Venison Sausage Base Recipe

[BadRabbit]

I have a considerable amount of venison scraps from ends of loins. I plan to make some deer sausage and need a recipe that will get me started from a seasoning and overall % point.

These are things I plan to include but do not necessarily have to be in the base recipe:

Fatty pork butt

Pork back fat

Trehalose for sweetening (also for its water retention and freezing attributes)

Possibly milk powder as additional binder/water retainer ( I need some guidance on %)

Also toying with the idea of adding some bacon

I tried the Ruhlman recipe but did not like it smoked (I liked it OK unsmoked) and thought it was a little too far for me to use as my base. I don't want to spend several days/batches to adjust it to my liking.

[thirtyoneknots]

I've never tried the Ruhlman venison sausage but it seems rather too busy to me. I'd be inclined to go easy, just do some salt, pepper, cayenne, maybe mustard seeds. Being Texan I'm partial to Pecan smoke but oak would be a good choice for this too. And beware of making it too lean, esp if you are using loin trim. Maybe do 40% venison trim, 40% pork butt, 20$ fatback. Dang I have plenty of venison for grinding in the freezer, I might make some of this too.

[BadRabbit]

I've never tried the Ruhlman venison sausage but it seems rather too busy to me. I'd be inclined to go easy, just do some salt, pepper, cayenne, maybe mustard seeds. Being Texan I'm partial to Pecan smoke but oak would be a good choice for this too. And beware of making it too lean, esp if you are using loin trim. Maybe do 40% venison trim, 40% pork butt, 20$ fatback. Dang I have plenty of venison for grinding in the freezer, I might make some of this too.

This is the one I think I may go with. It's pretty fatty but still utilizes a high ratio of venison. I will probably swap out the dextrose with trehalose and I'll leave out the Sodium Erythorbate.

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/VenisonSmokedSausage.pdf

Also, I wonder about the whiskey. I've never put something that high proof in a sausage.

Edited January 26, 2012 by BadRabbit (log)

[Kouign Aman]

I'm pretty sure SnowAngel posted about venison sausage at some time past. Have you checked Recipe Gullet?

Yup, here's a recipe : snowangel's venison sausage

although I see it may be the Ruhlman recipe of which you are not enamoured.

There are more possibilities if you use the advanced search, author snowangel, search terms venison sausage.

I hope this helps.

Edited January 26, 2012 by Kouign Aman (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

That Len Poli recipe looks terrific, haven't thought about that in a long while. But yeah I don't think I'd put that much whiskey, unless maybe you wanted to get an oz of it and make up the rest with water. Me, I'd just do water.

edit: clarity

Edited January 26, 2012 by thirtyoneknots (log)

[BadRabbit]

That Len Poli recipe looks terrific, haven't thought about that in a long while. But yeah I don't think I'd put that much whiskey, unless maybe you wanted to get an oz of it and make up the rest with water. Me, I'd just do water.

edit: clarity

I'm either going to go straight water or I may reduce some whiskey to remove some of the alcohol and then add water back.

I just noticed that this recipe has a really long cold smoke (1 full day). That's a lot of cycles on my a-maze-n smoke generator. I may pull some after 16 hours (2 cycles) and some after 24 (3 cycles) to determine whether I think it really needs the full 24 hrs.

[thirtyoneknots]

I was going to just hot smoke it, doesn't seem like it should matter all that much really as long as it doesn't dry out.

What do you think heating the whiskey will do that just watering it down won't? I don't think it's the most efficient way to remove significant alcohol content.

[BadRabbit]

I was going to just hot smoke it, doesn't seem like it should matter all that much really as long as it doesn't dry out.

What do you think heating the whiskey will do that just watering it down won't? I don't think it's the most efficient way to remove significant alcohol content.

I like cold smoking because it eliminates the possibility of overcooking and I can control the smoke better. If somethings not smoky enough, I can just keep it on for longer. I cold smoke all my sausage and bacon.

My thought on the whiskey is that you can keep more of the whiskey flavor by reducing and adding water back. I understand that all the alcohol is not going away but you can make significant reductions over a long simmer. I'll taste it at the end against a watered down whiskey to decide if it's worth the effort in the future.

