deer sausage question?

[iceman16]

i cut up my deer and froze the meat i was going to make into sausage and i am thawing it out now. can i make the sausage and then freeze it and thaw it out later and smoke it then freeze it after smoking it or will it ruin the meat? i was told only thaw it out once. i am getting a smoker for christmas and would like to get the sausage made up now. but cant smoke it tell after christmas.

iceman

[reinhard1]

i will be making fresh sausage from frozen trimmings soon. then after i make the sausage i will freeze it again for use at a later time. i have been doing this for over 30 years. i think most people freeze their venison trimmings for later proccessing. it seems as i read your post you are thawing out your trimmings to make fresh sausage and then freezing it and then thawing it out and then smoking it again. this i would not recommend. when you make fresh sausage you dont use a cure. for smoked you do use a cure. it is important to use a cure for smoked sausage for there is always a threat of botulism if you dont. once you thaw out your venison trimmings, that is the time you have to make your decision to make fresh or smoked sausage for freezing for later use. good luck.

[mabr]

Hey RH1, what cure do you like for dry meats, you know smoked or in the oven? And wheres the best place to get it?

[reinhard1]

by dry meats i think you are talking about jerkey, i would asume they would be the same as smoked. the cure can be called #1cure or prague powder or instacure. i'm sure you can get them at hamms meat supplies off 65. in any smoked mixture you would use 1 teaspoon of cure for every 5 lbs of meat. good luck.

[mabr]

Yes I was talking about smoking not for jerky. I seen the prague off the site you gave me just wasnt sure if it was a something the stores would carry or not. Ive seen a few recipes that called for Mortons Tender quick, but "lets make sausage" says its usually to salty when used as directed to get the correct curing. Thoughts?

Also, as I said im not going to buys a smoker right away and will be using the oven instead. Im assuming I still need to add a cure right?

[reinhard1]

mabr, just to be on the safe side i would use a cure. the #1 cure is common and that's what i would use. high mountain for example has the cure packet in there already. it is highly recommended and one box does 15 lbs. so divide it into three portions so you got 3 seperate uses at a time. but if you have your own reciepe buy the cure for 1 tsp. for every 5lbs. of meat and you will be good to go. i will use my own in time but this time around i will use high mountain for the guys are asking for it. hey if i like it, i will stay with it. but when i get the polish reciepe down and summer and the rest i will use the cure. good luck.