[carver]

For the fist time in many years I had my deer processed. Wound up with about 20 lbs. of breakfast sausage. The problem is I don't think there is anything in the meat, but meat! Do any of you have any ideas on how to make this sausage more palatable? I have never made venison sausage.

 

[Country101]

You might be able to order some spices and add to it. I havent done any breakfast sausage, but since it isnt smoked like summer sausage and the like, I would think you would be able to add whatever you wanted to. I dont know what they typically use to spice it up, so I dont have any recommendations other than looking in the catalogs that sell spices and processing equipment and seeing if they have any blends of spices you could add. Be sure to report whatever you find out. Might come in handy for me later.

 

[Roadkil]

I make breakfast sausage every year with my venison; sweet Italian. Here is what I put in it from scratch and is the starting point. You can adjust spices for milder or hotter with the cayenne, or add crushed red pepper flakes. I make them in small batches to marinate overnight then grind with a medium plate and mix the batches together as I go to distribute the spices. Then I portion it out and wrap with freezer paper and freeze.



1lbs cubed venison
1lbs cubed pork (fatty pork shoulder or butt is best)
1 teaspoon salt ( I omit the salt)
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon fennel seed
½ teaspoon lemon pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon celery salt ( I omit this as well)
¼ teaspoon crushed sage leaves
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 Tablespoon soy sauce ( I use reduced sodium soy sauce
½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce (I use reduced sodium Worcestershire sauce)


In a small bowl mix the dry spices together, except soy & Worcestershire sauce. Mix well and sprinkle over meat. Toss cubed meat to coat evenly with the spices. Then add the soy and Worcestershire sauce and mix well again. Cover bowl with foil and place in fridge overnight to marinate.

Repeat for each batch you are making.

You can make one big batch but I have found by making them one batch at a time it helps concentrate the flavors as this marinates overnight.

I am assuming that this is already ground, wrapped and has been frozen? If the packages are frozen when you defrost to use you can add the above spices and mix just before cooking.

If these have not been frozen you could probably make small batches and add the spices and regrind with a medium plate then wrap and freeze?

You could also call the processor and ask how they made the breakfast sausage.

 

[carver]

What I did yesterday was to combine 1lb ground venislon, 1lb ground burger, and 1lb ground pork. I pretty much added the spices that you recomended, but skipped the paprika, and added some diced green onion, and some fennel seeds. The only mistake I made was I added 1 whole teaspoon of cayenne. Next time I'll only put half that amount. It's not hot, but the cayenne over powers all the other spices. Thanks!

 

[JoeV]

What I did yesterday was to combine 1lb ground venislon, 1lb ground burger, and 1lb ground pork. I pretty much added the spices that you recomended, but skipped the paprika, and added some diced green onion, and some fennel seeds. The only mistake I made was I added 1 whole teaspoon of cayenne. Next time I'll only put half that amount. It's not hot, but the cayenne over powers all the other spices. Thanks!

We learn best through experimentation. FYI, don't rely on your memory when trying variations of your sausage recipes, and don't change your base recipe. Always make a copy of your base recipe and note the changes you make. If it's a winner, name this a separate recipe from your base recipe so you always have a frame of reference to start from with the next variation you try. This goes with all cooking and baking recipes, and helps maintain the original recipes (family recipes?) so they are not lost for future generations. Hope this helps.

 

[carver]

I cooked up some more of this sausage yesterday. What I discovered is that sitting in the fridge for a couple of days made this sausage come togeather. The cayenne no longer over powers the other spices, and the fennel really comes thru! Some of the best Italian sausage I have ever ate!

 

[dbcooper]

a few years ago, I had the same issue, I had a processor make me about 20 lbs of vension sausage from a deer I dropped off

it was the most bland stuff I ever had

I would thaw out a couple lbs at a time and hand mix in garlic, black pepper, and sage to help it out.

After that it was darn good

 

[Crpdeth]

I just don't understand a meat processor not adding spices to sausage... You didn't ask for ground venison.

Perhaps he simply made a mistake, but I don't think I'd be using that guy in the future without having a good conversation with him first.

Tell ya what, Carver, bring that meat over here next time and we'll mix some feral pork with it and spice it up so's you'll take a bite and just reach back and slap someone.

 

[ampaterry]

Not venison, but we did make up a lot of sausage from Caribou when we lived in AK.
We always put a lot of Sage in ours -
And cut it 50/50 with pork.