Meat Processing

@BrianB Are you using a thermometer when you are cooking the sausages and pulling them off when they hit an internal temp of 160? Could be bursting even when the cooking temp is low, if you are getting them too hot.

Wild hogs are very plentiful here in Texas. I use them often, I get the local store butcher to save pork fat for me, from there trimmings. I like at least 20% fat for my sausage by weight. CF

I do the same, also works great for patty sausage to. CF

@mdseaside That’s great! I’m glad it turned out good for you! I’m sure you’ll love the smoked cheddar too. We have been getting a lot of great feedback on the new cheese flavors!

@Gomez I also took the opportunity to point out we needed a bigger dehydrator with a timer Haha! That’s awesome! Keep dropping those hints.

@mdseaside Sounds great! Some wild game meats will have a stronger meat flavor or gamey flavor to them, which will mask a bit more of the seasoning and it won’t be quite what you expect if using just pork/beef/etc. So, if you’ve experienced that with some other bear sausages, you might try, as you suggested, to use a little extra seasoning when making bear sausage. I can’t give you too much detail on how much to use though because I’ve never made bear sausage… One thing that can also affect it is the fat content you use. More fat will help the flavor be a bit stronger and noticeable, so you could try adding a tad bit more pork butt, or just try to use pork with a higher fat % to help increase your overall fat ratio. I notice this a lot when making very lean chicken sausage and the flavor is not as strong with very, very lean meat than if I used the same seasoning in a fattier pork sausage. I hope the pepperoni turns out great for you this weekend!

@WinterSausageFest That is pretty awesome and very creative! Did you end up putting any actual meat in it, or is it entirely a mix of fun fillers?

@dennishoddy You could either use a cover brine, or you could inject the tenderloins with a brine and cure. I’d recommend using the Country Brown Sugar Cure and it is definitely the most popular one to use too. That is a ham cure as well. If you do want to try a bacon cure, the most popular bacon cure is Blue Ribbon Maple Bacon. If you want to use a cover brine, just use 1lb of cure per 1 gallon of water to submerge and soak the tenderloin for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. At the end of 3-4 days, remove from the brine, rinse, and then you can proceed with smoking. Or, you could inject the loins. With injecting, you would want to use 2 lb of Country Brown Cure per 1 gallon of water. You can inject 10% of the total weight of the meat into loins with the cure solution. So if you have 10 lb of tenderloin, inject them with 1 lb of water mixed with 3.2 ounces of cure. After injecting, simply hold overnight in the fridge and then you can smoke and cook it the next day. You should be fine to use the same process for either the ham or bacon cure. Let us know if you have any more questions we can help with!

@hambone I will go through and update our cure recipes with some more information to help make this a little more clear. That instruction is really better suited for injecting bacon. If you want to submerge, soak, and brine the bacon with a cover brine, we recommend using 1 lb of cure per 1 gallon of water for that cover solution. Let me know if I can help out any more!

@Gomez Might be sticking because of the sugar in the seasoning. You might try drying it in the oven on parchment paper sprayed with non stick spray (pam) then transfer to your trays also sprayed. But I am guessing it is the sugar that is giving you the trouble.

I am always looking for new homemade sausage recipes to test. Please post any recipes for your favorite sausages or biggest successes. See attached recipe for my homemade beer bratwurst. Any tips or tricks for incredible results? –Sausage King of Central America [image: 1471112789212-pete-x27-s-beer-bratwurst-5-lb-recipe.png]

[image: 1470501480945-img_1330-1.jpg] Habanero Mango chicken brats, natural hog casings. The test patty was initial sweetness from the mango followed by the heat of the habanero. And whoever said they aren’t very hot is tougher than I am

I agree with processing your own meat. I have found a few seasonings here at Walton’s that I really like and will be placing an order soon for this falls sausage making.

I’ve been processing my game since I started hunt (many years ago) and while it does mess the wife’s kitchen up for a day or so, sure does produce better cuts than having it done at a processing place. Most commercial places are focused on getting stuff out as quick as possible so they’re not going to take the time to get ALL the meat off your animal, and they don’t trim them as well as you will either. I agree, processing it yourself is the only way to go.