Venison Hot Breakfast Sausage

When I first started processing hogs at Silver Ridge Farm, I was confused as to what “hot” sausage was referring to. When I think of sausage, I think of chorizo, andouille, bratwurst, etc. Hot would be a descriptor for some of these classic sausages, but in this case, “hot” was its own thing. 

Hot pork sausage is a generic term for spicy pork breakfast sausage. Recipes vary from region, person, and manufacturer. But the commonality between them all is pork, sage, and hot pepper of some sort. It’s breakfast sausage, but unlike many breakfast sausages, this one doesn’t have any maple syrup in it, or, if it does, it’s explicit about it (ie “hot maple breakfast”). In fact, there are generally no sweet elements in this sausage at all.

Hot sausage has a unique flavor profile to it- it’s fatty, has a little bit of heat, and usually just enough sage to define it. It doesn't taste like any other sausage I've ever had. It’s distinct, yet hard to describe. It tastes like “hot sausage”, kinda like how a hot dog tastes like a hot dog.

Also, it’s pretty damn tasty. It’s great in sausage gravy, folded into breakfast burritos, or cooked with onions, peppers and hominy (this is our go to goose hunting lunch). I wanted to make a venison version of this classic sausage, so I started with a relatively high venison to pork fat ratio to simulate the pork that is the norm. Cayenne, paprika, chili flakes, and black pepper make up the heat, and the sage gives it the signature characteristic.  A little garlic powder and coriander adds some depth, and a little MSG really rounds it out.

You really don’t want to skip the double grind with this one, this sausage is best worked through the grinder twice. The sausage will be finer and stickier, ideal for making patties, or breaking up into clumps. 

This venison version is not the same as the original pork version, but it’s damn close.

Venison Hot Breakfast Sausage Recipe

As always, we use metric measurements and go by percentage weight for our sausage recipes. We do this to make the recipes easy to scale and replicate exactly, batch after batch. If you’re thinking of getting into sausage making and don’t own a kitchen scale, please do yourself the favor of buying one. They’re inexpensive relative to the cash outlay of all the other equipment you’ll need to pick up, and will save you a lot of effort in terms of scaling recipes into imperial measurements. To measure your ingredients, first weigh the meat you are using, and then calculate the weight of all the other ingredients based on the weight of the meat.

Prep time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

Venison, trimmed and cut into 1” cubes

30% pork fat, mostly frozen, cut into small cubes

2% salt

0.65% cayenne

0.325% rubbed sage

0.325% black pepper

0.325% crushed red pepper

0.325% coriander, crushed

0.325% MSG

0.325% Garlic powder

Method:

Weigh the cubed venison in grams and record that weight- use it to calculate the amount of the remaining ingredients on the list.

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight (optional). Grind through a coarse plate, then grind through a fine plate.

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