rookie to smoking and everything that goes w/it!

[drewevans]

I was given a grinder for christmas and i have yet to use it but have done some grinding with freinds. i know to ad pork to my venison and thats about it. i also bought a smoker last week, a electric digital. what are some tips you guys can give me in getting started maybe some sausage or brat recipes and maybe some jerky ideas. i have deer scraps roast and goose breasts to work with, any help is much appreciated thanks in advance!

[eyeguy 54]

just look thru the threads and you'll see tons of stuff. have fun and post pics :>)

[hockeybc69]

My first suggestion if you are a newbie to sausage making, buy prepackaged seasoning mixes.

Dont start off with homemade mixes. Keep it simple.

For the goose(waterfowl), here is some notes I made on a good batch.

12/17/09

Pepperoni stix

7 lbs goose breast

3 lbs 80/20 hamburger(bought a 3 lb tube so just decided to use it all)

1 lb ground pork

Half the batch I added chunked cheddar

The other half has chunked habenero jack cheese(2/3’s of a block), and a 1/3 can of chopped jalapenos.

NOTE: Cut the cheese pieces up small, they plug the stuffer tube and you have to really wrench on the handle to get it through.

Go with 180 degrees on the smoker. I had it at 190 and the stix were at 160 internal temp by 2 hours this time. I think cooking them a little slower might be a better idea

I think the amount of cheese could be ¾ block for 5 lbs. A lot seemed to melt out while hanging because I but them in about 18” pieces, but even with some melted out, it could use more.

Also, with 5+ lbs mixed product, the jalapenos could be added in more quantity. Easily a half can, maybe 2/3’s if a can would be good.

They turned out excellent. You would NEVER know its goose.

And another set of notes:

Jan 15, 2011

40 lbs of duck/goose stix

Seasoning from Brothers meats (Hot stix flavor)

25 lbs duck

10 lbs 60/40 pork

5 lbs 80/20 hamburger

5 lbs pepper jack

Used collagen casings(don’t use natural casings for snack sticks any more)

This turned out absolutely excellent again!

[bloc004]

Pork butts are great pieces of meat to practice on and get familiar with your smoker. Find out how your smoker holds temps, learn how to maintain a good thin blue smoke from your heat source. If your temps jump around a bit, the pork butt is very forgiving. Take it to an internal temp of 200-210 degrees and you will have perfect pork, but do not even think of taking it out until it hits 200 degrees.

With smoking, the possibilities are really endless!

[reinhard1]

along with the post's above it would be a good idea to look at "HSO's Smoked, Smoking @ Smokers Library of Links" put up by Shack. it is a great resource for anything for smoking and sausage making. also check out the thread "Venison Sausage For Adventurous Souls". there will always be someone here to help you with any question you have, just ask. good luck.

[KEN W]

My first suggestion is to take the goose breasts to a butcher shop to be ground.Steel BB's will wreck your grinder.I destroyed one last year and will never grind my own goose breasts again.

Second suggestion is that if you want to put cheese in.....buy high temp cheese from a butcher.Won't melt down like regular cheese.

Third.....as Hockey says.....start out by using pre-packaged seasoning.Real easy to use.

Fourth.....buy casings that are no larger than 29-32 mm.Any larger and they won't fit in a bun easily.I make all my sausages with that size or smaller sized casings.You should be able to get them from a local butcher.Don't buy the generic ones sold in grocery stores.Most are to large for bun size.

Fifth....don't over smoke them.They can get bitter and hard to digest.An hour of smoke is plenty.You probably have a Masterbuilt?I use 2-3 ounces of wood.That's a pretty small piece.Then leave in until you get an internal temp of 150 or so.Set the smoker no higher than 175-180 or all the fat will render out onto the bottom of the smoker.

[reinhard1]

i dont know what the law's in the Dakotas are Ken, but here in Minnesota you cant bring in wild game or anything else unless you order it from a shop and request to have it ground or sliced prior to the sale. once a beef roast for example is sold to a customer and that customer brings it back from their home [having decided to have it ground or even sliced] we could not accept it. it has to be ordered ground or sliced prior to purchase. geese would not be accepted from state or federal inspected shops.

there are smaller shops that proccess wild game [mostly seasonal], that must be done in a different part of the shop if they also proccess USDA meats and poultry.

i'm just saying this so the poster doesn't bring geese into a place like rainbow or cubs for it wont be accepted, however shops that proccess wild game may. good luck.

[drewevans]

thanks everybody! im hoping to give it a try in a week or two.

[eyeguy 54]

start with eggs. easy and mmmmmm :>)

[OnAFly]

That just doesn't sound right. I'll give it a try and hold judgement until I try, but that just sounds goofy.

[KEN W]

Reinhart.....I don't take meat to a grocery store to get ground.Always to a local butcher shop.They didn't have a problem with grinding it.

Some in fact won't take goose breasts because of the steel shot that might be in them.It can really chew up a grinder blade.

[eyeguy 54]

Onafly you gotta try em. havn't had anyone not like them.

[hockeybc69]

My 9 year old niece texted me before Xmas and said, "Uncle Mark, can you bring some smoked eggs for me?"

I dont think I could ever see her again without having smoked eggs in my possession. She would be devesatated... LOL

[MNmikew]

Onafly you gotta try em. havn't had anyone not like them.

What is your method of smokeing EG?

[eyeguy 54]

hard boiled eggs, out of shell. on smoker at about 150 for 45 minutes. cherry or mesquite. or any other wood . :>)

[reinhard1]

Ken, the only reason i mentioned Grocery stores was so that they dont waste their time going there. like i said in my post, butcher shops or lockers that proccess wild game would probably do it. thankfully we still have some good butcher shops around and meat lockers. good luck.

[KEN W]

Right on.