Venison sausage mix
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I’m trying to understand the ratio of venison to pork to fat ratio.
For example: if I have 10 pounds of venison and I want to do a 50/50 mix with pork I’ll need 10 pounds of pork The shoulder is generally 20% fat, so by combining the two I’ll only have 10% fat mixed in, and I’ll need to add more. Is this correct?
What percentage of fat makes a good juicy venison sausage?
Thank you.
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Jonathon Team Blue Admin Walton's Employee Power User Kansas Dry Cured Sausagereplied to kb2112 on last edited by
kb2112 The ideal thing to use would be actual pork fat from a butcher but that can be hard to find, untrimmed pork butt however is available in most grocery stores or butcher shops. 20% fat content for an untrimmed pork butt would be pretty lean, we find they are generally closer to 30% and some have larger fat caps that can increase that even further.
However, your math is correct, if you are looking for a true 50/50 split you will end up with somewhere around 15% fat which is a little leaner than is ideal. My first suggestion would be to try to get some pork fat from a butcher and add that to get your fat up to about 20-25% range, which is what we think is a good range for a juicy product. If you cannot find any fat then yes, add more pork butt than to get a better ratio.
Let me know if you need anything else!
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I agree with Jon, it’s hard to find a butcher that will sell fat only so i stopped trying and i don’t like the idea of using the fake stuff. I blend my sausage 50% venison and 50% pork with the biggest fat cap on it i can find. The key is not cooking the fat out of it. Run the smoker up slowly, taking longer to reach temp is wayyyyyy better than overcooking it for sure. You should be able to reach temp and get a quality smoke in 4-6 hours. Error on the side of slower is better till you get a feel for it.
Keep a temp log every 15 min if you aren’t comfortable yet with your smoker or if you get a new unit until you learn the quirks. -
kb2112 One other option if you cannot get pork fat would be to add extra beef fat. Pork fat is better to use than beef fat, but if you need extra fat, and beef happens to be easier to get, it’s definitely not a bad option to still increase your lean to fat ratio.
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Austin
I’ve never used beef fat, heard about people doing it. A butcher shop/deli here in Rochester renders down the beef fat and fries french fries in it…amazing! There is a sweetness to it and with a generous dusting of salt is delicious. -
Austin do you use the 20 - 25% fat to venison for summer sausage, snack sticks, and ground jerky? Would you recommend adding 25 % pork fat to the venison, cure, seasonings, binder, mix, stuff in to 2.9 x 20 " fibrous castings I let them set in the refrigerator for 3 days put in the freezer for a little while till partial frozen slice on my slicer and put in the dehydrator.
On some batches I had little drops of fat on the jerky that I wiped off with paper towels?Great job I enjoy your forum I think you are starting to build a community.
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Papa Gale
I use 20% to 25% on summer sausage and snack sticks. For ground and formed jerky, I’d go as lean as possible and get towards 10% fat or less if possible.On your summer sausage process… are you ever actually cooking it in an oven or smoker? I read it as there isn’t a cook process before you get to the dehydrator. I’ve never heard of someone doing it that way before. I would recommend smoking/cooking the summer sausage, then slicing, and just skip the entire dehydrator portion. Let me know if I mis-read part of that though, and I can chime in with some extra thoughts.
Thanks for the compliments on the community!!!
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Yes Austin I cook-smoke my summer sausage and snack sticks in the smoker.I do not cook or smoke my ground meat jerky. Seasoning and cure I stuff it in a casing put it in refrigerator for a couple of days put it in the freezer for a hour or two them on the meat slicer cut 1/4" x 2 1/2" medallions put them in the dehydrator for about 20 hours or till it gets the texture I like.
