Easy Venison, Elk or Wild Boar Sausage – Updated from Santa

There is nothing quite like cutting a slice of sausage that you made yourself and putting it on a cracker along with your beer or wine. Oh, my God, does that put a smile on my face! There are hundreds of recipes out there to try. And there is a huge market for the suppliers of machines and stuffers to sell you. The easiest sausage is one that is made by hand in patties with no outer wrapping. The key to good sausage be it breakfast or otherwise is to add pork to your recipe that has a high fat content so that your sausage remains moist. If you haven’t made it before then follow recipes that others find satisfactory. All wild game including wild boar has so little fat that by itself will resemble neary 100% protein and will be a tough chew. It is the pork fat that carries flavor as well. Discard any fat from your wild game as it often carries a gamy taste. If there is lots of blood in the game meat then immerse/cover in ice and let it melt and carry blood away with it. Rough grind your wild meat then add the ground pork and then fine grind together so it is perfectly blended with pork fat.

The recipe below is so simple a child could do it!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/111822/bulk-venison-breakfast-sausage/

Bulk Venison Breakfast Sausage

Photo from the website above.

If you want to have sausage to slice and freeze, you can roll a tube in wax paper and then slice and freeze it. If you want your slices for long term freezing, then put slices on a tray with wax paper, freeze then proceed to vacuum seal the slices and they won’t deform under the vacuum process. Or you can buy sausage tubing to stuff. There is a large market for gear, curing, smoking but by the time you are done you have spent lots of money so be advised to spend wisely. If you are big into game and have lots of meat then perhaps it is valuable to invest more.

I made the purchase of a larger LEM #8 meat grinder 1/3 hp from BassPro for Christmas $329. Thanks Santa! I also got some food grade silicone spray for the grinder part protection and easy clean-up.

and a few sausage making kits from my local BassPro Shop.

 

I own an older vacuum sealer and love it. Still works fine!

 

 

Dry Aging and Marinades for the Hunter/Chef by Ed Hale

I have cooked in my kitchen for many years along with my wife but there is always more to learn. If I am successful in my early February hunt and I do fully expect to be, I need to bone-up on meat preparation. Pun intended. I am comfortable doing the butchering as long as my meat is refrigerated.  No problem in February! I have made it a habit to vacuum seal and freeze all of my meat for a month before eating any quantity. This does a few things, freezing is a way to reduce gamy flavor and aids in tenderizing. Vacuum sealed meats can last for more than a year or longer in a good freezer. If you want to try dry aging your meat there is a way today to do that in a separate refrigerator with a dry age box at this website. http://thesteakager.com/?gclid=CPmo-KSE-dACFQ1MDQodbN0LQg  I have not tried this but looks very interesting.

On to the Marinades. My research finds that blood is the main carrier of gamy flavor, so if your meat has lots of blood then soak it in Buttermilk for 4 hours or more. Overnight works too to remove the blood and tenderize. Buttermilk has an enzyme and microorganisms that aids in the tenderizing process. Yogurt does this too. This website has a great recipe which begins with the buttermilk marinade. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/buttermilk-marinated-pork-chops/

To add flavor and tenderize, try these. The pineapple and Papaya have enzymes to tenderize and not mask the flavor. Apple Cider vinegar aids in the tenderizing process in many recipes. I use Braggs “Apple Cider Vinegar with the Mother”.

Pineapple Marinade

http://bbq.about.com/od/marinaderecipes/r/bl60302a.htm

Orange and Onion Marinade

http://bbq.about.com/od/marinaderecipes/r/bl50831b.htm

Papaya Soy Marinade

http://bbq.about.com/od/marinaderecipes/r/bl10224b.htm

Brine your boar

shoulder?

http://www.howtocookmeat.com/recipes/pork/how-to-brine-pork-shoulder.htm

IT ALL SOUNDS LIP SMACKING GOOD TO ME!!

ENJOY!