Processing your own wild game

[stevesflyshop]

A lot of times you can go to a processor and get beef fat or pork fat - this is stuff that they trim off the animals. I used to go to a place that sold it for .20 pound. I'd add it to the ground meat to have enough fat to hold the patties together. It also works for making sausage that won't fall apart in the skillet.

If I had to pick the one tool most important, I'd say its the grinder. You can always resharpen knives or form your burgers by hand, but I'd recomend spending as much as you can afford on the grinder even if it means cutting corners elsewhere. Just my .02.

[Snakelover]

I will second the vote for Forschner knives! I could not agree more! I've got Chicago Cutlery, Cutco and other brands, but none compare to Forschner!


I have two of the 6" flexible bladed straight boning knives like this...

http://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=1744&catid=270

If you can only afford one great quality meat knife, this is the one I'd pick!


And, while this is technically considered a fish fillet knife, it is one of the handiest knives to have around the kitchen bar none!...

http://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=1756&catid=271

It's my favorite onion chopper, tomato slicer, etc. And perfect for cutting those backstraps into butterfly steaks!


Also, do yourself a huge favor and get a genuine Forschner 12" round diamond sharpening steel...

http://www.bakedeco.com/detail.asp?id=1908&trng=fgle

Yes, I know it's expensive, but it's a lifetime investment. I've owned other sharpening steels before and, let me tell you, there's absolutely no comparison. A sharpening steel of this quality is worth it's weight in gold! It will make ALL your kitchen knives better.


If I could only have three items in my knife drawer, I'd pick the above and still be able to do just about everything!

[Chew]

I made sausage (smoked links) this past week. It turned out to be easier than I thought (thanks to my boys helping me out).

I bought hog casings and seasonings from Allied Kenco in Houston.
I used natural casings and REO seasoning from Huntsville.

Soaked the casings in warm water for a long time and washed them thoroughly inside and out.

I used 16 pounds of meat for this batch. It was pretty close to 50/50 venison & wild pork.

I dumped the meat into my stainless hand mixer, poured in the seasoning and cure (cure is a must if you're going to smoke it) and had the boys mix it forever while I got everything else set up.

We ground the meat once through the largest plate. Then we ran it back through again (same plate) and had the sausage stuffing tube on there. Lubed up the tube with some PAM spray and slid the casings on. Tied a knot at the end and let 'er rip. I stopped the grinder after about10-12" and twisted the casing to make a link and then started it back up. After filling the casings I left enough room to tie another knot in the other end and then moved on to the next casing until I was out of meat.

I had the pecan wood in the smoker already going while we were making links. I wanted the temp down low so I didn't actually cook the links in the pit. I was told to let the links get down to room temp before smoking so I did (not sure why). I used jerky drying racks so I had room for all the links (2 levels of links). I smoked 'em for about 3 hours and then moved them into the oven on 150/160 for a few more hours. When they were red/pink all the way through I pulled them out.

I had a large tub of cool water waiting and submerged the links in there to stop the cooking and to wash off the smoke. I pat dried them and then wrapped in freezer paper in dinner size portions.

The flavor came out great. I really like the seasoning. I want to buy a sausage stuffer next. Seems like it would be easier than stuffing off of the grinder.

coffee mug.JPG

[hunt4life]

Hello,
This is truely a helpful thread. I have processed several deeer over the years just using knives (steaks, stew meat and roasts) but this will be the first season to make sausage, chilli meat, etc. I was fortunate enough to tag a deer and 2 hogs and plan on making deer, hog and deer/hog sausage out of some of the meat.
My main question is mostly about the amount of pork fat needed if at all when making deer/hog or hog sausage. Chew had mentioned 50/50 deer/hog but didn't mention any pork fat added. The 2 hogs I took were pretty lean (as i guess all wild hogs are). Would I still need to add pork fat? I'm pretty sure with just straight deer I would have to but since wild pork is still pork and tends to be a little more greasy, would that suffice, or would pork fat be needed.
Also, I have a small brinkman's smoker about 3-4ft tall, Ya'll think that i could controll the heat enough on it to smoke a small amount of sausage (10-15lbs). I have smoked a few turkeys in it but that was fully cooking the birds, I don't think I want to fully cook the sausage or brats as I am going to freeze them and cook them as I need.
Thanks - Tim

