Deer sausage day

[Gellar]

Every year a friends family and my family get together and process our deer into diffferent sausages. We wait until March or April because that seems to work best for everyone. When we are finished we will have about 250 lbs total of different flavors of summer sausage, ring bologna, hot sticks, and brats. I will try to post some pictures later tonight or tomorrow, but it usually is a pretty late night with the beer and whiskey flowing. The later the night, the spicier or more exotic the different sausages get. To smoke all of that meat in a timely fashion we have worked out a deal with an Amish guy who processes his own meat and has a big smoke house. We will bring all of our meat to him on Monday and he will have it smoked by Wednesday. The total price is usually around a dollar per pound, which beats the locker starting at 3.50/lb.

 

[shannerdrake]

I’m looking forward to some pics!

 

[JShane]

You have my attention.

 

[duckhunt]

Today deer sausage, tomorrow hangover recovery.

 

[Gellar]

Everything is done in 25 lb batches. This is 17.5 venison 7.5pork.

 

[Gellar]

We get our spices and casings from waldens. They give a base mixture and we add to it. This summer sausage has cheese and jalapeño

 

[Gellar]

Before everyone goes home for the season we cut all our meat into grinder size pieces.

 

[Gellar]

we have 3 grinders and 2 sausage stuffers as a group, This year we only used 1 grinder plus the 2 stuffers.

 

[Gellar]

Finished product, now just to vac seal and freeze.
For reference the log is about 18” or 3.5 lbs before smoked.

Snack sticks. They are made in a long rope about the diameter of your pinky finger and I’ll cut them in 6” pieces

 

[1_pointer]

That's very cool!! 'Twould love to have a group that does that. Most I know around here don't even process their own deer.

Local butcher does a bag up job for under $3/lb and only takes boned meat. I took them two different deer this year. Very much dig the snack sticks and am happy to pay them to not have to mess with those small casings.

 

[Boarmaster]

Nice

 

[Nick87]

I think we did about the same volume last year plus geese. Always a good time! Did mine myself this year as time didnt allow for all of us to get together. If it's anything like when we do it there is a LOT of beer being drank!

 

[Gellar]

That's very cool!! 'Twould love to have a group that does that. Most I know around here don't even process their own deer.

Local butcher does a bag up job for under $3/lb and only takes boned meat. I took them two different deer this year. Very much dig the snack sticks and am happy to pay them to not have to mess with those small casings.

The sticks suck. If they weren’t so good it wouldn’t be worth the effort. An upright stuffer is key, but it still sucks.

I don’t know anyone who processes their own deer. A lot of the lockers changed their rules this year with Covid and only took deer on the carcass. Knowing I am getting back my own deer is huge for me. I take extra effort from the time it’s shot to the time it’s in finished in the freezer to ensure it’s good!

 

[Gellar]

I think we did about the same volume last year plus geese. Always a good time! Did mine myself this year as time didnt allow for all of us to get together. If it's anything like when we do it there is a LOT of beer being drank!

We did about 150 lbs of venison + pork. We shoot for 150-200 lbs of venison so we were down this year too. It didn’t help that one deer we had to throw out when we were butchering it. It had a massive puss pocket around an old injury and the whole thing just stunk.
We drank a lot of beer. By the end 3 of us were left so we finished a bottle of tullamore dew. My head hurt the next day.