Venison Brats

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Constance

Master Chef
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Oct 17, 2004
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Southern Illiniois
Last fall, my husband and I made venison brats, using a packaged seasoning mix, venison hams and pork butts. It is very flavorful, but awfully dry...we know now that we should have put some fatback in it.
It's too good not to use...I was wondering what suggestions you all might have for cooking it so it tastes juicier.
We did try wrapping it with bacon to grill it, and that was better, but still just so-so.
I have also thought about cooking it smothered with caramilized onions and peppers in a tomato sauce.

Any ideas?
 
if it's raw i was thinking maybe you could peel the casings off and re-grind it with some fat. of course the texture would change, but it might be worth thinking about.
 
I think the tomato and onion idea sounds delish!!

If Paulie shoots a deer this year ( please!! Please!! PLEASE),
I may write to you for some cooking hints. I love venison
but, have never cooked it.
 
I never thought about using the injector, Marmalady. That's a thought.
Pdswife, let me know and I'll be glad to help you out. Out of 350 lbs of venison the guys brought home last year, the Italian sausage, salami and brats are all I have left. We have eaten all the loins and roasts.
We've had it in chili, vegetable soup, venison roasts with vegies, venison and noodles, Italian venison, BBQ venison, and marinated grilled tenderloins.
 
Constance said:
I never thought about using the injector, Marmalady. That's a thought.
Pdswife, let me know and I'll be glad to help you out. Out of 350 lbs of venison the guys brought home last year, the Italian sausage, salami and brats are all I have left. We have eaten all the loins and roasts.
We've had it in chili, vegetable soup, venison roasts with vegies, venison and noodles, Italian venison, BBQ venison, and marinated grilled tenderloins.

Thanks! If he gets one I'll be sure to contact you!
 
I goofed similarly a few years ago producing some excellent tasting sawdust stuffed into a casing.

I have been making venison sausage for years and have found the best combination to be this: Venison, of course. The second ingrediant is a 50% pork (that is, pork that is 50% fat/50% lean.........can get it at butcher shop.........Boston Butt is too lean.)
I do a 60/40 mix of the venison/pork making the final mix about 20% fat, which gives plenty of moisture and minimizes the chest pain a few years down the road. Be certain to add plenty of water to the mix before it goes into the casing. Lotsa flavor. I have my own spice mix I have toyed with over the years. I smoke the stuff myself.

Getting to your present dilema. I would suggest larding (lengthwise) each link with a slice of thick bacon before cooking. Larding also makes a dry, tough venison roast more juicy and flavorful.
 
Thanks for the great info, Chef DO...I will paste and save that for the next time we make them. I wonder if you'd share your spice mix recipe...I wasn't very happy with the packaged stuff we used.
I ended up making a great meal with some of the sausages. I put them in a kettle with crab boil and Bayou Blast, a stick or 2 of butter, boiling onions, new red potatoes, corn on the cob and shrimp. Then the next day, I used some of that good broth to braise a mess of cabbage.
I have another question...how would suggest I go about getting the bacon in the sausage?
 
Last edited:
Larding the sausage

Gotta get creative for this one. I have a surgical tool that works great but I've never seen anything similar at the kitchen shops.
You'll need something long, stiff, and skinny that can run the brat through from end-to-end, creating a hole large enough to accommodate a slice of thick bacon. Actually a half slice (lengthwise, fat only) would probably do. One could whittle a wooden chopstick..... a piece of yardstick.......anything about 3/8ths inch wide and not nearly that thick.......if your hubby is a deerhunter he can figure it out. Hey! How about a brand new sharpened pencil?
After one creates the hole lengthwise in the brat..........run a smaller stick back thru the hole,(a skinny wooden kabob skewer ya get at the grocery..a piece of coathanger?) then tie one end of the raw bacon onto the skewer then simply pull thru.

Give it a try and let me know.

Recipe...........will get back with you later. I've got to find it. Brain is searching, but fuse keeps blowing...........where did I put that darned recipe?!

Chef DO
 
We used to add small amounts of breadcrumbs (unseasoned) or instant potato flakes to our sausage mixes before stuffing into casings- it helps retard water loss. But as someone above pointed out, the secret to juicy sausage is to go heavy on the pork fat.
 
brats

Constance:
Crochet needles........perfect!!

WaltRb:
You are right. Fat makes the sausage.........there can be no substitute. I toyed with fat-free brown gravy for years, to the extent my dogs won't even eat their Kibbles doused with it. Fat is just as integral part of the gravy as the smashed potatos sitting under it. I guess some things are worth dying for.

Ya'll smoke your sausage? I've Aggie-engineered a great backyard smoke house.......portable, and easily disassembled if ya can't spare the room after the sausage making routine. Un-smoked sausage is sorta like an un-lit cigarette, why bother.

Chef DO.
 
Stews, soups, chili, pots of beans. Great places to slice up those sausages into chunks and really enjoy them. Send some my way. Seriously, this is why so many hunters add pork fat to their ground venison (be it sausage or just ground meat). Don't give 'em up, just put them in a dish that has more liquid.
 
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