tray and keep the tray moving back and forth. Everybody thought that was cool and a few years later they made the jerky shooter. Not saying they stole my idea but....

[segsarge]

Was watching an episode of "Port Protection" on the Nat Geo channel the other evening. One of the guys on there made what he called "Old Timer Bacon." Looked pretty easy, he ground venison and pork then added seasoning forming into a rectangle pan. Let it sit overnight, then into the smoker. Not sure what he used for spices. After the smoking process it was cut into bacon sized slices. Then it could be frozen or possibly canned, although it could be eaten straight from the smoker. Think I'm going to have to try it.

[trapperw3]

i seen that it did look good i like that show

[bigjohn]

I think he uses a commercial bacon seasoning. There are several videos on you tube showing it.

[segsarge]

I checked on-line for the bacon seasoning kits. Most I saw were for making 25-pound batches which is what the guy on the show did. So, I suspect that's what he used too.

[krank]

I have made bacon from beef and deer. If you try to brown it too much it turns to jerky.
Hog bacon is pretty foolproof. Grandma used to lay sowbelly in a salt box in the smoke house. She didnt lay on the smoke just a mild amount that filled the air. Kept for monthes.
Beef and deer spoil real easy. Got to use nitrates and pink salt which are pretty knarley to stick in your mouth.
I made a ham out of a button buck hindquarter. Took the bone out and folded it back together rubbed with salt. Wrapped cotton string around it. Hung it in the smokehouse for a week in cold weather. Mild smoke everyday. All my friends liked it.

[segsarge]

Made a 25 pound batch of venison summer sausage a couple of days ago. Forgot to add the pork fat. Can't believe I left it out. Apparently, I screwed up on the mix ratio too. It has a good flavor but a salty aftertaste. Not my best work, but still better than the store-bought beef summer sausage.

[krank]

We skipped the fat last year and it was "mealy". Noticed any grit that you normally would not if fat was added. We ate it all.
I canned some beef this week. Had some roasts from the last locker beef(before recent one) to get rid of. Amazing how much meat fits in a pint jar. My intentions are having something to travel with that does not need refrigeration. One thing less in the cooler to have to watch over.
Boil a pot of veggies or beans or rice and dump in the jar and you got supper for two or three people.
I cook it first. One inch chunks in a pan with a cup of water and salt and pepper. Makes a rich broth to cover meat in jar. Needs to be pressure cooked in jar as they warn a cold pack might make food poisoning.
I used to do deer meat in french onion soup too. It never made it to the table. We just snacked on it straight out of the jar.