DEER BRAT RECIPE RECIPES

Steps:

• Prep. Soak casings in a big bowl of water for at least an hour or overnight before stuffing. If they are packed in salt, run cold water inside to rinse before soaking.
• Grind. Combine the dry seasonings and mix with the diced venison cubes and diced pork fat cubes in a large bowl. Make some room in the freezer and place the meat inside to chill. The meat and fat must be very, very cold before grinding. Let chill for 30 minutes or longer, but don’t allow to freeze solid.
• Use the large die attachment to grind the meat and fat. Return the mixture to the large bowl. Grind again, this time using the small die attachment.
• Stir in the cold milk to make the bind. Mix with a large spoon or use your hands. You want the bind to stick together in a large ball and not crumble; the texture should feel tacky. When finished, place the mixture in the fridge to stay cold while you clean up the meat grinder and set up the sausage stuffer.
• Stuff. Pull the casings out of the water and squeeze out any excess liquids. You still want the outside to be a little wet because it helps it slide better. Feed all of the casing over the stuffer’s tube, leaving a few inches off the end. Tie the end in a knot.
• Feed the meat into the sausage stuffer. Keep feeding it through at a consistent pace as it extrudes the meat into the casing. Don’t overstuff. As the stuffer continues to extrude meat you can start to coil the sausage.
• Form links by pinching at equal distances (about 7 inches) and twisting several times. Turn each link in alternating directions (or tie with butcher’s string). Do this throughout the entire casing. Refrigerate or freeze immediately afterward.
• *You can use a classic sausage ratio of 30% fat by doing 3 1/2 pounds of venison and 1 1/2 pounds of pork fatback. If you want to cut in pork trim, use 3 pounds of venison, 1 pound of pork trim, and 1 pound of fatback.

Steps:

• Cut the venison and pork belly into grinderappropriate sized pieces. Place on a tray and in the freezer for 15-20 minutes while you set up the grinder.
• Assemble the grinder with a 3/8” plate to start and grind the meat once through the 3/8” plate.
• Gently combine the Butter Garlic Sausage Seasoning with the once ground meat. Place back in the fridge while you reset the grinder.
• Replace the grinder plate with a 3/16” plate and grind seasoned meat through once. 
• Add the binder flour and pink salt to the meat block and combine well with your hands or a meat mixer.
• Add water and mix until protein extraction starts. Prep sausage stuffer with a ¾” horn. Load stuffer with meat block, avoiding any air pockets when loading.
• Thread sausage casings onto horn and gently begin stuffing into casings, leaving just enough give to twist them. 
• Link off sausages and use a sausage pricker or sharop knife to remove any air pockets. 
• Place on a rack lined sheet tray and place in the fridge overnight to dry and to develop flavors.
• Preheat smoker to 130 degrees F. Hang sausages on smoke sticks, allowing at least 2” between sausages. Place in the smoker for 30 minutes.
• Place ¼ pan of moistened sawdust on the heating element and increase the house temperature to 150 degrees. Smoke for 45 minutes.
• Remove the sawdust and increase the house temperature to 170 degrees and cook for 2-3 hours, or until an internal temperature of the sausage reaches 155 degrees F. 
• Take the sausages out of the smokehouse and place in an ice bath for 15-20 minutes to rapidly chill.
• Store in vacuum packed bags for future use or grill up right away and enjoy!