Old Fashioned Venison Sausage
There’s no shortage of venison sausages you can make, but I keep coming back to this simple old-fashioned venison sausage recipe.
If you search this site, you will see I’ve made plenty of venison sausages, from Italian sausage to smoked sausage, yet the old-fashioned is one of my favorites.
Ingredients
While there are no hard and fast rules when making this recipe, there are a few best practices.
Fat
You are going to need fat. For this recipe, I did this two ways to add flavor.
- Back fat – This is the typical fat that you use for most sausage mixes. It’s nothing but fat, and it’s what helps prevent the sausage from drying out and helps keep it together.
- Pork Belly – I didn’t want to use only fat for this sausage. I find that I can add more flavor and better consistency to the sausage by using pork belly, which is about 50% fat.
Sage
What is an old-fashioned sausage without sage? We can be generous here as it will be the main seasoning for the sausage. I recommend only using dry sage as it is more potent and imparts much more flavor.
Onion
Given that sage plays a leading role in this recipe, it’s only natural that onion plays support. While this can be done with grated onion, I find that dried onion powder works well. It mixes better and has more potency.
Sugar
The sugar in this recipe does two things. First, it adds a little sweetness, a welcome change from many salty recipes. Secondly, because I like to keep some of this sausage loose, it helps with browning.
Uses For Old Fashioned Sausage
One of the greatest things about this recipe is its versatility. I’ve used this sausage in so many ways. You can stuff in and make links or leave it loose and make patties.
If you are looking for more ideas, your imagination is the only limit. I’ve used this sausage in pierogis, sausage rolls, scotch eggs, sausage and egg sandwiches, and many more recipes.
Old Fashioned Venison Sausage
Ingredients
- 5.5 lb venison
- 13 ounces pork belly
- 13 ounces pork fat
- 6 tablespoons dried sage
- 3 tablespoon fresh parsley
- 2 tablespoons cane sugar
- 2 tablespoon dried onion
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 tablespoon telicherry pepper
- 5 tablespoons bredcrumbs
- 3 egg whites
Instructions
- Before starting, place your grinder pieces and bowls in the freezer 45 minutes before you begin.
- Starting with very cold meat, trim and chop the venison. Chop the pork belly and fat.
- In a large container, or two smaller ones, add the meat and fat. Add the sage, cane sugar, dried onion, pepper, add parsley if dried (not fresh), and mix well.
- Return the seasoned meat to the refrigerator.
- when the meat is cold and slightly stiff outside, add your fresh parsley.
- Set up your grinder with a medium dye. Grind the meat making sure to alternate fat and meat into the grinder.
- Pour the egg whites over the ground meat, and mix thoroughly until the mixture becomes sticky.
- If you are making links, return mixture to freezer soak your casing in warm water for 30 minutes. Place you stuffer in the freezer to cool also.
- When ready, gently put the casing onto the end of the tube. Fill the stuffer with the mixture. Using steady pressure begin filling the casing.
- Tie off the sausage links and hang for 2 hours to overnight in a cool place or refrigerator.
