Another question: we hope to get four deer this fall and have one potbellied pig to butcher. We'd like to do this ourselves (we never have). We like a spicie sausage. Does anyone have a great recipe or where can we buy a good mix? Do we mix the pork with the venision? When making the ground venision, should we add pork fat? Thanks for all the great help

-- Margie B (bromens5@navix.net), August 18, 2000

Answers

I make venison/pork sausage every fall because I get several deer. I personall don't like sausage mixes because they tend to be, in my opinion, too salty and too spicy, although I'm sure folks will post names of mixes they like to use. Venison on it's own is very dry and lean, and to make a good juicy sausage, you do need to mix in pork, and not just pork fat. I don't raise hogs so I go buy a big, cheap pork shoulder, which has a good blend of meat and fat. I grind the venison and pork coarsely, separately, then add whatever spcies, and regrind to a finer texture. My personal favorite it Italian sausage. I have found that the cheap Italian seasoning you get two for a dollar at Wal Mart with a little rosemary and thyme added makes as good an Italian sausage as any expensive mix. To make hot Italian sausage, I just add some red pepper flakes.

A good way to make sure you don't overspice or oversalt the sausage or make sure it doesn't have too much or too little venison or pork is to take a little of it, fry it and taste it while you're mixing the meats or adding spice. If it comes out too dry, add more pork; too greasy, add more venison; not spicy enough, add more. BUT---- beware of adding too much spice! I have found that the taste of the spices will get stronger after it's wrapped and frozen. Older issues of Countryside used to run sausage recipes all the time. Hope this helps!!!

-- Hannah Maria Holly (hannahholly@hotmail.com), August 18, 2000.

When we were living in Alaska and had caribou, we made sausage by adding about one-third fat bacon to the caribou meat. Game meat tends to be "dry", i.e. not marbled with fat like grain-fed livestock, so for sausage making you do need to add fat, and pork fat is probably the best flavored fat you can add. As far as recipes and seasonings, I have quite a few recipes, but you can probably find some in your own cookbooks, or check the library. If nobody else comes up with some for you, when I check back later, I will see if I can reach my cookbooks (hubby has stacked a lot of heavy honey supers right in front of my cookbook shelf). Even if you don't initially care for the seasoning combination you start with, you can always correct the seasonings later. One of my batches was definitely too salty so I would advise going easy on the salt -- you can always add more later. Good luck!

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), August 18, 2000.

You asked about ground venison, if you are looking for "hamburger", what I do is mix the venison with really cheap ground beef. That adds enough fat and the beef flavor helps. I dont like it as patties, but use it in anything else that I use ground beef in.

I also like to make venison jerky with some of the left over bits and pieces. What I do is grind the odds and ends and add what ever jerky spice that you like. Roll it into a log shape about 3-4" around and 10-12" long. Wrap that in wax paper then freeze. Once it is frozen you can slice it into round pieces and dry it either in the oven or dehydrator. It isnt tough as it is made with ground meat, but has the good jerky flavor, and you dont have to use the good cuts of meat.

I look forward to trying sausage this year too, good luck. Tami in WI

-- Tami Bowser (windridg@chorus.net), August 20, 2000.

When making venison sausage it is always a good idea to add some sort of fat. Pork fat has always given the best flavor. For italian sausage there never is any given recipe. I always use parsley, garlic,basil, and plenty of fennel seeds. (oregano may be used also) Always taste your sausage in the pan before casing it. For spicy sausage use cayenne, red pepper flakes and paprika(again taste!!) Imade venison sausage this past week with just venison and pork fat and it turned out great(i usually use pork meat too) the key to great sausage making is tasting and adjusting the seasonings and having enough binding(fat) to make the sausage fry well. Good luck!! cnllewis@email.com

-- cara lewis (cnllewis@email.com), August 22, 2000.