Venison/Elk sausage recipe - no Pork?

[Hunter mike]

Does anyone have a recipe for Italian sausage from Deer/Elk/Bear without using Pork for extra fat?  I hate the idea of diluting my meat with an unknown... 

I've seen a breakfast sausage recipe that uses olive oil as the extra fat to keep it from being too dry. 

Also, what do you use to make burger patties - I've seen that some use egg/bread crumbs to help them stick together, again in place of adding Pork fat.

[superdown]

For burger meat we add clean white beef fat it does not effect the flavor in my experience. I have never heard of using pork fat for burger meat. It is very common to use pork for sausage though. I have tried adding bacon to burger and sausage although i love bacon i thought it was disgusting.

[supagoose]

if making sausage your gonna what to add fat to it. My buddy decided he wanted to go the healthy route and not add any fat. Well it didn't turn out so well once its cooked and your eating it, its like eating super dry beef jerky and you pretty much choke on it as it goes down. I do about 3 pounds of elk or deer to 1 pound of pork fat. But burgers by the way will work with no fat added and I actually prefer my elk/deer burgers lean.

[packmule]

Here you go, a good italian sausage recipe without adding fat.  It turns out really good.

Grind 15 lbs game meat with 1 diced onion (the onion helps add flavor and moisture to the meat)

Then mix the meat/onion with the following:
2 3/4 cups red wine
7 Tbsp kosher salt
7 Tbsp fennel
6 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp coriander
3 Tbsp red pepper (or more)
2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds

Once everything is mixed you can freeze for ground sausage, or stuff in casings. . .it's really good both ways.

Try this for the burger patties. . . it sounds backwards but once you try it you won't go back.

Once a pack of burger has mostly thawed, place it in a collander inside a bowl in the refrigerator overnight and let the blood drain out of it.  I know, it seems like this will dry the burger out, but it actually makes the burger better.  Once the blood is drained the burger will hold together well on the grill.  Cook it hot and fast, I think you'll find out that you'll never have to add anything to your healthy game burger again!

Good luck.

[superdown]

Here you go, a good italian sausage recipe without adding fat.  It turns out really good.

Grind 15 lbs game meat with 1 diced onion (the onion helps add flavor and moisture to the meat)

Then mix the meat/onion with the following:
2 3/4 cups red wine
7 Tbsp kosher salt
7 Tbsp fennel
6 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp coriander
3 Tbsp red pepper (or more)
2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds

Once everything is mixed you can freeze for ground sausage, or stuff in casings. . .it's really good both ways.

Try this for the burger patties. . . it sounds backwards but once you try it you won't go back.

Once a pack of burger has mostly thawed, place it in a collander inside a bowl in the refrigerator overnight and let the blood drain out of it.  I know, it seems like this will dry the burger out, but it actually makes the burger better.  Once the blood is drained the burger will hold together well on the grill.  Cook it hot and fast, I think you'll find out that you'll never have to add anything to your healthy game burger again!

Good luck.

That sounds delicious and i will definitely try it. The draining process for the meat is very similar to the dry aging box i made for our roasts which is for our larger cuts before we cook them,

[lokidog]

I haven't added anything to my burger since a few years after moving out of my parents house, 25+ years now.  We like the burger mixed with french onion soup mix and the burgers stay together just fine.  One tip is use the smaller grinding plate if doing it yourself.  I've added bacon which is yummy.

Can't help with the sausage recipe.  We add 1 to 4 lean pork to venison for our pepperoni but the above recipe looks good.

[The Weazle]

I use bacon ends and pieces for burgers…I also mix in some onion soup mix and some worcestershire sauce.  just enough sauce that they aren't "runny", then form into patties and freeze.  I also cook them from frozen, not thawed, and they are juicy and delicious.  I use 10 pounds of venison to 3 pounds of bacon ends and pieces.

For Italian sausage I use the kit from Hi-mountain.  I use about a 12 pound deer and 3 pound pork shoulder mix.  Its kind of dry, so I use olive oil while cooking to keep it from drying out and burning, and then finish off with some red wine in the pan to "de-glaze" it, and its awesome for every use we have found from spaghetti to just patties.

[ICEMAN]

We have always added pork butt to our venison grind. Pork fat has basically no flavor, so your venison shines through.

We add up to 50% pork shoulder or pork butt to deer/elk. Turns out great.

[huntnnw]

I have made several sausages and some with minimal pork added and like said you had to choke it down its really dry and I dont care if your adding something with moisture such as a onion..thats not what gives it the moisture you taste when you buy pork sausage from the store..its the grease and fat in the cooking that gives it that juicy texture.

Grinding bacon in your burger is disgusting? you are the first I have ever heard say this. I have friends making them now after I made them one..my fav is to grind some good smoked bacon into them and add some high temp cheddar to them..awesome!!

[superdown]

Grinding bacon in your burger is disgusting? you are the first I have ever heard say this. I have friends making them now after I made them one..my fav is to grind some good smoked bacon into them and add some high temp cheddar to them..awesome!!

I love bacon cooked ON a burger but uncooked bacon IN a burger is not what i would call good.  The reason everyone in my family doesn't like it is that the bacon doesn't become cooked enough to achieve the texture that isn't off putting.We like the taste of our burger meat and bacon not bacon flavored burger in every bite. To each their own 

[Netminder01]

Here you go, a good italian sausage recipe without adding fat.  It turns out really good.

Grind 15 lbs game meat with 1 diced onion (the onion helps add flavor and moisture to the meat)

Then mix the meat/onion with the following:
2 3/4 cups red wine
7 Tbsp kosher salt
7 Tbsp fennel
6 Tbsp pepper
1 Tbsp coriander
3 Tbsp red pepper (or more)
2 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds

Once everything is mixed you can freeze for ground sausage, or stuff in casings. . .it's really good both ways.

Try this for the burger patties. . . it sounds backwards but once you try it you won't go back.

Once a pack of burger has mostly thawed, place it in a collander inside a bowl in the refrigerator overnight and let the blood drain out of it.  I know, it seems like this will dry the burger out, but it actually makes the burger better.  Once the blood is drained the burger will hold together well on the grill.  Cook it hot and fast, I think you'll find out that you'll never have to add anything to your healthy game burger again!

Good luck.

Yum!  Adding this to my list too!

[boomstick]

Adding fat to meat that has little helps blend the flavor of the spices.

[WDFW Hates ME!!!]

I made my summer sausage 3 elk to 1 pork shoulder.
Breakfast sausage 1 to 1 pork shoulder.

Burger. never

[NOCK NOCK]

Grinding bacon in your burger is disgusting? you are the first I have ever heard say this. I have friends making them now after I made them one..my fav is to grind some good smoked bacon into them and add some high temp cheddar to them..awesome!!

I love bacon cooked ON a burger but uncooked bacon IN a burger is not what i would call good.  The reason everyone in my family doesn't like it is that the bacon doesn't become cooked enough to achieve the texture that isn't off putting.We like the taste of our burger meat and bacon not bacon flavored burger in every bite. To each their own 

 
 

[swinters]

We use beef suet.  Not the stuff they sell as suet for bird feeders but true suet, which is the fat around the kidneys.  We have our butcher shop save it for us (Western Meats near the old Olympia brewery and Stewart's Meats in McKenna both do in my area).  You may have to clean out some red spots before you grind it so get a bit extra.  3 parts venison to 1 part suet.  Some folks aren't too wild about venison so after we grind it together we mix in 1/8 teaspoons ground cloves and 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (per pound) and everyone seems to love the burger patties.