Homemade Smoked Venison Sausage Recipe Step by Step
Everything you need to know to make your own homemade venison sausage. You will find not only the venison sausage recipe but also tips for the sausage smoking process, as well as step by step instructions for making your own sausage from beginning to end.
We have been making our own smoked venison sausage for the last 15 years, in that time we have experimented and perfected a method and recipe that we love and that is what we are sharing with you today.
Jump to RecipeAdvantages to Making Your Own Homemade Sausage
- Sausage making is a perfect way to use your deer meat, and preserve it for later use in a variety of recipes.
- Making your own sausage will save you money.
- When making your own sausage yourself you can be assured that the meat you are eating came from your own deer. (*NOTE: We started making our own sausage when we found out that everyone’s deer meat was getting mixed together at the meat market that was making our sausage so the sausage we were getting back wasn’t the meat we took to them. That was a BIG why for us.)
- You can choose your own spices and customize to your taste.
- You know EXACTLY what is in the sausage you are eating. (Another big why for us)
Equipment you’ll need for this recipe
PRO TIP: Having the right equipment for the job makes the job so much easier!
What To Mix With Deer Meat To Make Sausage?
Venison alone is a very lean meat and will produce very dry sausages if used alone for sausage making.
Fat is an absolute must to add to your venison. A lot of people use pork belly or bacon ends and pieces for the added fat. Beef fat can also be used.
We like to use a mix of different meats when we make our sausage. We prefer to use a 50/50% mix of either venison and pork, or venison and beef.
When you mix your venison with another meat, like beef or pork you will get some added fat from that meat.
According to how much fat the meat has you may or may not need to add more fat to make a great sausage that doesn’t dry out when smoking and cooking.
For our recipe today we are using 50/50% mix of beef and venison, with no additional fat.
Do I really need to use a curing additive in venison sausage? What alternatives are there?
If you are planning to smoke your sausage you will need to use a curing additive, usually referred to as curing salt, pink salt, or prague powder. Curing Salt is a mixture of salt and sodium nitrite or sodium nitrate.
Over the years we have tried several different types and brands. Some brands have more salt, if you use one of those you will need to reduce the salt in the recipe.
The brand we use now is Fiesta brand extra fancy curing salt. We use this one because we can easily find it in our local grocery stores, and it is not one of the types that contains a lot of salt.
Personally, I wish we didn’t have to use any curing additive, but it is really not safe to skip this if you are making smoked sausage.
Always go by the directions on the package for your curing salt as to how much you need to use.
Did you know?
Curing Salt is needed in smoked sausage to prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria during the smoking process.
These bad bacteria can thrive at the temperatures used during smoking the sausage.
Unsmoked sausage that will be cooked fresh, or frozen and then fully cooked, does not need to have curing salt added.
Seasonings and Spices Needed For This Venison Sausage Recipe
You can always choose to use a ready-made spice blend for your sausage, but we chose to make our own with our favorite blend of spices that we like. It is all a matter of personal preference.
The spices we use in our smoked sausage are:
- Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Onion Powder
- Black Pepper
- Red Pepper
- Sugar
- Celery Salt
- Green Onions (optional) We don’t always add these but they are good!
You will also need sausage casings. We use natural casings for our sausage.
What kind of Deer Meat Can Be Used for this recipe?
Deer Sausage can be made from many different breeds of deer.
Whitetail deer are what we have in our area, and what we use.
You should be able to use this recipe with any type deer meat available to you, to make your wild game sausage.
How to make Homemade Smoked Venison Sausage Step by Step
You can see all of these steps in action on my You Tube video!
Step 1: Deboning the meat
All of the meat you are using will need to be deboned. While deboning make sure to cut as much of the white sinew out of the meat as you possibly can.
The sinew will make the meat taste bad and can clog up your grinder. Cut the meat into chunks that will easily fit into your grinder.
After deboning, place your meat and grinder plates and blade in the freezer to get it all really cold. The temperature of the meat needs to be very cold before grinding.
Step 2: Choosing the type of meat to add to your venison
After deboning, weigh your meat to see how many pounds of venison you have.
Next decide what type of meat and/or fat you want to add to your deer meat. Pork fat is a good choice to use with venison for sausage.
If you are wanting to add pork meat also, boston butts make a good choice because they are a fattier cut of pork. Pork loin is another leaner cut of meat that you could use.
In this post and video we are making our venison sausage with beef. We are using ground beef from our own cattle that we raised.
Our ground meat is about an 85/15%, ratio which is pretty lean.
We use a 50/50% mix of venison and beef and find this to be a good sausage mixture. (In our sausage video we are using a beef and venison mix.)
In the past, we haven’t added extra fat when we made our beef and venison sausage. I think that the next time we use our beef we will add some extra fat to the mix for both flavor and a moister sausage.
