Less than happy with my efforts at grinding my own sausage

[antharper]

You use the spicy leggs seasoning don't you?

Yes , either , the spicy isn’t very spicy

 

[godogs57]

It sounds like you may have added the seasoning after you had it ground. If that’s the case, I wonder if the mixing was the problem. You may find a couple packs that blow your socks off if that happened. I always add seasoning to meat chunks, then run it through the grinder twice. I mix by hand after the first and second grind. I use a pack of seasoning to about 20 pounds of meat and to me it is plenty flavorful. I’m with NCHillbilly, I don’t love venison for breakfast sausage. Seems like no matter what it turns out drier than I want it. Breakfast sausage should be pork as far as I’m concerned and venison goes into other sausages. Don’t give up though

I added it after the grind, but took my time distributing it evenly. I‘ve made it before…just not in about 25 years. All anyone was saying was 60/40 ratio since it was deer. May back off a bit. That last batch I cooked up, you could tell it was off at first bite. That fat went bad. Fast.

 

[Paymaster]

Still gotta do this.

 

[Spotlite]

Santa brought me a nice grinder for Christmas as I’ve been wanting to grind my own deer sausage. Didn’t get around to grinding until early February. Wanted to grind a small batch, taste test, adjust from there.

Took a nice doe after New Years and cut her up in chunks appropriate size to grind. Batch #1: 5# of deer meat, 3.5# pork fat given to me by my deer processor buddy, frozen. Ground beautifully, mixed in Leggs #10. Nine pounds of product…put in enough Leggs for 15#. So far so good.

Next day sausage biscuits for breakfast. You had to know it was sausage while you were eating it….the flavor was so faint you would have never guessed it if you didn’t already know. Almost twice the rate and no taste? Dang.

Tried a second package this past Sunday morning before church. Almost inedible. No flavor and it had a funky flavor indicating the pork fat had gone south on me. Five weeks or so after it was ground and the fat was already bad? It was vacuum sealed and frozen!

Alright experts…what did I do wrong with respect to flavor and longevity?

Thanks so much for pointing me in the right direction in advance.

Did you use leaf fat? Leaf fat doesn’t do great at all for sausage…..it’s used for lard. Double check - might be your issue.

The no flavor is an indicator.

 

[godogs57]

Did you use leaf fat? Leaf fat doesn’t do great at all for sausage…..it’s used for lard. Double check - might be your issue.

The no flavor is an indicator.

I bought some from my deer processor. Obviously what he uses to process his sausage, which is pretty good itself. Thinking on this next batch I’ll just chunk up a pork butt and go from there. Maybe not 60/40 this time as well.

I was really at a loss about the lack of flavor intensity though…it should have been good. The batch we cooked up the day after grinding was good. The fat had not gone south yet, but just not much sausage flavor.

Thanks for your mention of leaf fat and how it could possibly alter the flavor.

All this is exactly why I only ground a few pounds first. Knew it’d be a learning curve.

back to work

 

[kingfish]

Tried the grinding thing on a hog I killed this season. Used Leggs and 3 packs of cheap bacon. I didn't use enough Leggs, but it didn't taste bad, more like seasoned hamburger. Started using spicy taco seasoning when I take a pound out and it tastes great from the frying pan. A buddy of mine with way more experience in grinding than me says they will cook up some sausage as they are grinding to determine if they need more seasoning or less. Sounds like a pretty good idea.

 

[godogs57]

Tried the grinding thing on a hog I killed this season. Used Leggs and 3 packs of cheap bacon. I didn't use enough Leggs, but it didn't taste bad, more like seasoned hamburger. Started using spicy taco seasoning when I take a pound out and it tastes great from the frying pan. A buddy of mine with way more experience in grinding than me says they will cook up some sausage as they are grinding to determine if they need more seasoning or less. Sounds like a pretty good idea.

Yes. We always cooked up a sausage patty back in the day to determine flavor and intensity. I’ve always heard you need for the sausage to sit in the fridge for 24 hours before freezing so the seasoning could permeate the meat.
We’d fry up a patty mainly to get a rough estimate of flavor and “heat” if grinding on the warmish side. Because it hadn’t “set” for 24 hours at that point, the best you could expect was just an estimate…

 

[K80Shooter]

The last batch that I did, I cut up the meat one day, added the seasoning, tossed/mixed and then refrigerated overnight then ground it the next day. Honestly, I did not like it. The texture of the sausage was not the same.