[thirtyoneknots]

I was going to just hot smoke it, doesn't seem like it should matter all that much really as long as it doesn't dry out.

What do you think heating the whiskey will do that just watering it down won't? I don't think it's the most efficient way to remove significant alcohol content.

I like cold smoking because it eliminates the possibility of overcooking and I can control the smoke better. If somethings not smoky enough, I can just keep it on for longer. I cold smoke all my sausage and bacon.

My thought on the whiskey is that you can keep more of the whiskey flavor by reducing and adding water back. I understand that all the alcohol is not going away but you can make significant reductions over a long simmer. I'll taste it at the end against a watered down whiskey to decide if it's worth the effort in the future.

Well yes if you've got the setup, cold smoking would be preferred. I don't, at least not ready to go.

I can't imagine you'd be able to cook a distilled spirit that long without altering its flavor pretty significantly, after all everything in the bottle has already proved that it is volatile as it passed through a still, except maybe the woody compounds. I'd be interested to hear what you find in trying it.

[BadRabbit]

I was going to just hot smoke it, doesn't seem like it should matter all that much really as long as it doesn't dry out.

What do you think heating the whiskey will do that just watering it down won't? I don't think it's the most efficient way to remove significant alcohol content.

I like cold smoking because it eliminates the possibility of overcooking and I can control the smoke better. If somethings not smoky enough, I can just keep it on for longer. I cold smoke all my sausage and bacon.

My thought on the whiskey is that you can keep more of the whiskey flavor by reducing and adding water back. I understand that all the alcohol is not going away but you can make significant reductions over a long simmer. I'll taste it at the end against a watered down whiskey to decide if it's worth the effort in the future.

Well yes if you've got the setup, cold smoking would be preferred. I don't, at least not ready to go.

I can't imagine you'd be able to cook a distilled spirit that long without altering its flavor pretty significantly, after all everything in the bottle has already proved that it is volatile as it passed through a still, except maybe the woody compounds. I'd be interested to hear what you find in trying it.

I am guessing it will change the flavor a bit but we'll see. I've cooked with whiskey in long braises before and it definitely doesn't produce bad flavors. I'm hoping any changes will not be negative ones.

If you need a cold smoke setup, I highly recommend the A-maze-n smoker generators. You can use them in a grill, a smoker or even just a cardboard box with holes cut in it and a rack inside. Best $40 I've spent in a while.

http://www.amazenproducts.com/

[thirtyoneknots]

I have the materials with which to devise a cold smoking setup, I just haven't gotten around to actually manufacturing the thing. Hopefully before the cool weather ends, I'll get to it.

[BadRabbit]

Made the sausages last night and they are in the process of smoking. Pulled off some after 12 hrs but they didn't have the smoke level I wanted.

I made a few changes to the original recipe:

1) Used trehalose instead of dextrose (and upped it to 11g)

2) I assumed the chipotle called for was powder and I had none so I used canned and quadrupled to 12g. Next time I may go for 15g to 20g as I could not really taste the chipotle in the final product.

3) Added crushed red pepper to half the recipe (about 3g) since I like mine hot and my wife does not.

I will post pictures when they are finished smoking.

[Rico]

BadRabbit, you inspired me, and Kouign Aman, thank you for providing Snowangel's recipe based on Ruhlman's book.

Talk about a team effort.

Unfortunately, it was my unskilled hands doing the work, though I was pleased by the stuffing efforts relative to my previous tries - fried up a small link afterwords, and there's some joy to be found in a first real sausage-making success. I substituted currants for dried cherries, though, and only had two pounds of venison, so pork butt was substituted for the other pound and a half it called for.

It will go on the smoker tomorrow over cherry wood, hot(ish) smoked hard around 175F for a few hours. I will report back - there's a braised red cabbage recipe in Robuchon that sounds like it's going to go great with it. And yes, those are twist-ties.

[thirtyoneknots]

Finally got around to grinding and binding the Len Poli recipe last night, I'll stuff and hang today, probably smoke tomorrow. Only mod I did was to water down the whiskey--1.5 oz bonded Bourbon made up to 4 oz with water. Probably wasn't necessary, but what the hey.