Step 3: Grinding the meat
Meat can be seasoned before or after grinding. In this post we will be seasoning the meat after grinding.
If you are mixing your venison with ground beef or ground pork, it is best to grind the venison first, add to the ground meat and season all together.
If none of the meat you are using is already ground, you can mix the meats together and add them to the grinder together. This meat can be seasoned before grinding, we have found that it works well to season the meat before grinding. (see my note below before seasoning your meat)
*NOTE: I recommend grinding at least one pound of meat without seasoning first before seasoning all of your meat. Season that pound and cook a patty of sausage to make sure that you like the taste before seasoning all of your meat. Everyone’s tastes are different and you may need to adjust the seasoning mix to your taste.
If you are using already ground beef to mix with your venison, you will want to grind your venison and any extra fat you are adding first.
After that first grind, look at your meat and determine if you want to put it back through the grinder for a second grind.
Then add the ground venison to the already ground beef and mix well. You don’t want or need to run the ground beef through the grinder.
Grind the venison and extra fat with the coarse grinding plate. For our Bosch meat grinder attachment it is a #7-8 plate. We use the meat grinder attachment for the Bosch Universal mixer.
If this will be mixed with an already ground meat you might want to do a second grind before mixing with the ground meat.
Step 4: Seasoning The Meat
When we make sausage we are usually processing a whole deer so we typically end up with around 30 or more pounds of sausage meat. To make seasoning the meat easier we divide it up into 10 pound portions for seasoning.
If you are not making this large of a batch, I am also including the recipe for 1 pound of sausage so you can adjust that to the amount of meat you have.
Using a kitchen scale weigh 10 pounds of ground sausage meat and place in a large stainless bowl. Measure out the seasoning recipe for 10 pounds and sprinkle over the meat while using your hands to mix through the meat.
Continue this step until all of your meat has been seasoned.
Seasoned sausage venison and beef mix
Step 5: Stuffing the Sausage
If using natural casings they will need to be rinsed with warm water and soaked for about 15-30 minutes to prepare them for use. Each brand is different so check yours for specific directions.
When the casings are ready, load carefully onto the stuffing tube. We use an 11/16″ tube on our Lem sausage stuffer. The brand of casing we use is Oversea Casing Company, natural hog casings.
Add your ground and seasoned meat mixture to the sausage stuffer and proceed using the stuffer directions.
After each length of casing is filled, pinch off at about 8-10″ and twist. Alternate directions with each twist. This will give you sausage links. You can see them in the last photo.
Step 6: Refrigerate the Sausage Overnight
Place the sausage links in the refrigerator overnight to let the seasoning fully absorb. The sausage will be ready to smoke the next day.
Step 7: Smoking The Sausage
Build a small fire in the smoker fire box, there are several types of wood that are good for smoking meat, we typically use pecan because that is what we have growing here.
When the fire has some good hot coals its ready, add more wood 1/2 dry and 1/2 soaked in water. The wet wood is necessary to have a slow burning fire with plenty of smoke, to smoke the sausage.
Next, place the sausage in the smoker keeping the heat in the smoker between 150-175 degrees F.
Smoke the sausage for about 3-5 hours. The internal temperature of your sausage should be at least 160 degrees when it is smoked. *This sausage is smoked, not fully cooked. It will need to be cooked before eating.
Remove the sausage from the smoker, let cool, refrigerate overnight or until cold. Package and freeze.
Enjoy!
Find the measurements and full recipe below!
It’s the perfect time to experiment and learn the art of sausage making for yourself. It will be worth the effort to be able to make your own delicious sausage.
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For even more delicious recipes, you may like these:
Homemade Smoked Venison Sausage
Equipment
- Meat Grinder
- Smoker (if smoked sausage is desired)
- Sausage stuffer
- Mixing Bowls
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
- Ziplock Freezer Bags or Vacumn Seal Machine and Bags
- Large sheet pans, bowls, and hotel half pans.
Ingredients
- 10 pounds sausage meat, ready to season
- 7 tsp salt
- 5 tsp black pepper
- 1 1/4 teaspoon red pepper
- 5 tsp sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/4 tsp celery salt
- 1 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1 cup chopped green onions (optional)
Smaller Recipe
- 1 pound sausage meat ready to be seasoned
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
- 1/8 teaspoon onion salt
- 1-2 Tablespoons green onions (optional)
Instructions
- Use the above recipe, based on the amount of meat you have. Mix all seasonings together in a bowl, then sprinkle over meat.Mix well into the meat.*NOTE: I recommend grinding at least one pound of meat without seasoning first before seasoning all of your meat. Season that pound and cook a patty of sausage to make sure that you like the taste before seasoning all of your meat. Everyone’s tastes are different and you may need to adjust the seasoning mix to your taste. Continue cooking and tasting until you are satisfied with the seasoning.
