Did Some Processing

[cohunter14]

Did some processing over the weekend. Made 18lbs of deer breakfast sausage and 5lbs of goose jerky. We still have 30lbs of antelope grind, 25lbs of deer grind, and 25lbs of goose to work through, so plenty more to do. Going to make a bunch of jalape?o summer sausage and some Italian sausage with the deer and antelope. The goose will be jerky.

We did some links and some bulk for the breakfast sausage (my kids love the links). We tried precooking a bunch of the links so they can just be microwaved quickly for the kids. Here?s a few pics:

 

[cnelk]

Awesome Derek


I see you use collagen. Do you like it?


I use both hog casings and collagen, prefer hog casings

 

[cohunter14]

It's the first time we tried them so we'll see. I will say that they were way easier to deal with than the hog casings. No soaking, no dealing with them being all bunched up, etc. Why are the hog casings your preference?

 

[cnelk]

IMO - hog casings cook better

 

[Army of Dad]

I agree with cnelk on the casings. I have some collagen left over, might use them for snack sticks at some point, but I think I?ll stick to hog casings for most of my sausages.


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[cohunter14]

Interesting, good to know. Since we didn't smoke these or anything I didn't really notice. We just threw them in the oven for 10-15 min to reach a 160 internal temp and they did fine, but I'll make a mental note of that for sure.

 

[colorado russ]

Looks good Derek!  I use collagen for snack sticks and hog casings for link sausages/brats.  I prefer the 'pop' you get from natural casings vs collagen.  You can easily peel the collagen casing off if don't want to eat it on the snack sticks and like you said it's much easier to work with.


Hack: I find that splashing some water on the working surface lets the cased sausages slide away from the stuffer which allows me to get one long strand like what's in your first picture without it circling back around.  A little water may or may not make a difference with the pan you're using but definitely does on a long stainless table.


Need me some of that goose jerky!  Have a new lab so might be an excuse to start hunting duck and geese. 

 

[ribo451]

Do you guys find the hog casings to be very uniform? I've only used one brand of them but the complaint I have is that there all different size thickness. I guess that's what you get using a natural product but I would like some more uniformity. I've tried not stuffing some as much as other to get them the same but that brings up different problems.

 

[DTP]

Yum yum yum!!!!
I plan to do some after deer season closes. 
I?ve never done sausage or brats and I want to master it.

 

[cnelk]

Here is a home made recipe for making 5lb of breakfast sausage

 

[colorado russ]

Looks/sounds good Brad.  I've found a good brand of pre-mixed spices if someone doesn't want to buy or mix their own.  A.C Legg's Old Plantation seasonings.  www.butchersupply.net has some good prices.


Now just need warmer weather so can fire up the smoker!

 

[Wyo67]

Some threads need a like button.  This one...  Good stuff.

 

[colorado russ]

:upthumb:  on the goose jerky Derek!!


Looks like this weekend is going to be sunny and low 60s in OKC area so firing up the smoker for some chipotle/white cheddar summer sausage.


Also going to mix up 5 lbs of elk chorizo using the A.C. Leggs Plantation spice mix.  Will report back on how it turns out.


If I have another 5 lbs of elk grind, I'll try Brad's breakfast sausage recipe too.

 

[tiberiuswade]

Here is a home made recipe for making 5lb of breakfast sausage

Can't opene or read your recipe

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[cohunter14]

Here is a home made recipe for making 5lb of breakfast sausage

Can't opene or read your recipe

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk

Try viewing the thread using a web browser, either on a computer or your phone. Sometimes the images don't show up correct using Tapatalk.

 

[colorado russ]

Hey Derek, how about some feedback on the summer sausage and snack sticks?  I think I cooked both too long even though was following the thermometer reading.  I like the spice level on both but too dry.  Of course, just means another beer but need to perfect this.


Opinions from others:  When the summer sausage are hanging in the smoker, I insert the digital thermometer and when I pull the thermometer out it would shoot out juices like a spigot.  Too much fat?  Do I need a second grind?  I used the ground venison/elk from the butcher without a second grind.


Also noticed on this batch the casings seem to 'wrinkle' and not be full so to speak but was tight when put in the smoker.  Water bath and just doesn't hold the shape.


I don't hang back up after the water bath like cnelk so could that be part of the problem?


Appreciate any input.

 

[colorado russ]

Wanted to add this was 10 lbs of summer sausage - 8 lbs of straight venison grind and 2 lbs of ground pork.  I know cohunter14 doesn't add ground pork so might be getting too much fat in the mix?

 

[cohunter14]

Russ, I apologize but I haven't had a chance to try the sticks or sausage yet. Went out of town right after it arrived, but I'll try it soon. The jerky, on the other hand, disappeared within minutes of me opening the box :laughing:

I do use pork when making sausage, just not jerky or sticks. If your cases are wrinkling and the sausage is shrinking, chances are you are either using too much water when you mix everything up or you have too much fat. 20% fat isn't terribly high, but it could be a problem. Is the pork you mixed in pork fat or is it straight pork, like a pork butt?

 

[colorado russ]

Derek, yeah, I kinda liked the jerky too and don't have anymore venison sliced up like that to make more.  May have to cut up some steaks.


The pork was just ground pork from the grocery store so like a butt so figure 80/20.  I don't think it was too much fat either but uncertain.  No added water.


I can always try some deviations since have quite a bit of ground elk.  Double grind a couple of pounds with no added pork, make same recipe without added pork, etc...


Here's the recipe:
#8 ground venison
#2 ground pork
8 T cure (Morton?s Tender Quick)
4 T course black pepper
4  T Garlic powder
4  T Mustard powder
2  T Coriander powder
1  T Marjoram
2  T Liquid smoke
3  T Dried chipotle flakes
2 Cans chipotle peppers in adobo sauce(seeded and pureed)
#1 Extra Sharp cheddar cheese(chopped into small chunks)

 

[colorado russ]

Seems cut/paste failed me on the recipe!  It's just meat, dry spices, peppers and cheese.