sausage making with my new Cabela's grinder -- question

[SPUD]

Been reading a bunch of recipes from here that sound really good!! Make have to make up a few pounds of each to see what I like the best

But I got a question on making patty/ground sausage

What is the reason mixing with pork 50/50? I see most homeade recipes call for that ratio. When I had it made from processor in past they only mixed it 80/20 (or thereabout) using pork fat. I was actually gonna do that until I started reading all the 50/50 mixes. Is it because it will stretch it out??

[Vermin93]

The bottom line is that you need fat. If you go with something like pork belly or fat back or fatty pork trimmings, then you can get away with using less pork, such as 20%. However, if you just use regular pork meat such as pork butt or ground pork from the store, then you need to use more of it to get an adequate amount of fat.

I go to the butcher and buy pork trimmings from him for a couple of bucks a pound. These are very fatty pork trimmings - probably 75% pork fat or more. I use a mix of 70/30 venison to pork trimmings. I could probably get away with 80/20, but I like pork fat so I use a little extra. If I go to the store and buy ground pork or if I grind up a pork butt then I will go with a 50/50 mix because there is a lot less fat in that pork than there is in the pork trimmings that I buy from the butcher.

In short, it's more about making sure you have an adequate amount of pork fat in your mix. If you go with a leaner pork, then you need to use more pork in your mix to get enough fat in your sausage.

[dfkoon]

Mostly as Vermin said it is the fat. 50/50 would be if say you used pork butt. One of my favs these days though is chorizo without any fat. Great with eggs, burritos or tacos.

[Vermin93]

Mostly as Vermin said it is the fat. 50/50 would be if say you used pork butt. One of my favs these days though is chorizo without any fat. Great with eggs, burritos or tacos.

Any chance you could post your chorizo recipe? I'm looking to improve my venison chorizo.

[dfkoon]

don't want to hijack spud's thread so I made a new post for you Vermin.

[Cajun Blake]

I do 60/40 ratio and use my own RB sausage seasonings

at times I will use bacon ends when on sale

[wyliescrib]

Vermin nailed it....

[DFWPI]

Tag

[Jaybo31]

I did 50/50 using pork butt and it still came out really lean. Its good though. I just add a little bacon grease to the pan when I cookit
Used Reo Spices Old fashion #3. good stuff

[SPUD]

Sorry guys... I must not have been clear enough in my question about the ratio

I completely understand the need for fat when making sausage. I was wondering about the 50/50 ratio specifically. If you use a pork butt you will still have about 20% toal fat in the sausage , bout the same percentage I was gonna use with 80% deer meat

I was just wondering about the personal preferences of using half-half. Is it a taste, more yield or what

[Jaybo31]

Ok, my reason was yield....i like more

[wyliescrib]

fat content of the butt is a big deal... the last batch i made the pork was leaner than i have ever used befoe and i think the sausage is way too dry... in fact i mix it with chrizo from the store and it still dont produce much excess drippings.... point is with a very lean meat like deer you got to have fat in it.... sure the pig adds a little different blend of meat but its the fat in the pork that your after more than the blending of the flavors from the different meats... thats what i get out of it anyway......

[Meatcutter]

Make sure you use natural casings. Don't buy the freeze dried packs.