I'm tired of the processors! I'm buying a new grinder, asked Santa for a smoker.

So lets hear them. I need a recipe for making breakfast sausage, link sausage and jerky. Not looking to buy the "premixed" packs the stores are selling unless they are better/easier than mixing my own

If I make about 50 pounds of sausage, I usually go with about 20 pounds of venison, 20 pounds of pork, and about 9 pounds of bacon scraps (3 three pounds packages). The bacon keeps it from being too lean and also gives it a smoky flavor without the smoking. Season it according to what you like.....salt, pepper, garlic, etc.

Hi Mountain jerky mix is the bomb. I will never use anything else. As for sausage, google is your friend.

X2 on the High Mountain original jerky. Follow the directions to the nth and you wont be dissapointed. I use a cold smoke for an hour and finish in a dehydrater "SP". Can't help ya on the sausage.

For links, I like 2 pounds of pork trimmings for every 10 pounds of venison, so you end up with about 15 % fat (assuming that some of the pork is lean rather than fat.) Your finished product will be lower in fat as much of the fat cooks out. I add half an ounce of freshly ground black pepper, 3 ounces of salt, one tablespoon of sage, and 3 tablespoons of ground cayenne pepper.

Since this is your first time, I'd recommend using less of the salt and cayenne at first. Then, after you've ground the meat, but before you stuff the casings, fry some up. You can now adjust the salt and cayenne to your own taste.

After the links are stuffed, I smoke them for 12 to 16 hours using a charcoal smoker. I cold smoke for the first six hours or so, then use more charcoal to get more heat. For the last few years, I've been using willow chips, but pecan, liveoak, mulberry, and mesquite also work very well. I've heard good things about pear, apple and other fruit tree woods.

If there's room in the smoker, I'll sometimes smoke a backstrap or two, or perhaps some garlic cloves.

Good luck!

+1 on the High Mountain jerky seasonings. They are fantastic! I like the original and mesquite flavors the best.

This member did an excellent step by step breakfast sausage thread---> Venison breakfast sausage

Wow, great stuff! Thanks for linking. My only change would be to go the other way on the ratio, 2-1 deer to pork.

After years of making my own spice mixes, I have settled on the LEM prepackaged mix for sausage.
I either get the big box with 4 different kinds or the big bags good for 15#.
It works out cheaper for me in the long run because their spices are concentrated and I get a variety.

I used LEM for summer sausage last year and thought it didn't have enough flavor.

Here's my teriyaki jerky recipe that will do a couple pounds of meat:

10 oz soy sauce
1 cup cheap red wine
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp liquid smoke
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
1 tbsp black pepper

Mix well and marinade the meat for 24 hours then dehydrate. Really easy and awesome every time.