First Time

[rainman1977]

I will make my first sausage tomorrow. Deer meat and pork fat.

My question is do I need to a cure?

After making the sausage it will be frozen until ready to cook.

Thanks,

RM

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum. You won't need a cure as long as you aren't planning to smoke the sausage between making and freezing.

[rainman1977]

Great....thanks!

Can the sausage stay in the freezer for up to a year?

RM

[johngaltsmotor]

The deeper the freeze the better (i.e. a frost-free freezer will cause more damage due to freeze-thaw cycles). The flavors will fade over time even while frozen.
I know that some of my smoked snack sticks even had texture changes from freezing too long.
Plus if it's a good recipe, you won't be able to make it last an entire year

[rainman1977]

Update. I made some venison sausage with two recipes. The first was a normal breakfast sausage and the second an Italian sausage. The breakfast sausage needed a bit of sage when I fried a test piece. The Italian was good from the start.

I used a meat grinder to stuff the casings. That is a bit of a skill I’ll need to work on.

RM

[johngaltsmotor]

I would say to use the grinder to stuff a few more times. Then if it seems like you're truly interested in continuing the hobby (and can therefore justify the expense) look at getting a dedicated stuffer. It is so much faster, easier and less frustrating.
Glad to hear your recipes worked out. In the end it doesn't matter as much what they look like as long as they taste good.