Weâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]ll here it is…. I hear some have been patiently waiting for the results. This was our 7th year of processing our venison over the thanksgiving holiday. Martyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s sons have wrestled since 1st grade so our winters consist of that almost every weekend traveling to a tournament somewhere. Thanksgiving was the only time to get our venison processed before February. So we have made it a tradition. We are not sure what will happen next yr – his youngest is a senior this yr.
Here was the agenda:
25# Venison Grandpa Josh Summer Sausage w/ Cheese
25#â€[emoji]8482[/emoji] Venison Hunters Summer Sausage w/ Cheese
12.5# Buffalo Grandpa Josh Summer Sausage w/ Cheese
12.5# Venison Sweet Italian Bulk
12.5# Venison Hunters Bulk
12.5# Venison North Country Bulk
12.5# Venison Grandpa Josh Bulk
12.5# Venison Maple Breakfast Links
12.5# Venison North Country Breakfast Links
25# Venison Andouille Ring Sausage
25# Venison Hunter and Pepperoni Meat Sticks
25# Venison Hot Dogs w/ Cheese
25# Venison Cheddar Brats
37.5# Buffalo Bacon
25# Elk Bacon
I had taken every thing out to thaw the night before se we could grind and mix everything up in one night.
We started at around 5pm Wednesday night after we both finished working. We first ground everything on a course grind. Marty would grind and then I would throw it in the meat mixer along with the seasonings. This was our first yr with a meat mixer and we absolutely LOVED it!! It saved so much time and was so much easier not to have to freeze your hands mixing. Then once it was all mixed up I gave the tub back to Marty to grind again.
We let every thing set over night with the seasonings in it before stuffing. It was cold enough here to set stuff outside overnight which worked out perfect. You can see our make shift “coolerâ€.
Our first load into the smoker was all bacon – 37.5 lbs of buffalo bacon and 25 lbs of elk bacon. You can see Martyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s monster smoker handles no problem…. I think we could have doubled that load! We didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even use ½ of the racks.
We smoke everything about the same. We started out around 130 degrees for an hr for the sausage to dry before applying smoke. We then bump the heat to 150-160 degrees and smoke for around 2-3 hrs depending on how much smoke we want. We then move the items into the oven to finish cooking so that we can get the next item into the smoker. Our first smoking day consisted of the bacon, summer sausage, and Andouille ring. We also did the stuffed the cheddar brats, and bulk that day too.
The next day (Friday) I packaged up everything we had smoked the day before. This was of course after I went shopping! I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t miss the day after thanksgiving sales. So we got a pretty late start Friday.
We then only had 2 more loads for the smoker. Meat sticks (pic below) and the cheddar hot dogs. We also stuffed the breakfast links that we donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t smoke.
I think we set a record this yr. We were done smoking in only 2 days. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think that has ever happened before. With the addition of the meat mixer and the 25lb stuffer we bought this yr we did everything so much faster. Then Saturday we packed up the hotdogs, links, and the meat sticks. We celebrated with some Bloody Marys. Notice that we cut our meat sticks to make a perfect stir stick!!
Here was the agenda:
25# Venison Grandpa Josh Summer Sausage w/ Cheese
25#â€[emoji]8482[/emoji] Venison Hunters Summer Sausage w/ Cheese
12.5# Buffalo Grandpa Josh Summer Sausage w/ Cheese
12.5# Venison Sweet Italian Bulk
12.5# Venison Hunters Bulk
12.5# Venison North Country Bulk
12.5# Venison Grandpa Josh Bulk
12.5# Venison Maple Breakfast Links
12.5# Venison North Country Breakfast Links
25# Venison Andouille Ring Sausage
25# Venison Hunter and Pepperoni Meat Sticks
25# Venison Hot Dogs w/ Cheese
25# Venison Cheddar Brats
37.5# Buffalo Bacon
25# Elk Bacon
I had taken every thing out to thaw the night before se we could grind and mix everything up in one night.
We started at around 5pm Wednesday night after we both finished working. We first ground everything on a course grind. Marty would grind and then I would throw it in the meat mixer along with the seasonings. This was our first yr with a meat mixer and we absolutely LOVED it!! It saved so much time and was so much easier not to have to freeze your hands mixing. Then once it was all mixed up I gave the tub back to Marty to grind again.
We let every thing set over night with the seasonings in it before stuffing. It was cold enough here to set stuff outside overnight which worked out perfect. You can see our make shift “coolerâ€.
Our first load into the smoker was all bacon – 37.5 lbs of buffalo bacon and 25 lbs of elk bacon. You can see Martyâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s monster smoker handles no problem…. I think we could have doubled that load! We didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even use ½ of the racks.
We smoke everything about the same. We started out around 130 degrees for an hr for the sausage to dry before applying smoke. We then bump the heat to 150-160 degrees and smoke for around 2-3 hrs depending on how much smoke we want. We then move the items into the oven to finish cooking so that we can get the next item into the smoker. Our first smoking day consisted of the bacon, summer sausage, and Andouille ring. We also did the stuffed the cheddar brats, and bulk that day too.
The next day (Friday) I packaged up everything we had smoked the day before. This was of course after I went shopping! I canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t miss the day after thanksgiving sales. So we got a pretty late start Friday.
We then only had 2 more loads for the smoker. Meat sticks (pic below) and the cheddar hot dogs. We also stuffed the breakfast links that we donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t smoke.
I think we set a record this yr. We were done smoking in only 2 days. I donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t think that has ever happened before. With the addition of the meat mixer and the 25lb stuffer we bought this yr we did everything so much faster. Then Saturday we packed up the hotdogs, links, and the meat sticks. We celebrated with some Bloody Marys. Notice that we cut our meat sticks to make a perfect stir stick!!