Hotspotoutdoors

I am looking into processing my own venison to make sausage, brats, italian sausage, etc. I know there are people here to do this and wanted to get inside info on what you use to accomplish your goal. Do you have home recipes (care to share) or do you use a sausage kit? Is it worth it? Is it time consuming? What do you use for mix (ground pork, fat)? Like I said I am a newbie when it comes to this so anything and everything would be helpful.

I have looked up some recipes but hope you veterans can share some insight on the process and share any tips and tricks.

Thanks

UNIT

If you do a search for this, you will find many posts that have talked about it.

I make all my own stuuf but I am fortunate to still use the equiptment at a store I used to work at. Things can be time consumeing but worth it.
You'll need at minumum a grinder or know someone with one. Most grinders also have a stuffing horn for putting the meat in a caseing. One tip for makeing anything into links - dont spin each link, you will only un-spin the previous one. Spin every other one, it works much better.
Lots of options for fat ratios. Im my opinion straight ground venison is no good.
For my burgers I add 1 pound of bacon to 5 pounds of venison when I grind it. Nice flavor and the right about of fat for a jucy burger but not real greasy...
For stuff like brats, sausage, kielbasi, summer sausage - I go 1:1 with pork butt. This still gives you a much healthier product than the original...
And for every day burger to be used in meatloaf, chili, stuffed pepper/cabbage, ect I use about a 15% ratio of beef fat. I save the good fat off a rib-eye for this. If you or your butcher cant get this then a 30-50 percent ratio of ground chuck turns out a nice product...

We have been making our own for over 25 years and it just takes time and practice. Is it worth it, yes, lots to learn, yes! If you make ring sausage or summer sausage you really can get by with a spice mixture from your local meat market or from a magazine such as The Sausage Maker. If you are making ring sausage you can mix venison/pork up to 50/50. Use real casings and smoke it low and slow, below 125 for 8 hours and then bring then internal temp over 160. It normal takes 10 to 12 hours total, then cool it down with steam to loosen the skin so the casing comes off nicely. Use any type of fruit wood or hard maple, red elm or even oak. Keep plenty of smoke and you are better off smoking it longer then getting it too hot to fast.

Good luck.

Dark Colud, I don't understand your saying not to spin every link. I do and they don't unravel. I spin em toward me and the next away from me all the way down the lenght of the hog casing. Anyway, everyone is right in saying that it is time and labor intensive but, well worth the effort. I've got an ol Kielbasa recipe that came with my grampa from Poland and was used in his meat market for decades along with a German style sausage. My brews require a mix one day, rest 24 hours, then stuff. I'm not one much for the store bought spice paks.

Paul - Your spinning each link but alternating directions. Or you could spin every other one the same direction, both work the same. Iv'e just seen people struggle by spinning each link the same way...
The place I make my stuff at has a great recipe for fresh unsmoked kielbasi. I make mine in links and call em k-dogs. Cook them in beer and sourkraut or peppers and onions then char them on the grill

A recipe is only a small part of the process.
As said, it takes time and practice.
I'll go throw some things I've learned that your recipe won't cover.

Italian Sausage, Brats, Polish, and Breakfast Sausage.
You'll use pork butts for that. Without going into a lot of details why, if you understand the different cuts of meat. Just believe that the type meat and fat plus ratio on the pork butt is what you want. Don't try and save time by buying bulk ground pork.
Lucky for us, pork butts go in sale right around deer season.
.89-$1 per lb is what you should be paying. If your store doesn't have any deals ask the butcher to order you some.

Trim.
is pretty simple for venison. Trim the fat, connective, and silver tissue off.

Pork, yes you want the fat, there is a loose stringy fat that you don't want. There is also a fluke in every butt that you'll want to get out. After you've trimmed get the meat back into the fridge to cool down.

Have large plastic or stainless steel vessels to hold all your meat. Have a lot of room in your fridge because keeping the meat cold during the grinding and stuffing is critical.

Grinding.
You can get cheap grinders that work very good at Northern Tool.
They come with the stuffing attachments and that works good too. They also have cheap stuffers but you don't want one of them. You'll have to mount the grinder to a preferably none porous board. An old counter top works well.
I have a large Enterprise electric grinder but I do use the hand grinder for batches under 50 lbs.

Your recipe will call for a certain size grinding plate and for good reason. I would error on the large size plate.
Too fine and your product will be like sawdust.