[TimHicks]

I will third the Forschner knives! Man watch out though they will cut off finger tips!! Speaking from experience..Chew and guys great topic

[Razorback01]

Front Shoulders and ribs

If you don't want to mess with the front shoulders and ribs, clean and freeze until you have a full day. Start them on the stove in a stock pot with salt/pepper and either simmer until tender of finish on grill/smoker. Strip all the meat off and either refreeze until another rainy day or continue with stew and chilli.

I do this and ziplock/freeze and save for hunting trips.

[Chew]

Hunt4life.....If the hogs are really lean I would add some pork trimmings or fatty pork butt roasts into the 50/50 equation. You just kind of have to "eyeball" it and see what looks right. My wife doesn't like a stronger venison taste so I use the 50/50 instead of 60/40 or 70/30. It makes your venison go a long ways too.

I smoked mine on a small New Braunfels smoker/pit with pecan. I used jerky drying racks on my grills so I could have 2 layers of links. I think my batch was 15 lbs and I barely fit everything in the pit at one time. I moved them to the oven for a few more hours until they were cooked all the way through. I had a plastic tote of cool water on standby to dunk them in to wash off the smoke and stop the cooking. Wrapped 'em up and froze 'em.

[hunt4life]

Thanks Chew

[DRow]

i wanna start doing that

[mesquitecountry]

If anyone is wanting sausage recipes i have tons of them. Some i've sent to people already. Plus i have instructions on processing the meat as well.

Chew you do not have to add cure to the meat for smoked sausage. Unless you are going to make summer sausage. I actually do not even smoke my sausage. I stuff it raw and package and directly to the freezer then throw it on the pit. Excellent Flavor. If anyone is interested in my recipes which i have pretty much anything e-mail me at mesquitecountryoutdoors@yahoo.com. Processing your own meat is far more exciting and rewarding. plus you dont have to pay someone hundreds of dollars to do it for you.

[mesquitecountry]

Here is the link to get my sausage recipes and grinding instructions.

http://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9787

[donpablo]

Meat Saw

The sportsmansguide has (assuming they still do) an awesome meat saw for around $200 that has a grinder attached on the side. I wanted one so bad! But I would first have to clean out some space in the shed. Not to mention the fact that I'm pretty broke. I just got my income tax return and spent it all on bills. Oh well. The website is: http://www.sportsmansguide.com/

[woody]

Cheaper alternatives

I use a lot of the same tools, but at a greatly reduced costs. For a scale i place the meat into a plastic bag and use my digital fish scale to weigh it. I use a gram scale to measure the spice & cure. To mix my seasoning with meat I simply cover my counter with a garbage bag, toss the meat onto it and then add the seasoning and mix it. I then grind it in my home-made grinder that i built from a #32 grinder from Northern Tool & Equipment {the one with the large pulley wheel mounted on back}. i added a 3/4hp 1750 RPM electric motor and I call the grinder jaws as it eats everything. i dont have to cube the meat, it is best in fairly large strips and will grind as fast as you can feed it. it never clogs on gristle or connective tissue. I use my wife's turkey roasting pans to catch the meat from the grinder and then empty them into a cooler when they are full. I then use my verticle stuffer to stuff the links and hang them inside my home-made smoker to smoke at 170 degrees for 4-6 hours. I use a Buck 110 folding hunter as my boning knife as it does an awesome job. I package my pan sausage in plastic wrap, my chops in plastic wrap and freezer paper and my links & snack sticks in freezer paper. when i get home, I will post some pics we took last year as we made 150lbs of links and snack sticks, awesome. Woody

[Matt2006Martin]

nice

[CrookedArrow]

Where can I find one of those stainless steel tables????? The ones that can be wiped clean and ready. That's what I need.