Michigan
State University Extension
Preserving
Food Safely - 01600615
10/13/97
Ingredients for making homemade sausage are readily
available in most areas from retail stores and locker
plants. The recipes can be used for deer, elk, antelope,
moose or other wild meat which has been trimmed of fat.
Meat from domestic sources can be used as well but some
reduction in the amount of fat in the recipes is needed if
the beef, pork or lamb contains fat.
Any lean meat from any part of the carcass can be used
for sausage. Most often meat from the back and hind legs is
saved for roasts and steaks and boneless, fat-free lean from
other areas of the carcass utilized for sausage. It is
recommended that the lean be removed from the carcass and
made into sausage as soon as possible (the day after the
kill is best) to prevent unnecessary bacterial growth. Meat
which has been frozen and thawed can also be used.
Freeze clean, edible trimmings immediately after they
are removed from the carcass. The trimmings can be ground
and fat added when they are thawed. Regardless of whether
fresh lean trimmings or thawed lean trimmings are used,
speed in sausage preparation is a must to prevent bacterial
growth. Bacterial growth on game meat causes soured meat
which is unacceptable as a sausage ingredient.
The quality of the sausage produced is often
proportional to the length of time fresh trimmings stand
before they are used. Game meat trimmings should be removed
from the carcass free of fat, hair, bloodshot and dirt.
They should be chilled at 30 degrees Fahrenheit and made
into sausage or frozen immediately.