Skillet test revealed a lovely, subtle sausage even without the smoke. I'd gladly eat all 6 lbs as fresh sausage, truth be told!

Had a little more venison so I also did a batch of the Bratwurst from Ruhlman/Polcyn subbing venison for the veal, and giving another go to the venison terrine from the same book. When I tried it before it broke, but I'm hoping more careful technique plus my spiffy new LC terrine my wife gave me for Christmas will make the difference this time.

[BadRabbit]

Finally got around to grinding and binding the Len Poli recipe last night, I'll stuff and hang today, probably smoke tomorrow. Only mod I did was to water down the whiskey--1.5 oz bonded Bourbon made up to 4 oz with water. Probably wasn't necessary, but what the hey.

Skillet test revealed a lovely, subtle sausage even without the smoke. I'd gladly eat all 6 lbs as fresh sausage, truth be told!

Had a little more venison so I also did a batch of the Bratwurst from Ruhlman/Polcyn subbing venison for the veal, and giving another go to the venison terrine from the same book. When I tried it before it broke, but I'm hoping more careful technique plus my spiffy new LC terrine my wife gave me for Christmas will make the difference this time.

After I finished smoking, I let it sit for a day and then grilled some. It's pretty damned good though next time I'll probably increase all the other seasonings except the salt and garlic. The thyme is completely lost and I'd like to taste a little more paprika/chipotle.

I did a blinded test with the whiskey using multiple dilutions and one that I had simmered for an hour and had added water back to at the end.

The results:

I could easily tell which ones were which. The simmered whiskey had none of the "hot" flavors of whiskey/alcohol but was still very woody and identifiable as bourbon. The others were much more alcoholic tasting but also more complex. Overall, I'm betting the additional complexity would be lost in the final product anyway.

My next test will be to use full strength whiskey in the recipe and see if alcohol is that detrimental to taste/texture anyway to determine if it's worth the simmer step.

Edited February 2, 2012 by BadRabbit (log)

[thirtyoneknots]

Finally got around to grinding and binding the Len Poli recipe last night, I'll stuff and hang today, probably smoke tomorrow. Only mod I did was to water down the whiskey--1.5 oz bonded Bourbon made up to 4 oz with water. Probably wasn't necessary, but what the hey.

Skillet test revealed a lovely, subtle sausage even without the smoke. I'd gladly eat all 6 lbs as fresh sausage, truth be told!

Had a little more venison so I also did a batch of the Bratwurst from Ruhlman/Polcyn subbing venison for the veal, and giving another go to the venison terrine from the same book. When I tried it before it broke, but I'm hoping more careful technique plus my spiffy new LC terrine my wife gave me for Christmas will make the difference this time.

After I finished smoking, I let it sit for a day and then grilled some. It's pretty damned good though next time I'll probably increase all the other seasonings except the salt and garlic. The thyme is completely lost and I'd like to taste a little more paprika/chipotle.

I did a blinded test with the whiskey using multiple dilutions and one that I had simmered for an hour and had added water back to at the end.

The results:

I could easily tell which ones were which. The simmered whiskey had none of the "hot" flavors of whiskey/alcohol but was still very woody and identifiable as bourbon. The others were much more alcoholic tasting but also more complex. Overall, I'm betting the additional complexity would be lost in the final product anyway.

Oh right. I eyeballed the garlic--about 4 small cloves--and used dried thyme. Those are almost automatic things I do for sausage so it didn't initially register as a modification to the recipe in my brain.

[thirtyoneknots]

BadRabbit, what kind(s) of wood did you use when smoking? I am generally inclined towards pecan or a pecan/hickory mix. Got any thoughts?

[BadRabbit]

BadRabbit, what kind(s) of wood did you use when smoking? I am generally inclined towards pecan or a pecan/hickory mix. Got any thoughts?

I used pure hickory because I cold smoked it which gives me better control over smoke content.

It's easy to overdo hickory on a hot smoke so I usually blend hickory with apple or some other subtle flavored wood when using that method.

Edited February 2, 2012 by BadRabbit (log)