Brian Murphy from QDMA enjoys processing and preparing his own deer meat. DIY home processing is a growing interest, and he takes us step by step through making deer brats.
This recipe is a sweet Italian bratwurst. Meat and fat proportions are important in making sausage. Brian prefers 50% venison and 50% pork/pork fat. You can get extra fat from you local butcher.
Ingredients:
- 3 lbs. venison
- 2.5 lbs. ground pork butt
- About .5 to 1 lbs. pork fat
(About 1/3 of pork butt is fat and you want about 28-30% of the mix to be fat.)
Directions:
- Grind all three ingredients and blend together.
- Choose your preferred seasoning. If in doubt, add a little more. And mix together.
- Add more seasoning if desired and a little bit of liquid, water or milk.
- Mix the meat again.
You'll grind the mix a second time after mixing it all together. If the meat is good and cold, it will grind easier.
You'll need hog casings to stuff the mixture into. These are hog intestines that are natural and cleaned. They have synthetic casings, but they do not taste as good. You have to soak your casings and run water through them so they don't get hung up.
Put the whole casings on the sausage maker tube, being careful to keep the twists out of the casing, and tie a knot at the end. Poke some holes in the end of the casing. Once it's almost full with the sausage mixture, stop and pull the casing off. Tie a knot in the other end. Then you'll pinch and twist the casing to make linked sausage.
Now you can take your deer from field to fork.
