I got a meat grinder for Christmas

[scottiemom]

ok, now that I have one (and have been wanting one)- what can I do with it? I think the original idea was to be able to grind up venison for hamburger. Anyone have any recipes that call for grinding your own meat? the darn thing must weigh as much as one of the dogs - so is pretty heavy duty.

Thanks guys!

[oneokie]

Make sausage, venison and pork. Con Yeager is a good place to look for seasonings.

[Hickory]

You must be pretty friendly with Santa to know before hand what you're getting:bigsmyl2:

[dk17hmr]

I dont have any recipes that call fo grinding your own. I do think if you are serious about hunting and processing your own meat you need to have a grinder. My wife and I just got done grinding up a bunch of elk meat. Most of the time we just do straight game meat, we did however get a pork shoulder and did about a 70/30 mix, a mix like this makes great meat for hamburger.

[KYCaster]

Here's a site with lots of recipes and lots of answers.

http://thespicysausage.com/sausagemakingrecipes.htm


Jerry

[Dale in Louisiana]

Go to the store and buy a big, cheap brisket. Use the coarsest plate you have for your grinder. If its holes are smaller than a quarter inch, buy one that's BIGGER. Grind the brisket up and make some wonderful, beefy, greasy chili. Simmer it a loooong time.

Enjoy!

dale in Louisiana

[gbrown]

I don't know about the prices where you are, but ground chuck is going for well over $3.25/lb, even in bulk down here. I watch the ads, and every now and then, can pick up bulk packs of roasts for $1.99/lb. Just got through doing 35# of round tip roast. I have time and a 1 hp grinder, so I try to just save on what I can. +1 on Dale's--get the big hole plate--otherwise, the texture is less than desirable IMHO. Kinda like the slime stuff in the news a few months back. The only way to learn using the grinder is like other stuff we do. Casting and reloading, you learn by doing. You'll probably make a mistake or two, but experience is the best teacher, or so I'm told.

[waksupi]

Road kill is always a good option. As long as you can still touch their toes together, they are good to go.

[Lloyd Smale]

I grind alot of venison. I use it to make fresh italian sausage, bratts, summer sausage and burger. I dont like my burger as lean as plain ground venison so i go to the store and buy one of those 3 lb tubes of mystery burger that is so fatty its about unediable. I then mix one tube with about 10lbs of ground venison and it makes a buger about 10 percent fat. With some i skip the fatty burger and add about a lb of cheap bacon to it. gives it enough fat and adds a slight bacon flavor. For that burger i useually also throw in two packs of lipton dry union soup mix. It makes about the best tasting burger on the grill ive had. I do most of my burger for the year out of venison like that and it kind of makes me chuckle when we run out and buy beef from the store. Even my wife will ask what made the burger taste so crappy.

[Jim]

Road kill is always a good option. As long as you can still touch their toes together, they are good to go.

I can see Janet grabbin' a shovel and a bucket and tellin' me "Crank the truck, let's go road huntin'!"

[Dale in Louisiana]

I can see Janet grabbin' a shovel and a bucket and tellin' me "Crank the truck, let's go road huntin'!"

You're doing it wrong.

On your outbound trip, take a can of spray paint. Anything you see dead in the road, paint a circle around it. On the way back, anything without a circle is fresh. Keep it.

dale in Louisiana

[waksupi]

You're doing it wrong.

On your outbound trip, take a can of spray paint. Anything you see dead in the road, paint a circle around it. On the way back, anything without a circle is fresh. Keep it.

dale in Louisiana

You Cajuns is pretty cagey. I'll start carrying spray paint.

[gwpercle]

Cajuns know how to survive.

[HamGunner]

I do a bit of business with these folks and have been happy with every transaction. Might not be the cheapest , but the normally have about anything that you need for grinding and freezing or stuffing your own. Lots of recipe books as well as "How to" books.
http://www.lemproducts.com/?r=adwordsLEMBrandOnly1&src=ADWORDLEM&gclid=COaSufuPp7QCFSWoPAoddj4ATQ

[Elkins45]

I'm a big fan of making jerky from ground meat. I have one of those jerky guns but lately I just use a rolling pin to flatten it out and a long slicing knife to shape it into strips. I'm especially fond of pepperoni flavor. Someday I hope to discover the exact mix of seasonings in the Nesco pepperoni mix so I can make my own.

http://www.nesco.com/products/Jerky-Spices-Jerky-Kits-and-Jerky-Seasonings/25-Pack-Jerky-Spice-and-Cure/Pepperoni-Jerky-Seasoning-25-pk/