You'll be grinding the venison and pork separately. It should be cold when you start. During the grinding process you might have to stop and unclog the plate. A sharp cutter will minimize that. If you continue with a clogged plate you'll be forcing meat through and eventually it'll smear. Remember the meat has to stay cold.

Mixing.
If you do a lot of sausage making at some point you'll want a mixer. When mixing by hand remember your not making meatloaf or kneading dough. The meat should have come out of the fridge and be cold.
You'll be folding the mix into the meat using your fingers to separate the meat. When your done mixing it goes back into the fridge to cool back down. Depending on your recipe it might call to be refrigerated overnight.


Stuffing.
Pick the correct size casing for the type sausage your making.
I use natural casing that are fresh. If all you can find are the salted and frozen casing you'll want to soak those and change the water frequently. Then rinse out the inside under running water.
So far you've been keeping the meat cold in every step.
During stuffing you'll want to do the same. If you don't smearing will happen.
Slide the casing into the tube. I leave the casings in water so there is a little water on them to help slip on the tube and slide off the tube as I stuff.
Once on knot the end.
Here is where experience comes in.
Getting the correct fill. You don't want it to tight and you don't want it too loose. When you twist into links there is some adjustment. A sausage you want that casing and twist to hold up to grilling to trap the juices. When grilled the contents will expand. If stuffed too tight it'll break. Stuffed too loose and it'll be swiveled up.
I stuff the entire length then knot the end.
As you twist into links you'll also be adjusting the firmness.
The better you get at that the faster it goes and the less adjusting you end up doing.

Let the surface of the casing air dry before packaging. That can be done on the counter or fridge.

Google PS Seasonings, they're in WI and they're the bomb when it comes to sausage seasonings. They also send a "how to" recipe with suggestions for grinding plates, smoke times, etc. I'm not a big fan of the Sausage Maker seasonings.

Also I have a book called "Great Sausage recipes and meat curing" which is my bible for sausage making. It's a very thick book and should give you great recipes and goes over grinders, stuffers, how to, safe meat handling, and shows pictures, etc. I think the Big C store in Rogers carries it.

Dark, I got what you are saying. It takes a little experience to get em just right, as stated above. After doing several hundred pounds a guy gets the idea....LoL. We kinda make a fun day of sausage making with a few guys. I do add a little pork fat that I get gratus from the butcher shoppe I work at, seasonaly. Pork now-a-days has to be 1/4 trimmed by fed law for resale. Custom kills are optional because it's not for resale. I use fresh shaved garlic (which can be a knuckle buster) instead of garlic powder which gives the place a nice aroma and marjorum but, ya gotta be careful because it can be overpowering. I also use fresh course ground pepper ground with a pepper mill. I love the smell of rested overnight sausage mix.

Polish sausage......Garlic and Smoke.Be sure to smash the garlic up and then add it to the water.Shake it up and strain out the garlic.1 pint ice water per 10 lbs of meat.

Here's a summer sausage recipe I'll share. It's simple and very good. I like to throw in some cracked peppercorns once in a while too.

3 lbs. ground venison
3 Tbs. salt (tender quick)
8 tsp. course ground black pepper
2 tsp. mustard seed
1 tsp. liquid smoke
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 C. water
Crushed peppercorns

Mix all ingredients until well blended. Refrigerate overnight
Roll by hand into three logs and wrap with aluminum foil, shiny side in. Use a knife and cut small slits in the bottom of the roll for drainage while cooking. Place on cookies sheet and bake in 350º oven for 1-1/2 hours or until done. Can check with a meat thermometer.

That looks like a Salami recipe.....garlic,smoke and peppercorns.

A true Summer Sausage has a fermenter in it.Like Fermento or citric acid.

I guess I don't know one from the other but I do know it's pretty good, especially with cheese and crackers and a ballgame.

edit:

Oh, and of course a beer or two or three...

They are both good and I make both for some variety.No peppercorns in the summer sausage so it is easy to tell which one it is.plus the summer sausage has mustard seeds in it.The summer sausage has that tang or sourness to it from the fermentor.Salami doesn't.It has the garlic/smoke taste.

If you're in the Twin Cities area, you could check out Mandvilles
seasonings & more, it's in the yellow pages. We used to get our casings and seasonings there & they were top notch.

Maybe I have to rename it as a Summer Salami.