Sausage Making Question?

[4HAND]

I'm about to try some ground sausage using deer meat & pork.
IIRC, I've read on here to chunk the meat up, sprinkle Legg's seasoning over it, refrigerate overnight & then grind?
Vs. Grinding & then seasoning?

 

[blood on the ground]

I’ve always done two grinds. Grind without seasoning, chill the meat ,then season and grind again.

 

[kmckinnie]

I do it right then. Put seasoning on then grind.
Then get pan hot and sample 1st bit.
We also add other seasons to what we like. no 2 batches are the same.

 

[notnksnemor]

When hand mixing the seasoning and meat after grinding, it's hard to get an even mix on larger batches.

Chunk meat, season, mix, mix, mix, oh, and mix again.
Then grind.

 

[treemanjohn]

I have a friend who makes a lot of sausage. He grinds with a large die, seasons the meat, and grinds is again with the final die.

Always get your cube meat slightly frozen to make the first grind easier

 

[sportsman94]

As has been said. Too tough to get even distribution of seasoning when you season after the fact unless you have a mixer to do it in. I’m another who has all the meat and fat cubed, season, then grinds twice.

 

[specialk]

I use butts on sale and chunk up.....throw it together with deer and grind.....i take the ground up meat and use a mixer attachment to my motor and dump all in it and turn on....while it mixes i sprinkle all the seasons slowly till they are gone....then i stuff the meat in casings....

 

[Big7]

Yes.
Read This.

I do mine in chunks that fit the throat of the grinder.
Spread it out on a clean block or counter top.
You can "set" the seasoning overnight in the fridge if you run short on time and need to do batches. It DON'T make a hoot if you grind it right then or fridge up to a few days. If it starts to turn grey and get's slick- it's time to grind. Pure pork is a little more forgiving than venison or venison/pork.
Beef and beef fat are good for burger. If you can get beef fat, get it. It will freeze and refreeze. No problem. Beef is at a premium now. Even fat. So?
Raw beef fat cooks at the same temperature as venison. That's a good thing.

Weigh the meat. Know how much you got version to pork, lean to fat and all that good jazz.

Buy Legg's Sausage seasoning. One bag, 4- 5$ will do exactly 25 pounds of finished product.

Spread out chunks on block and sprinkle as even as possible with seasoning. If you want hot, add red or black pepper. Plain Legg's #8 or #10 works for me.
Sometimes, I will add a little fresh still green sage or a good quality dry sage. Sage us NOT the place to cut corners.

I grind mine one time, already evenly seasoned. That mixes everything and more than one grind will make it dense, mushy and hard after you cook it.

If you like coarse, medium or fine, use that plate 1 time only. Forgot.. After all is spread out in chunks and seasoned, it won't hurt to mix gently in big bowl. Don't handle the meat unnecessarily. That ain't good.

Put your hopper, body, plates and screw in the freezer. It goes way better if everything is really cold. Spread your seasoned chunks out in single laters on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer until they start to crystallize and partially freeze. NOT froze hard like an ice cube.

Run it as fast as you can and keep it cold as possible until you freeze it or you can cook it and pressure can it in Mason jars and pour a little of the grease to cover before you lid and band.

I've worked in a kill floor to package meat processor when I was in high school. Been doing my iwn processing for over 40 years. I have made literally tons of raw and smoked sausage. Every smoked meat you can think of too..

If you need help, PM me a phone number. This is definitely in my wheelhouse. ?

 

[NCHillbilly]

100% absolutely season before grinding. Again, season before grinding. Absolutely. I grind once through a small plate. No need to grind twice unless you have a really, really crappy grinder. I also don't use a bag of Leggs for 25#, not quite enough, especially with deer meat. A bag to about 21-22# is about right. I also add some red pepper flakes.

 

[4HAND]

Thanks everyone. This is my first attempt. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Nicodemus]

100% absolutely season before grinding. Again, season before grinding. Absolutely. I grind once through a small plate. No need to grind twice unless you have a really, really crappy grinder. I also don't use a bag of Leggs for 25#, not quite enough, especially with deer meat. A bag to about 21-22# is about right. I also add some red pepper flakes.

This is my style as well.

 

[bany]

I grind once and first. I add 3/4 or 1 cup of ice water with the seasoning to 25lbs in a big tub. Works fine for me. Have done the chunk, season, grind once thing too. It works.
Fry a pattie at some point for taste test.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Thanks everyone. This is my first attempt. We'll see how it goes.

Also, if you're making deer sausage, you want enough pure pork fat to give you at least a 20% fat to lean ratio. 25% is even better. I use 1 1/2 lbs pork fat (not pork meat,) to 3 1/2 lbs. deer meat.

 

[4HAND]

Also, if you're making deer sausage, you want enough pure pork fat to give you at least a 20% fat to lean ratio. 25% is even better. I use 1 1/2 lbs pork fat (not pork meat,) to 3 1/2 lbs. deer meat.

10-4. I have some fatty pieces from a Boston butt I had sliced awhile back.
I'm planning on mixing that with the venison I don't use for fry meat. I have a pack of the Leggs to season it with.

 

[NCHillbilly]

10-4. I have some fatty pieces from a Boston butt I had sliced awhile back.
I'm planning on mixing that with the venison I don't use for fry meat. I have a pack of the Leggs to season it with.

Then add much more pork. Butt is about 25% -30% fat for the most part. I get pure pork fat with no meat attached from the Ingle's meat department.

 

[4HAND]

Then add much more pork. Butt is about 25% -30% fat for the most part. I get pure pork fat with no meat attached from the Ingle's meat department.

That's what I'm afraid of, I'm afraid I don't have enough pork in hand. I'll have a better idea when I weigh the venison.

 

[sportsman94]

For those of you who just grind sausage once, do you notice fattier pockets within your sausage? I’ve always ground once if doing anything lean and twice if mixing with fat. The first grind always seems to leave pretty good chunks/lines of fat to me

 

[NCHillbilly]

For those of you who just grind sausage once, do you notice fattier pockets within your sausage? I’ve always ground once if doing anything lean and twice if mixing with fat. The first grind always seems to leave pretty good chunks/lines of fat to me

Haven't noticed that. If it didn't seem even, I'd just mix it up by hand some.

 

[K80Shooter]

I'm with NCHB, Only grind once and mix the bag with about 22lbs of meat.
I also like adding some good sage to mine also. If it was just for me, I would also add some red pepper flakes but my other half wont touch it if I do.

 

[4HAND]

Change of plans. I realized I wasn't gonna have time to fool with it this weekend. Our VBS starts tomorrow night, so I put the venison back in the freezer.