From now on I'll go back to my old way of adding the seasoning, tossing/mixing and straight into the grinder then freeze it the same day. I do cut it up the day before.

 

[elfiii]

I bought some from my deer processor. Obviously what he uses to process his sausage, which is pretty good itself. Thinking on this next batch I’ll just chunk up a pork butt and go from there. Maybe not 60/40 this time as well.

I was really at a loss about the lack of flavor intensity though…it should have been good. The batch we cooked up the day after grinding was good. The fat had not gone south yet, but just not much sausage flavor.

Thanks for your mention of leaf fat and how it could possibly alter the flavor.

All this is exactly why I only ground a few pounds first. Knew it’d be a learning curve.

back to work

You are not alone. I have 3 lbs of venison breakfast sausage left that I just can't bring myself to thaw out and cook or throw it away. My venison summer sausage is to die for but I don't believe I'll even be feeding the breakfast stuff to the dog. He doesn't deserve to be treated like that. I'm thinking I can hide the lack of flavor in some chili.

 

[godogs57]

You are not alone. I have 3 lbs of venison breakfast sausage left that I just can't bring myself to thaw out and cook or throw it away. My venison summer sausage is to die for but I don't believe I'll even be feeding the breakfast stuff to the dog. He doesn't deserve to be treated like that. I'm thinking I can hide the lack of flavor in some chili.

That’s an idea…..chili

 

[K80Shooter]

You are not alone. I have 3 lbs of venison breakfast sausage left that I just can't bring myself to thaw out and cook or throw it away. My venison summer sausage is to die for but I don't believe I'll even be feeding the breakfast stuff to the dog. He doesn't deserve to be treated like that. I'm thinking I can hide the lack of flavor in some chili.

That’s an idea…..chili

If I wouldn't eat it as sausage, then I wouldn't ruin a good batch of chili with it. Toss it and move on. JMHO

 

[Mars]

You have to use a meat grinder. The belt grinder you use on your knives don't work on meat so well.

 

[godogs57]

You have to use a meat grinder. The belt grinder you use on your knives don't work on meat so well.

Oh, now you tell me….good Lord….

 

[Nicodemus]

No! Don`t use it in chili. You`ll ruuurrn both!

 

[fireman32]

I mix mine 4:1 deer to Boston butt. Tried straight pork fat, but prefer using Boston butt. The flavor was off after about 6 months in the freezer when I used straight pork fat. Leggs #10 and the spicey one, can’t remember the number of it. I’ll add a little red pepper as well. I also prefer making link sausage for grilling, the patty has good flavor but as others have said it can be easily overcooked and dry out.
I also bought a manual mixer, that made a considerable difference in consistent flavoring.

 

[NCHillbilly]

I added it after the grind, but took my time distributing it evenly. I‘ve made it before…just not in about 25 years. All anyone was saying was 60/40 ratio since it was deer. May back off a bit. That last batch I cooked up, you could tell it was off at first bite. That fat went bad. Fast.

As has been mentioned, I have much, much better results adding the seasoning to the meat before grinding it than mixing it into the ground meat afterwards. This is the way the butcher shops do it, too.

 

[godogs57]

As has been mentioned, I have much, much better results adding the seasoning to the meat before grinding it than mixing it into the ground meat afterwards. This is the way the butcher shops do it, too.

Learning as I go! Thanks NC.

 

[Studawg170]

Think I’ll try a butt next time and add some red pepper next time. The pork fat was fresh and frozen when my deer processor gave it to me.

I do butts.

Leggs plus some sage and red pepper. Season then grind. Also let the seasoning sit on the meat in the fridge for a while before grinding. We grind our own all the time.

That fat might have been tainted from the get-go

 

[godogs57]

I do butts.

Leggs plus some sage and red pepper. Season then grind. Also let the seasoning sit on the meat in the fridge for a while before grinding. We grind our own all the time.

That fat might have been tainted from the get-go

First batch the next day was ok. A week later the next package had gone south. It's gonna be a butt next time.