Sausage making question.

[blackbetty61]

cayenneman I’ve only been using binders for a year, before that I never used them either until finding Walton’s website. From what I gather is the binder helps the fat bind to the meat so there’s less of a chance of fat out which is when the fat gets between the casing and meat and it helps your meat retain moisture…I believe…by the way your at the right place…meatgistics has a ton of good information, I’ve only tried the carrot fiber one can’t speak of the other ones but the carrot fiber holds a lot of water Walton’s has some great videos on binders and such

[Jonathon]

cayenneman What blackbetty61 says about the binders is true, it is the best thing to add to help prevent fatting out. The Sure Gel and the Soy Protein Blend both speed up and help with protein extraction as they are adding more protein to the mix and they are designed to “gum up” and bind things together. The Carrot Fiber doesn’t add any protein but it can hold up to 26 times its weight in water so it does a great job in keeping your sausage moist. The Super Bind is a blend of Carrot Fiber and Potato Starch. It gives you the water holding ability of the carrot and the potato starch turns into a gel at just about the same temperature as meat will start to expel its water, so it absorbs all of that and keeps it in the sausage.

Ingredients of the seasoning absolutely play a role in forming the consistency of the sausage, this is especially true of salt content. If you are looking to firm up your sausage my first recommendation would be to follow deplorablenc1’s advice and go with a pre-packaged seasoning. However, if you want to keep using your homemade recipe then I would use either Super Bind or Sure Gel, the Super Bind is a little more expensive than the other binders but it is worth it when trying to correct a problem.

Post pics when it is done!

[pepaw]

Hello , I have a question about pork fat in venison sausage, almost every recipe I have read calls for pork fat, or pork shoulder, or both. What is better and does it matter if its going into fresh sausage or dried cured sausage? Also what about pork belly, I know its more expensive but to me it just looks like the perfect pork mixture of fat and lean, any thoughts or experience with using pork belly?
Thanks

[processhead]

pepaw said in Sausage making question.:

Hello , I have a question about pork fat in venison sausage, almost every recipe I have read calls for pork fat, or pork shoulder, or both. What is better and does it matter if its going into fresh sausage or dried cured sausage? Also what about pork belly, I know its more expensive but to me it just looks like the perfect pork mixture of fat and lean, any thoughts or experience with using pork belly?
Thanks

The key principle here is to get the right balance of lean meat to fat and this applies to fresh and cured sausages.

If you are starting with venison for the lean meat, you can assume it is nearly 100% lean and zero fat.

The challenge when using a very lean meat like venison is that it takes a lot of fat to get to a good ratio for making sausage and most of the readily available fresh meats are already trimmed of most of the fat you want.

Sometime it can be difficult to get enough fat from a cut like a pork butt because the pork butt is only 25% fat and the rest is just lean meat like the venison. Unless you only use the trimmed fat cap from several pork butts, it can be impossible to add enough whole pork butt to lean venison to get the right lean to fat ratio for typical sausage styles.

I will usually try to find a source of pure fat or high fat content trimmings. Using a pork belly is a way to do that, but it is also very expensive. If you are trimming your own pork, an untrimmed shoulder roast can have a relatively high fat content.

A better option is to find a source locally that cuts pork and is willing to supply you with fatty pork trimmings. The higher the fat content, the better. Some places cut beef and end up with surplus beef fat which will also work, but is not as desirable as pork fat.

[Dave in AZ]

pepaw
All of what processhead said
Most all books and quality recipe sources recommend 20 to 30% fat, and everyone who has tested that will tell you more is better. So if you use pork shoulder/butt with 20-25% fat, with 0% fat venison, you can never achieve enough. Unless you use trimmings like Paul says above.

Pork butt fat is better than belly fat, it is firmer and harder. Belly will work, but way expensive. I would just go buy some fatty pork shoulder for 1.99$ per lb today at all Frys/Kroger outlets, use the fat, and save the butt for nice pulled pork, roast pork, etc.

Also, everyone usually says pork fat tastes better, but I find that brisket fat still tastes quite good to me. I use brisket fat in my Johnsonville clone brats now and love them. So brisket fat is easy to get when you cook a brisket and trim it off. I also like it a lot in venison snack sticks, because it gives a nice beefy flavor and I like beef snacksticks.

Anyways, just some options. The last of the 3 I would use is pork belly, primarily from cost view but also firm fat that doesn’t render.

[pepaw]

Thanks to dave and processhead, that is exactly the description I needed. I am gonna give it a try this weekend. Its always better to ask questions before a project than after a failure.

[pepaw]

Hello, I have been over researching recipes and information about dry curing venison sausage , I have found a recipe that suits me. I have some concerns about the fermentation period. My recipe calls for insta cure # 2 and starter culture T-SPX, so I think thats all good.

Hang to ferment for 18 hours at 80 degrees F. and 90% humidity, then cold smoke for 4-6 hours, then hang in drying chamber at 55 degrees and 85% humidity for a week then drop humidity to 75% until dry. Does this sound right? I have never fermented any sausage, and the temperature is concerning but just want to make sure, Thanks

[Dave in AZ]

pepaw those all sound accurate for the required temps and humidity for the process.

Recommend you buy book, Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages, by Stanley and Adam Marianski. Fermented sausage has critical knowledge required, if you mess it up people get sick. It has all the info you need. A shorter book on just fermented ones like salami, is The Art of
Making Fermented Sausages, same authors.

Also, feel free to start your own new thread when you have a new question instead of adding to an unrelated 4 yr old thread, will make finding info easier for future readers

Lastly, WELCOME!

[pepaw]

Thank you very much.

[bocephus]

cayenneman I still make some sausage with my own seasoning mix, but I do like the quality I get from Walton’s mixes and also use some of them for sausage.