Making sausage out of wild game is simple and fun. I learned to do this by looking at several different recipes online and pulling out the common ingredients in each. For example all or most breakfast sausage includes salt, sage, thyme, nutmeg, and pepper. Then there are a slew of optional items to experiment with like hot peppers, brown sugar, rosemary, honey, maple, and smoke flavors. If you would like to make another type of sausage just google that particular type and look at seven to ten different recipes and pull ot the common ingredients and spice to meat ratios (they dont have to be wild game recipies).

WHEN USING WILD GAME.............. FAT IS FLAVOR

For deer and elk remove as much of the tallow (fat) that you can.
For ducks and geese keep all of their fat because it actualy has flavor (not waxy).
I'm not sure about bear or cougar.


As far as equipment you need some large plastic bowls/tubs, meat grinder, sharp knives and a little kitchen space. If you plan on doing a large quantity, there are electric meat grinders and mixers available. I personaly don't mind griding by hand because of safety. I feel more comfortable with the speed of a hand grinder. The electric ones don't know if your finger is in it or not (ouch....just be smart about it). Freezer storage can be done with double wrapped butcher paper or vacuum sealed.

Here is a recipe and picture steps for the latest batch of breakfast duck suasgae I made. This recipe works with deer, elk, ducks, or geese. You could even combine them if you wish. This will yield approximatley 12 pounds.


INGREDIENTS:

MEAT

Go to the store and get 5 pounds of some nice BONELESS, FATTY, pork shoulder. While you're there pick up 2 pounds of bacon (cheap or favorite)



Now you need about 5 pounds of wild game. For ducks, use a limit of mallards. If you have a stock pile of duck meat I would suggest that you use as much leg meat as you can. The leg meat has good chunks of fat and when I clean ducks I will leave a little skin on them. Use some of your breast meat but save a few for the pastrami recipe later in the spring. I even throw in the hearts and the gizzards. Trim the leg meat off the bones and add breast meat until you reach 5 pounds or so. If you're one of those guys who just breast out your ducks........its a crime to waste meat but go ahead and use what you have.



SPICES

2 tablespoons of rubbed sage
3 teaspoons of freshly ground nutmeg
3 teaspoons of thyme
3 teaspoons of rosemary (I preffer smoked)
2 tablespoons coarse ground black pepper
1/3 cup kosher salt

Put these into a bowl and set to the side



PROCESS:

Cut all of your pork into managable/grindable pieces. Mix all of the bacon, pork , and game into one large container or make a 50/50 combinations in seperate containers. Sprinkle 3/4 of the spice mixture onto the meat. Then just start grabing and grinding (not like youre at the club). Put grinded meats into a mixing container.



Once all of the meat has been grinded, it needs to be mixed. I mix by hand but I am seriously thinking about a mechanical mixer because its quicker easier and not as cold. OK, keys point to mixing, add the rest of the spices and make sure you get a nice color blend of dark red, white and yellow. If your just breasting ducks or using deer/elk/geese, the color mixture should be evenly red and white. Once you have mixed properly, cover and store in the fridge over night. Over night the salt and spices will absorb into the meat.



The next step mix one more time then pack it up and freeze it.




If you have any questions shoot me a PM or just post a reply. You might have the same question as others. Feel free to experiment with this recipe because I felt free to experiment with others.

Great post!! I've been wanting to do this for years. I just recently purchased the 1hp grinder from Cabelas. It comes with the stuffing tubes and everything. My hunting group processes its our game so you can't ever have to many grinders(the one we currently use is OOOLLLLDDD).

P.S. If you want pre made/mixed spices for sausage or any thing else there is a place in Spokane called the Spokane Spice Company. They have everything you could ever want for processing your of game!! Just type the name in your search engine.

great post J7! btw, i found pork shoulder (country style ribs) on sale at safeway for $.99/lb. if you buy a whole shoulder (prolly 15-20#) it was $.79/lb great deal for the sausage makers out there!



willy

Very well done.

Thank you.

Thanks!

Looks good.

Nicely done

Good post J7. I am new to sausage making, but just recently made a batch of salmon sausage that came out pretty good. I'm still refining the recipe, but will give yours a try with the salmon or maybe some of the meat I have in the freezer.

Great post! I may try that with my duck next year.

Salmon sausage??? I have never heard of that. Do you mix any other meat with it or just Salmon? Curious.

I usually have lots and lots of salmon so poked around and found a recipe used for venison sausage that someone had tried on salmon. I tweaked it a bit to my liking. It calls for ground pork plus I added in a bit of bacon after checking out your recipe. It's pretty close to dialed in.

4.5 lb deboned salmon, ground
1.5 lb pork, ground
0.5 lb bacon, ground
3 tablespoons Morton's Quick Salt
3 teaspoons coarse black pepper
3 teaspoons garlic powder
3 teaspoons mustard seed
3-4 teaspoons crushed red pepper
2 teaspoons liquid smoke (not needed if you will be smoking the sausage)

The spices are to taste with adjustments as you see fit. You can pan fry a couple patties in butter or oil to taste the mix and see if you want to add anything more.

Mix it all together, cover and leave it to sit in the refrigerator overnight. Mix the following day for 5 minutes, cover and leave it to sit in the refrigerator overnight again. The third day, roll it into sausage casings. I mix in about 3/4 cup of water right before putting it into casings to help it flow through the sausage stuffer and I use the 1" diameter casings.

If you decide to smoke it yourself skip the liquid smoke and smoke at 190-200 degrees for about 2.5-3 hours. I have never smoked mine, but will probably go that route when I get a large enough smoker to hang strings of sausage in.

Syco....do smoked duck sausage. It's really really good.

Hey did anyone try this sausage recipe? How did it work out? I'm thinking about doing a Pastrami recipe post with deer and goose. Interested????????

I make my sausage in a similar way. I have found that by cutting the deer/elk with straight suet seems to preserve the flavor of the meat and create a better all around sausage texture. I haven't used bacon yet, but I'm sure it would taste good.