Pressure Canning Venison and Sausage Patties

[Sapper.dawg]

I was skunked the final weekend of the deer season here in Alabama, so I decided to try out pressure canning some venison, wild hog and sausage patties.



This is the first time I have done this, and the canner is a Christmas gift from the wife this year. One jar of venison didn't seal, so we are eating it now. Results: if you are not preserving at least some of your game this way, you need to. The raw pack venison is fork tender with a great flavor.

We made some tacos with the canned venison that didn't seal:



Here are the jars of sausage patties prior to opening (pork on the left - notice the rendered fat in the jar):



Naked patties prior to browning (pork to the left):



And in the pan browning (venison patty on top, note the canned venison chunks browning for the tacos):



Summary: The venison patties were good. Held their flavor, and texture. The regular store bought (Tennessee Pride) sausage patties held their flavor, but had a very mushy texture.

Conclusion: The venison sausage was the clear winner here, primarily due to the texture component. I made the venison sausage with a 1:4 pork butt to venison ratio, so that was probably around 10 or 12% fat when all is said and done, and was coarse ground. I think that is why it held the texture so much better than the pork. The pork was fine ground and probably around 40% fat.

Recommendation: If you make your own pork or venison sausage, this is a great way to make breakfast more convenient and clear some freezer space. Just be sure to keep the fat to around 10% and keep the grind coarse. I put these up in half-pint jars for the test run, but those will work fine for my small crew. I will also put up a batch in wide mouth pint jars, which will allow for more and thicker patties.

 

[emrah1028]

I can a lot of stuff, but haven't tried venison yet, but this post is timely because I was going to do it this weekend. What (if any) spices or seasonings did you put in the jars?

Emrah

 

[Sapper.dawg]

I can a lot of stuff, but haven't tried venison yet, but this post is timely because I was going to do it this weekend. What (if any) spices or seasonings did you put in the jars?

Emrah

1 tsp canning salt for the raw pack venison was all I put in the jars tested here. I did some raw packed wild hog along with this, and put 1 tsp canning salt and 1/4 tsp BBQ seasoning - but have not tried those out yet.

I would put a bit less salt in the venison pints next time, probably go with 3/4 or 1/2 tsp. These were on the verge of being too salty.

 

[Walkathon]

I'm a big fan of canning venison as well. I stopped adding salt altogether and really like the flavor. As you said- it is ridiculously tender and we use it for tacos, chili, barbeque deer on buns (just add BBQ sauce) etc..... also started adding vegetables, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste or sauce, some potatoes to the quart jars.. and bang- soup/stew. I only use the wide mouth jars after doing this for the last several years.

Never tried to can sausage. How does the texture turn out?

 

[Muleyfanatic]

I enjoy canned venison also. I use quart jars and 2 beef bouillon cubes in them. I like to brown it put on toast with a little mayo, tomato, and lettuce.

 

[Sapper.dawg]

Never tried to can sausage. How does the texture turn out?

Venison sausage turned out great, I think due to the lower fat content and more coarse grind. It still had a firmness to it, and was not fall apart tender. The commerical pork sausage was was very mushy and would not have held up in a biscuit.

I will be canning more homemade sausage patties in the future, for sure.

 

[emrah1028]

Did you raw pack or did you add water?

Emrah

 

[Sapper.dawg]

Did you raw pack or did you add water?

Emrah

Venison and wild hog were raw packed, sausage patties were hot packed with their own broth.

 

[maxx]

I will be interested to hear how the wild pork turns out. We are going pig hunting next month.

I just got into canning venison and it is now one of our favorites. We have gone through 12 pints in the last two months. Make some mash potatoes and gravy. Mix the canned meat and gravy through on mashed taters and cover in shredded cheddar. We call em hot beef Sunday's.

 

[belly-deep]

I canned a bunch of venison a few years ago. It was great for tacos and French dip sandwiches.

I experimented with a bunch of different recipes. Couldn't tell much difference in taste when I opened them.

 

[F250]

I too have canned venison for many years. Instead of grinding the trimmings into burger, I'll can it with about 3/4 tsp. of salt and a couple shakes of Montreal Steak Seasoning. I share the canned venison with some of the landowners where I hunt - always a big hit.

 

[Big Slick]

Looks great! We haven't used mule deer for canning but we used blacktail many times. When in hunting camp I like to put canned venison in fried potatoes, best hash ever. It's also great in spaghetti.

 

[homestead]

I recently started canning venison also and it's great. I really enjoy it in spaghetti. A couple questions. From the top photo it looks like you're using a two burner turkey fryer, how well does that work for you?, any problems with the heat? What brand of canner is that and how do you like it so far? Thanks

 

[Sapper.dawg]

I recently started canning venison also and it's great. I really enjoy it in spaghetti. A couple questions. From the top photo it looks like you're using a two burner turkey fryer, how well does that work for you?, any problems with the heat? What brand of canner is that and how do you like it so far? Thanks

My cooker is a two-burner Camp Chef...cant remember the exact model number. It has worked fine for all types of cooking, and I use it often.

The only thing it has not excelled on was frying a turkey...I don't think it put enough BTUs out, and the grade may have been a bit too high from the burner for that application, but it worked fine with the pressure canner.

The canner is an All American 921 - made in the USA. It will hold 19 pints or 7 quarts, is very heavy duty (and heavy), and I like it so far. There are no gaskets, it is a metal-to-metal seal, and I like things with less failure points. I would definitely recommend this product.

 

[Z Barebow]

Has anyone canned ground venison? Do you brown it before you can it?

Same for venison Italian sausage?

My thought is it would be convenient to have ready ground venison for sloppy joe's, bbq, pizza or spaghetti. So all I have to do is grab it off the shelf and dump it into whatever recipe needed.

I have done venison chunks and it turned out very well. I am out so this thread has got me planning an upcoming weekend project!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Rick-with-a-Knife]

We've hot-pack canned wild hogs and venison for years. It's easy, and saves a ton of freezer space!

Cut the meat into 1-2" cubes, and sear in a big skillet. Pack the seared meat into a wide-mouth jar, add 2 teaspoons of canning salt, and 2 teaspoons of powdered beef bouillon. Pour beef-broth over meat until jar is 2/3 full, wipe off the rim, and seal. Pressure-can about 90 minutes at 12-13# (depends on your altitude above sea-level).

Meat is super tender and tastes fantastic. For variety, we sometimes add vegetable bouillon and/or (brown-sugar-based) pork seasoning. Just date & label the lids, and put on a shelf in your pantry.

 

[blackdawg]

I would like to hear as many recipes/uses/ideas as possible for the canned venison. We scored a huge deal on wide mouth Ball canning jars and our freezer will stay full from the garden and lake, spare room in the freezer would be a good thing if it's a really long winter. Let's see some ideas,