cohunter14
Administrator
- Jul 10, 2017
- 5,332
Figured I\'d throw a quick how-to up of how easy it is to make Italian Sausage from game meat. The meat used here was antelope. All you need is a meat grinder as well as a scale, but it also helps to have a big mixing bucket of some sort as well as a vacuum sealer.
The first step, which we take care of when we processed our antelope, is to grind up that meat. Whether we are cutting up an elk, deer, or antelope, we typically take all the steaks and roasts out that are wanted and then we grind the rest of the meat and measure them into 5lb bags, vacuum seal them, and put them in the freezer. Having the meat already divided into 5lb bags makes for easy processing when we decide to do it. 5lbs is needed for one batch of Jerky or, in this case, you can use multiple bags.
To make the Italian Sausage, we started with a Cabelas seasoning kit which is enough for 25lbs. We took 15lbs of the Antelope Grind and purchased 10lbs of ground pork with a 30+% fat ratio.
[attachment=2]<!-- ia2 -->IMG_1104.JPG<!-- ia2 -->[/attachment]
A side note: the Cabelas kit also comes with the hog casings to make actual sausage links. Our plan, both for simplicity sake as well as overall usage, was to just make bulk sausage and not actually make them into links. Stuffing sausage into these casings is time consuming whereas this is super quick and easy. It also allows us to use the sausage for multiple purposes. Anyway, I am sure you could just find a mixture of seasonings that is cheaper than this Cabelas option, but the Cabelas mixture also includes the cure which is nice.
Back to the sausage making. I started by putting all of the meat into the bucket and hand mixing it. This is pretty self explanatory, but you basically want consistency in the meat, meaning the pork and antelope are mixed together well. Once it was mixed well, I dumped roughly 1/3 of the seasoning on top of the meat and added a bit of water (approximately 1 cup). Mix that well into the meat by hand. Once it feels like that is mixed in, I do the same thing with another 1/3 of the kit and some water. Do this until you get all of the seasoning mixed in.
[attachment=1]<!-- ia1 -->IMG_1105.JPG<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment]
At this point, the sausage making is done. Really difficult, right? Hahaha. I like to put the meat in the fridge to sit for some time and soak up the seasonings. This batch I let sit for about 24 hours. After that, we measured out one pound at a time, vacuum sealed them, and they are ready for the freezer. Labeling them is always a good idea as well, especially if you have other one pound packages of ground meat in the freezer like burger, etc.
[attachment=0]<!-- ia0 -->IMG_1113.JPG<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment]
Making sausage this way has been a great revelation for us. It is so simple and easy and allows you to knock out a big chunk of meat at one time.
The first step, which we take care of when we processed our antelope, is to grind up that meat. Whether we are cutting up an elk, deer, or antelope, we typically take all the steaks and roasts out that are wanted and then we grind the rest of the meat and measure them into 5lb bags, vacuum seal them, and put them in the freezer. Having the meat already divided into 5lb bags makes for easy processing when we decide to do it. 5lbs is needed for one batch of Jerky or, in this case, you can use multiple bags.
To make the Italian Sausage, we started with a Cabelas seasoning kit which is enough for 25lbs. We took 15lbs of the Antelope Grind and purchased 10lbs of ground pork with a 30+% fat ratio.
[attachment=2]<!-- ia2 -->IMG_1104.JPG<!-- ia2 -->[/attachment]
A side note: the Cabelas kit also comes with the hog casings to make actual sausage links. Our plan, both for simplicity sake as well as overall usage, was to just make bulk sausage and not actually make them into links. Stuffing sausage into these casings is time consuming whereas this is super quick and easy. It also allows us to use the sausage for multiple purposes. Anyway, I am sure you could just find a mixture of seasonings that is cheaper than this Cabelas option, but the Cabelas mixture also includes the cure which is nice.
Back to the sausage making. I started by putting all of the meat into the bucket and hand mixing it. This is pretty self explanatory, but you basically want consistency in the meat, meaning the pork and antelope are mixed together well. Once it was mixed well, I dumped roughly 1/3 of the seasoning on top of the meat and added a bit of water (approximately 1 cup). Mix that well into the meat by hand. Once it feels like that is mixed in, I do the same thing with another 1/3 of the kit and some water. Do this until you get all of the seasoning mixed in.
[attachment=1]<!-- ia1 -->IMG_1105.JPG<!-- ia1 -->[/attachment]
At this point, the sausage making is done. Really difficult, right? Hahaha. I like to put the meat in the fridge to sit for some time and soak up the seasonings. This batch I let sit for about 24 hours. After that, we measured out one pound at a time, vacuum sealed them, and they are ready for the freezer. Labeling them is always a good idea as well, especially if you have other one pound packages of ground meat in the freezer like burger, etc.
[attachment=0]<!-- ia0 -->IMG_1113.JPG<!-- ia0 -->[/attachment]
Making sausage this way has been a great revelation for us. It is so simple and easy and allows you to knock out a big chunk of meat at one time.
When I make elk or deer sticks they don\'t last long. I have to hide them so I get some.
