From A Friend

[NePaSmoKer]

A friend and his wife from NC are on their way to Maine. They stopped by and dropped off a boatload of these. Each pack is like over 2lbs

[viper125]

Thats a good friend dropping off Elk meat. That ought to make good sausage.

[cobra6223]

WOW !! Where can I find a friend like that , any one else with extra elk meat need a friend, I'm available, very nice Rick .
Tim

[pikeman_95]

Rick good score. The word on your skills is getting around.


For you guys that are looking for wild meat to make sausage with try what I used to do. When I had more time which seems like a long time ago. I let the word out at our church  that I would do sausage for shares. I payed for the materials and spices and provided the pork and did the work which I liked to do. We then would split the sausage 50/50. I had no objections because that is basically what happens at a commercial processor except they would get a large bill. We live in hunting country so there are lots of guys with meat in their freezers that is just getting old. I had more meat then I wanted.  The only thing is you need to make them actually weigh it before you agree to do it. I had one good friend that insisted that he had 40-60 pounds. When he showed up with it he had 12 pounds. [Make sure you make them weigh the meat before you agree.]

[viper125]

 We do the same here with close friends. And your right on about the weight. The adverage full grown deer dont have 60 lbs of meat. But I here a lot of hunters talking how the get 100 lbs or more off a deer. They always complain about the people processing the meat claiming they keep a lot. We weigh it while their at our house. We need to know how much pork to add anyway plus no hard feelings. But rarely get Elk.

[NePaSmoKer]

The Elk is pretty lean so i have to cut in some fat.

Still frozen



Mix


Gusee time to grind some cut in.

[NePaSmoKer]

Put the course ground elk through the medium plate.




OH NOOOOOO

Ran out of brisket trim so i had to cut some poke  ;D




Put the poke through the fine plate.




Might as well bag the extra for next sausage time.



Going to cut 1 lb 6 oz ground poke with the elk, Mix tonight and stuff tomorrow.

[NePaSmoKer]

Poke cut in, seasoned and mixed. Stuff-n-smoke tomorrow.

[viper125]

Looks good!

[Tenpoint5]

Ok it's tomorrow. When we going to do the stuffing and smoking?

[beefmann]

great friends

[NePaSmoKer]

Its today 0730 and the KC is getting ready.

Spray the lip and about 4" inside the tube with Pam (no you wont taste it) This will make the piston and O rings slide in easy.


Next spray the O rings and piston.





Open the back tube valve and one of the other valves. Doing this will make the piston slide down the tube easy. I just push it down.



Push the piston down.


Now fill the tube with meat.



Put on the bulkhead and front cap





At this point you should have filled the tube with water and closed the valves......RIGHT  ;D
I open the back valve and push the meat closer to the stuffer tube before i install the stuffer tube (sorry forgot pic)


Stuffer tube on.



A friend of our asked how do they get the collagen casings so chewy?

Easy......Soak em.


These are 19mm smoked collagen soaking for 10 mins in cold water.



Slide the soft collagen onto the tube and stuff em.



Here is my MacGyver  :D  style lazy susan





Hang em high  ;D

[pikeman_95]

Rick great pics. I am going to have to pay you a commission soon. Did you see your pm. I have a new technique for emptying the water out of the stuffer once you are done stuffing the sausage. Replace the knob on the end of the piston with and 5/16 eye bolt. This a permanent change. After stuffing, suck the piston to the back of the stuffer. this will suck all of the water out of the stuffer. Including lifting the front of the stuffer while you are retracting the piston. Before you do this attach a chord and clip to the eye bolt and let the piston suck the clip and chord into the stuffer. Now when the stuffer is empty. shut off the valves and open the air vent and pull the piston out with the chord. This will mean you have a empty water side of the piston when you pull it out.


here are a couple of pictures showing what I mean.

[lumpy]

Sure is nice to be able to stuff outside, eh Rick?

[ghost9mm]

Really a nice operation you have Rick, and a great friend indeed..elk meat is premium around here...