Blacktail Venison Breakfast, Porkless

[Dogfish]

This is a nice mild sausage. I wanted something with a little bit of body but not a ton of spice as a good multipurpose and breakfasty sausage and one that delicate palates wouldn't complain at. I suspect it could work with veal as well, as the venison used was very young and light. I used the front end off a yearling blacktail (basically a fawn the size of a beagle). I based this off of a 5 lb recipe and used heaping instead of level measures.

Venison Breakfast

5 lb chilled un-hanged venison
1 lb beef suet, very well chilled or half frozen
2 teaspoons ground mace
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp + brown sugar
1 cup ice water

Grind reasonably trimmed venison through 2mm plate. All I cut out was cartilage, bone, and heavy tendon; blacktail in my experience has good fat. Grind chilled/half frozen suet through 2mm plate. Mix seasonings with water and mix thoroughly into the batch. Regrind through the same die.

If you don't regrind, the texture due to the fresh meat will be too chunky and the flavours won't sit right because they're so mellow. The meat also does not hold water well. I stuffed with the grinder on a gamble and it worked out perfectly.

[BriCan]

A question if I may, the reason that you used beef suet?

[Dogfish]

Nothing in particular. I'd had half a thought that the pork trim I had on hand would be too likely to smear with the tough meat I was grinding, and that the harder fat would hold together a bit better under friction. Even though it's double ground there are still specks of fat distributed throughout.

Also I've been using beef fat for just about everything. Caul fat, which I had a bucket of, also has been working really well and lends a bit of the gelatinous texture to the beef sausages I've been making.

Do you have any thoughts on the matter?

[BriCan]

Nothing in particular. Do you have any thoughts on the matter?

More out of curiosity than anything of all the game (sausage, fresh/smoked/salami) that I have done over the last thirty years (4,576,271lbs ) I have never used beef for any of the clients which was why I asked. All I have ever used for fresh and smoked is belly trim.

I do realise that most will use what ever they have on hand

The difference between the two in most cases is 'mouth' appeal plus there is less chance of things going rancid

Again it was a curiosity thing.

[Dogfish]

I find with the suet so far that it does give a trifle of mouth feel when cold. The other beef fat not so much. I'm almost out of beef fat and will be switching to pork soon.