[Lloyd Smale]

cant go wrong with products from lem or weston. Both sell nothing but good stuff.
I do a bit of business with these folks and have been happy with every transaction. Might not be the cheapest , but the normally have about anything that you need for grinding and freezing or stuffing your own. Lots of recipe books as well as "How to" books.
http://www.lemproducts.com/?r=adwordsLEMBrandOnly1&src=ADWORDLEM&gclid=COaSufuPp7QCFSWoPAoddj4ATQ

[fatnhappy]

Janet,

Weston and LEM are honest merchants with great selections...... however do yourself a favor and comparison shop over at Butcher-Packer. I've used them for years.
Frankly, I'm a little shocked Lloyd didn't recommend them.

http://www.butcher-packer.com/

[Gliden07]

We use to mix 50/50 Boneless Pork Butt and Game meat and make any kind of Sausage that you want. Basically substitute this 50/50 mixture for the meat in any Sausage recipe. We made Kelbasi, Hot Italian Sausage, Sweet Italian Sausage, Brats anything and everything used Deer, Bear, Moose etc...

Don't be afraid to experiment we use to make Italian Sausage with Black Sambuca because one of my buddies did'nt like the Anise Seeds. Make the Sausage and when you think its seasoned the way you want it make a little patty fry it up and taste it add what ever you think it needs. Have fun!!

[10 ga]

Anyone have any recipes that call for grinding your own meat? Thanks guys!

I haven't bought any ground beef for a bout 10 years. Only use venison or the home slaughtered beef we split up between families. Home grind whatever calls for ground meat. They are right about the coarse plate for a lot of stuff, especially grinding meat for chili. I usually have to buy ground chicken or turkey if that is needed but grind some when I get a good kill. Ground goose breast is a good way to go with that too, filet it out boneless and grind away. Wife uses "home ground meat" in spaghetti sauce, lasagna, meatloaf, meat n bean soup, burgers, sausage, chopped steak, salisbury steak, chicken fried with gravy, fricaseed... etc... etc...
Heck, when we have a big hunt we even parboil/debone and grind lots of stuff like squirrel, coon and beaver meat. And when the tides are right and we get a catch of clams (quahogs) the medium and chowders are always ground and used for chowder, clam dip, clam fritters. If we get some dog welks we freeze them and then pull them out of the shells and clean and grind them and use like chowder clams too. Living on the coast and being retired is good! Merry Christmas to all, 10 ga


X Z

[Lloyd Smale]

Im far from an expert on this. Ive only been really into the processing and sausage making for about 5 years. Ive allways cut up my own deer but back when i only shot one or two didnt have enough meat to justify griders stuffers ect. It was easier to borrow a friends grinder or go to the local butcher and have him grind my scraps. to be honest ive never tried the butcher/packer. I get most of my sausage mixes from Meatman.com and have been so pleased ive never looked elsewhere and most of my equiptment other then my new grinder was bought from the local gander mountain (who overcharged me). About the only other place i delt with was great lakes butcher shop in lower mich. But they are either out of bussiness or stopped internet sales. Ill probably stick to the meatman.com for most of my stuff. You wont find a more honest buisness. they kind of remind me of dillon or rcbs. ANY problem you have is delt with quick and honestly. I even once ordered some high temp cheese from then that didnt show up for two weeks i called and asked them if there was a mixup and they sent a new batch out that day overnight and when the other order ended up showing up about a week later told me to keep that batch too even though i offered to pay for both orders. the owner of the company spend alot of time on the phone with me and though emails helping me through a couple projects too. When you contact them you talk to the owner not some kid in a warehouse.

[Lloyd Smale]

Like gliden said half the fun of this is experimenting. Ive found that a cup of brown sugar adds alot of flavor to 10lbs of sausage, especially summer sausage. Ive also found to my tastes anyway. a mix of 15lbs of pork but to 10lbs of venison makes a much better bratt or fresh sausage. 50/50 can be a bit dry tasting. Dont be afraid to experiment. Its kind of like casting and loading. Youll find little things that make it your own. to me this hobby has become just as additive as casting if not more.
We use to mix 50/50 Boneless Pork Butt and Game meat and make any kind of Sausage that you want. Basically substitute this 50/50 mixture for the meat in any Sausage recipe. We made Kelbasi, Hot Italian Sausage, Sweet Italian Sausage, Brats anything and everything used Deer, Bear, Moose etc...

Don't be afraid to experiment we use to make Italian Sausage with Black Sambuca because one of my buddies did'nt like the Anise Seeds. Make the Sausage and when you think its seasoned the way you want it make a little patty fry it up and taste it add what ever you think it needs. Have fun!!