Until last night I had about 10 lbs. of venison left in my freezer from the doe I shot last year, including 6 lbs. of scraps and trimmings. In addition to it I had an 8 lb. pork shoulder roast just waiting for the right recipe. No better way to use it all up than make a big pile of bratwurst, right?

A co-worker of mine has a meat grinder and some experience making sausage, but neither of us have done bratwurst before. We used this recipe with some slight adjustments and scaled up for 18 total lbs. of meat: http://www.food.com/recipe/ven...twurst-sausage-26627 One less onion, a little bit of Cayenne pepper thrown in, and a nice dark beer (Deschutes Black Butte Porter, one of my favorites!) instead of milk.

Ready to grind:



Seasonings added, now time to mix:



All mixed up and ready to stuff:



The first links... success!:



We produced a total of 66 brats. Of course we tested a couple patties before stuffing the casings and grilled a couple afterwards (couldn't resist) and I am happy happy happy. Slightly lean, nice fine grind, and a little kick with the cayenne thrown in. They will be killer on the grill and should be great with other recipes calling for sausage too. I'm thinking I will have to get a grinder of my own now!

Nice, Evan!

Great photos of some very fine bratwurst, and I like your twists on the recipe.

I like my Porkert hand-turned grinder, manufactured in the old Czechoslovakia and built to last:



Strongly recommended and available on eBay for a song. The powered grinders are of course nice, too, but I don't have any experience with those.

When's dinner?

quote:

Originally posted by tasunkawitko:
Nice, Evan!

Great photos of some very fine bratwurst, and I like your twists on the recipe.

I like my Porkert hand-turned grinder, manufactured in the old Czechoslovakia and built to last:



Strongly recommended and available on eBay for a song. The powered grinders are of course nice, too, but I don't have any experience with those.

Thank you tasunkawitko!

What size Porkert grinder do you use? I see they are plentiful on Ebay (parts too), and about the same price as a cheap electric grinder. I appreciate the recommendation.

I butcher and process all the wild game I bring home myself already so a grinder would be a great addition to my kitchen. After making the brats I am thinking "Why am I not doing this already??"

Just a few more months and these brats will be perfect for a relaxing Saturday afternoon. Give me sunshine, cold beer, and a grill- and I am a happy man.

Cripe, those look great on the grill with that fresh corn-on-the-cob!

My Porkert's a #10; works great and I myself prefer it over an electric for my purposes. Like you, I butcher and package my own deer; I used to have someone grind it for me, but now I can do it myself ~

After my hand crank grinder broke I got an attachment for my Kitchen Aide. Same basic auger type ,works well.Grinders come in all sizes hand or electric.Once you start making your own sausage you'll never go back !Experiment invent your own recipies .

Looks great.

Nice BBQ.Charcoal is the way to go.Everything tastes better on charcoal.When dealing with game meat,IMO,it tastes the best when it is only handled by the fellow who shot it from the tim e he shoots it to the time he eats eat.If you give it to a butcher he will screw it up 99 percent of the time.I remember paying and paying for my meat only to get meat back that was not eatable.Only the meat that we kept ourselves and did not go to the butcher tasted delicious.The secret to good tasting meat is not letting it warm up.That itself is something almost none can get right.I would suggest getting the meat cut up in small pieces right at camp,that way all the heat escapes from the animal and is less likely to do damage.Again,taking a whole animal to the butcher a few days after it was killed and then leaving it age for two weeks or so at the butchers(who knows what he really will do with it in the mean time)spells disaster.

Shootaway

I think you are being just a bit unfair with butchers. Maybe the ones you had weren't so good, but I wouldn't lump them all together.

And I have always let my venison age. Usually at least a week if the weather isn't too warm.
Let the enzymes do their work.

quote:

Originally posted by silvertip1:
Shootaway

I think you are being just a bit unfair with butchers. Maybe the ones you had weren't so good, but I wouldn't lump them all together.

And I have always let my venison age. Usually at least a week if the weather isn't too warm.
Let the enzymes do their work.

I remember once having a box of caribou sausages made italian style and other styles then going and picking up the box and being told by the butcher that it was given out to do.It all looked delicious and I put some on the BBQ and tried them and it tasted just horrible-the way meat tastes when it heats up and becomes ruined.
Then I go on Safari with Charlton Mcallum safaris and all the wild meat tastes better than anything I ever had before.I thought about all those years of caribou hunting and never enjoying the meat-what a shame.On our last trip the outfitter was offering butcher services at camp-that to me was the best thing to do.

I've taken a couple deer to a butcher near my hometown and they have been great, but with one issue- too damn expensive! If I butcher a deer myself it costs me just one evening's work and there is no wait to receive the meat.

I have heard some bad stories of butchers accepting too many game animals during hunting season and not having the refrigerator space they require.Some say that they have seen game animals lying outside in the yard at temperatures way too warm.I have seen animals piled on top of another.Anyways,sorry for the hijack.