Canned Venison Breakfast Sausage

[Hickory]

Canned Venison Breakfast Sausage
2 lbs trimmed deer or other big game meat
1 lb lean bacon ends or slab bacon
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 teaspoon dried crushed sage leaves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon black pepper
Course grind game meat and bacon place in large bowl. Mix in rest of ingredients.
Regrind mixture; form into patties and quick fry in skillet, browning outside. Inside need not have to be done as it will cook through while being canned.
Place patties in large mouth pint canning jars. Seal and can in pressure canner for 1 hr 15 minutes at 10 pounds pressure.


I use this recipe and can enough for next years use and deer camp.
If you don't want to can it, you can still freeze it up in patties and cook them anytime.

[SciFiJim]

What do you use for a liquid in the jar?

[Hickory]

There is some liquid that forms while being pressure canned (fat), but none is needed to process it. As long as you have a good seal nothing is needed.
I just take them out of the jars and heat them up in a skillet.

[scrapcan]

Hickory,

thanks for the recipe. We have canned meat all of my life, fish too. You are correct no extra liquid necessary.

[redneckdan]

I got a batch in the pressure canner right now. I couldn't remember your spice mix so I just mixed in some fennel, black pepper, garlic and oregano.

[Hickory]

Let us know how it turns out for you.

[redneckdan]

Everything sealed up tight. There's about an 1/8" of grease on top of about 1" of juices inside the jar. Seems to be a lot of empty space. How big do you make the patties? I may try doing it with crumbled sausage next time, thats usually how I eat it anyway.

I'll open up a jar when I get home tonight.

[Hickory]

You'll have a lot of space inside the jar.
And you probably already noticed that those
nice looking patties, now look like meat balls.
Do not dispair, they taste good no matter what
they look like. And they warm up quick in a microwave
or in a skillet in deer camp next year.

[largom]

Hickory, I can't wait to try your sausage recipe. Deer season comes in two wks. from now. I have pressure canned my venison for several years just by cutting into chunks and placing in jars.
Where/how did you arrive at the time and pressure[10 lbs. for 15 min.]? My canning book lists meats at 11 lbs. for 75 min. with pint jars and 90 min. for Qt. jars.

Larry

[Thumbcocker]

Are you sure that 15 minutes is enough time? We have been canning venison and the Ball Blue Book reccomends a lot longer pressure time for all meats. Not trying ot rain on the parade but better safe than sorry.

[Hickory]

I should have proof read the recipe better and should checked back here sooner.
You are right, you need more time when processing.
I rechecked the recipe and you will need 15 lbs for 45 minutes.
Sorry for the miss print. Remember the meat is partually cooked before hand.

[fourarmed]

I was showing this to my wife, who cans sausage. She says the current rule for non-acid foods - which includes sausage - is 11 pounds of pressure for 1 hour and 15 minutes for pints. The 11 pounds is a safety measure because many pressure gauges on canners are not checked regularly against a standard. (The old rule was 10 lbs.)

We opened some of ours recently, and the texture is much different after canning. It reminds me of chorizo that I have had. My wife still has her buck tag, and is planning to hunt the late season for a doe to be put entirely into canned sausage.

Incidentally, my wife's canning guru - Jackie Clay of Backwoods Home Magazine - recommends no sage in canned sausage. Says it gets bitter. I don't know. I just mix what I'm told, being a wise husband.

Edited to add: 11 pounds of pressure is correct for our elevation, which is less than 1000ft. At higher elevation, more pressure is needed. Any good book on canning will give the rules for higher elevations.

[Suo Gan]

How much headspace is normal for this? Thanks

[fourarmed]

Ours has one inch. We used water and the pan drippings from browning the patties.