I've never made sausage before... how hard is it? Is it worth the effort? I know alot of people really get into it and in retrospect, its I'm wondering why i never tried making it before. Any tips / suggestions to get started? Recipes?


-DallanC

DallanC

Itailian style sausage.

Key note: keep meat and especially the fat cold ! (the texture changes when the meat gets to room temp.) It's kind of funny but it does.

I would suggest you start with 3 pounds of deer meat. Trim as best you can all the fat and silvermeat. Grind it with your course plate once.

Then add 2 pounds of gound pork.


add 1/4 cup of course salt

1/4 cup fennel seed

4 dried cayanne peppers chopped

2 tbs ground black pepper

2 tbs garlic powder.

Mix together by hand the spices and ground meat. Then I add the fat and mix it by hand. Once I have it about right I process it through the meat grinder again.

Now you can make paddy or link sausage. If paddy form them in to the size you want and freeze. If link follow the instructions on the "cassing" package. When freezing links keep the flat and kind of tight in a circle. they will take up less space.

I have also found that them gain flavor over time. So the flavor you get right after you make is less than after a week.

The above will give you a very lean sausage when cooked on the grill it is easy to over cook them. If you cook them in a pan add some oil.

Good luck

DallanC,
Making sausage is very rewarding, somewhat like reloading. I consider it part of the hunt. It is not all that difficult. Finding equipment and howto's is pretty easy anymore with all the websites available. Like anything else, its gets easier the more times you try it. My favorites are country sausage and brats. Of course when you get into making sausage, it leads you down the path into smoking sausage. Its also a great family and friends venture. Try it and you'll love it. Good Luck!

I think Longwalker hit the nail on the head. Except the whole cayanne peppers part I dont do well with really hot foods. Sounds kinda crazy but our family does the same thing then just uses the ground meat as taco meat. Try it I bet you will like it.
Thanks for the exact measurements Longwalker.
Knifeboy

Howdy. I got one of those sausage kits from cabelas about a year a go and haven't tried it yet. I might have to give long walkers mix a try sounds perty easy and tasty but like knifeboy i will try it without the cayanne peppers. Thanx for the info long walker