Elk Breakfast Sausage

I decided to give sausage making a go for the second year now. I used to be intimidated by this, but with a little bit of practice it's become fairly easy. I finally bought a grinder, and grinding the meat myself is a lot easier and faster than I expected. I like knowing exactly the path my game has taken from field to fry pan. I used a basic recipe I found online and then tweaked it to my liking. Sausage making is not an exact science, and the recipes can be altered to suit all taste buds.

I started by course grinding 35 lbs. of elk and 15 lbs. of pork shoulder. I then covered my kitchen table with Butcher paper and spread the meat out evenly. I sprinkled all the seasonings over the meat and thoroughly worked them in by hand. I ran the seasoned meat through the grinder one more time to evenly mix everything and then let the sausage sit overnight. I believe this helps the meat soak up the seasonings. In the morning, I made a patty and tested my flavors. Happy with the result, I packaged it into half pound packages and sent it to the freezer. I froze it all in bulk, meaning I did not make any links.

Next year I'm buying casing and will try breakfast links as well as Bratwurst. Last year I used the same recipe but did not add the pork. It tasted like breakfast sausage, but every time I ate it, I felt like it was missing something. I think that something was a little pork and pork fat. Even with the amount of pork I added the sausage is not greasy a bit! Enjoy!

Here are my ingredients:

35 lbs. elk

15 lbs. pork shoulder

1/2 lb. kosher salt

2 oz. ground sage

2 tsp. red pepper

2 Tb. fresh ground black pepper

1 cup honey

2 tsp. ground ginger