- Instructions for Making Venison Sausage
- Step 1: Deboning the meatAll of the meat you are using will need to be deboned. While deboning make sure to cut as much of the white sinew out of the meat as you possibly can. The sinew will make the meat taste bad and can clog up your grinder. Cut the meat into chunks that will easily fit into your grinder. After deboning, place your meat and grinder plates and blade in the freezer to get it all really cold. The temperature of the meat needs to be very cold before grinding.
- Step 2: Choosing the type of meat to add to your venisonAfter deboning, weigh your meat to see how many pounds of venison you have.Next decide what type of meat and/or fat you want to add to your deer meat. Pork fat is a good choice to use with venison for sausage.If you are wanting to add pork meat also, boston butts make a good choice because they are a fattier cut of pork. Pork loin is another leaner cut of meat that you could use.In this post and video we are making our venison sausage with beef. We are using ground beef from our own cattle that we raised.Our ground meat is about an 85/15%, ratio which is pretty lean.We use a 50/50% mix of venison and beef and find this to be a good sausage mixture. (In our sausage video we are using a beef and venison mix.)In the past, we haven’t added extra fat when we made our beef and venison sausage. I think that the next time we use our beef we will add some extra fat to the mix for both flavor and a moister sausage.
- Step 3: Grinding the meatMeat can be seasoned before or after grinding. In this post we will be seasoning the meat after grinding.If you are mixing your venison with ground beef or ground pork, it is best to grind the venison first, add to the ground meat and season all together.If none of the meat you are using is already ground, you can mix the meats together and add them to the grinder together. This meat can be seasoned before grinding, we have found that it works well to season the meat before grinding. (see my note below before seasoning your meat)*NOTE: I recommend grinding at least one pound of meat without seasoning first before seasoning all of your meat. Season that pound and cook a patty of sausage to make sure that you like the taste before seasoning all of your meat. Everyone’s tastes are different and you may need to adjust the seasoning mix to your taste. If you are using already ground beef to mix with your venison, you will want to grind your venison and any extra fat you are adding first.After that first grind, look at your meat and determine if you want to put it back through the grinder for a second grind.Then add the ground venison to the already ground beef and mix well. You don’t want or need to run the ground beef through the grinder.Grind the venison and extra fat with the coarse grinding plate. For our Bosch meat grinder attachment it is a #7-8 plate. We use the meat grinder attachment for the Bosch Universal mixer.If this will be mixed with an already ground meat you might want to do a second grind before mixing with the ground meat.
- Step 4: Seasoning The MeatWhen we make sausage we are usually processing a whole deer so we usually end up with around 30 or more pounds of sausage meat. To make seasoning the meat easier we divide it up into 10 pound portions for seasoning.If you are not making this large of a batch, I am also including the recipe for 1 pound of sausage so you can adjust that to the amount of meat you have. Using a kitchen scale weigh out 10 pounds of ground sausage meat and place in a large stainless bowl. Measure out the seasoning recipe for 10 pounds and sprinkle over the meat while using your hands to mix through the meat. Continue this step until all of your meat has been seasoned.
- Step 5: Stuffing the SausageIf using natural casings they will need to be rinsed with warm water and soaked for about 15-30 minutes to prepare them for use. Each brand is different so check yours for specific directions.When the casings are ready, load carefully onto the stuffing tube. We use an 11/16″ tube on our Lem sausage stuffer. The brand of casing we use is Oversea Casing Company, natural hog casings. Add your ground and seasoned meat mixture to the sausage stuffer and proceed using the stuffer directions. After each length of casing is filled, pinch off at about 8-10″ and twist. Alternate directions with each twist. This will give you sausage links.
- Step 6: Refrigerate the Sausage OvernightPlace the sausage links in the refrigerator overnight to let the seasoning fully absorb. The sausage will be ready to smoke the next day.
- Step 7: Smoking The SausageBuild a small fire in the fire box, there are several types of wood that are good for smoking meat, we typically use pecan because that is what we have growing here. When the fire has some good hot coals it is ready to add more wood 1/2 dry and 1/2 soaked in water. The wet wood is necessary to have a slow burning fire with plenty of smoke, to smoke the sausage.Next, place the sausage in the smoker keeping the heat in the smoker between 150-175 degrees F. Smoke the sausage for about 3-5 hours. Until the internal temperature of your sausage is at least 160 degrees when it is smoked. *This sausage is smoked, not fully cooked. It will need to be cooked before eating.
- Step 8 Remove the sausage from the smoker, let cool.
- Step 9 Refrigerate sausage overnight or until completely cooled. Package and freeze.
