Had a successful weekend hunting thanks to the cold weather that came through this past weekend. I harvested a nice 5 1/2 year old buck that I’ve affectionally named Chicken foot due to his unusual rack. I have pictures from last year just after he broke off that side either in a fight with another buck or some other accident. Processed him Sunday morning and dropped off the head and cape to be mounted.

So my youngest daughter and I got up a little after 0300 this morning to get ready and head out to our hunting lease. We were in the blind right at 0500 ready to catch a few zzz before sunrise. About 6 we heard a deer blowing, pretty sure not at us. I’m fairly certain I know the deer and she blows at everything, next time I see her in the daylight she’s taking a ride home in the back of my truck. Just before 7 I noticed a deer had come into view, we watched for a little bit and Shorty decided she couldn’t pass it up. She made a perfect shot, the deer ran maybe 50 yards and crashed. Not the giant I was hoping for but a trophy none the less for my baby. And the venison will be extra delicious knowing my baby girl is the one who harvested it for our family!

My first turkey, he’s not the biggest fella but it doesn’t matter it was an awesome hunt with a great friend.

Something else to keep in mind, if you have the ability to control the level of vacuum on your machine it is a good idea to turn it down to about halfway. The reason being is I have found if I vacuum pack Fresh sausages on the maximum level they will flatten as they thaw out. Another way to combat that problem would be to just cut open the bag when you pull them out of the freezer, but I never remember to do that so I don’t use the max vacuum when I package them.

I cooked some brats I made a week or so ago for a snack. My wife and girls went out shopping and told me to fend for myself. I cooked some chicken Sunday for dinner but forgot to take pics.

I was born and raised in Louisiana and have tried the Excalibur Boudin seasoning and it turned out great. I’m not a huge fan of liver so I only used a pound and I pureed it and added about 8 cups of cooked rice to it. I cooked to butts in the seasoning in my crawfish pot outside until the bone fell out then mixed that with the rice and a little of the juice and stuffed into 32/35 mm hog casings. I’ve also used that seasoning to make a cured/smoked sausage as well as fresh sausage and it has been great every time I’ve used it.

Departing Contestant Gonna brag a little bit … She’s in three different choirs but also has a 5-2 Muay Thai Kickboxing record and a championship belt, trains Jiu Jitsu and MMA. She has already been accepted into a couple different Universities and wants to be a Psychologist. Needless to say I’m extremely proud of her.

willie6378 I want to say it was around 17-18 pounds of Pork Butt, around 7 pounds of cooked rice the a couple pounds of green onions, bell peppers and celery and white onions when I made it as actual Boudin. When I made it as a Fresh and Smoked sausage I made 10 lbs of each and adjusted the seasoning for that batch size.

Big Buck back strap, well half of one. Injected with the Cajun Soluble seasoning, and sprinkled a little of the sweet basil, oregano and rosemary shaker and finally a few sprinkles of the Ultimate steak and roast shaker. Cooked to an internal temp of 135 and then let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Turned out delicious, it was the first time I’ve used that injection but I will definitely be buying more from Walton’s!

I agree with Tex, you don’t really want to get protein extraction when making a Fresh sausage. Whenever I make Fresh sausage I mix just enough to mix the seasoning thoroughly throughout the meat and then I stop mixing.

johnsbrewhouse It is my wife’s favorite and she doesn’t like real spicy stuff. The batch I made yesterday was split into a 15 lb portion and a 10 lb and I added ghost pepper cheese to the smaller portion for me and it pairs very well with it.

I just made 25 lbs of Willies yesterday and it is my favorite, I’ve made it several times but this last batch was my best one so far. It definitely does have some pepper in it, not overwhelming but if someone doesn’t like heat then you would need to either make another flavor and I’d say maybe try the W beef stick, it’s a good flavor and mild. The other option is what you are asking about and I’m not sure how much more meat you would need to add or less seasoning per pound but I would start at 10% and go from there.

Christopher Beach I have the 11 lb stuffer and love it, it’s worked great for anything I’ve stuffed with it including snack sticks

Jonathon I think I would be an amazing guest…I’ll even pay for my own transportation to Walton’s.

JoeB That’s one way to look at it, or you can look at the ease of use for most of us home processors who got into this later in life. My grandfather made his own sausage but has long since been gone and no one else in the family does it so when I decided a few years ago to start making my own I really didn’t have an idea of where to start. The prepackaged seasonings I buy from Walton’s is perfect for me and as I’ve gotten more experienced I can make adjustments based on my own taste. I can add more spices or change the ratio of seasoning to meat to make subtle changes to the flavor of the end product. There are some seasonings that I make just as they are intended to be made and then there are others that I use the seasoning package as a base/starting point and make it my own.

JoeB Yes there is salt in the seasoning mixture and if its supposed to be a cured product the cure is in a separate packet.

I’ve made the Kielbasa before and it is absolutely one of my favorite seasonings I’ve used. I didn’t find it overly salty but that can be a subjective thing. Not sure what could’ve happened but as was mentioned you can always take a little bit and fry it up prior to stuffing to make sure everything is good to go. Personally when I am using a seasoning for the first time I make a small test batch to make sure I like or if I need to make any adjustments. This is not a necessary step but I usually am making products from venison so I’m a little more cautious since I can’t just run to the grocery store and buy more if I don’t like the final product.

Bozy Smoked meat stabilizer is a cure accelerator so there is not really a need to add to meat after holding overnight. Also if you are going to hold overnight stuff your casings when you are done mixing the meat, it’ll be a lot easier on you and your equipment to do it that way. As far as flavor development, I’ve never had any issues when using a cure accelerator and going straight to the smoker.

There were a couple tips in there that I’ve been doing for a few years now, like the bread in the stuffer and grinder, always works like a charm. Also have used the wild game rinse in the past, I just bought a quart bottle and sprayer and mixed it up in that and had no issues. I would keep that mixture for a weekend and change it out the next time I went hunting.

I have a Vac Master VP 112S that I bought from Walton’s a couple years ago and love it. Vac Master discontinued that model not that long after I bought mine but I’m not to worried about it. I use it whenever I make sausage, process a deer or even going grocery shopping. I usually buy my meat from a local butcher shop but they don’t always have everything I need or want so if I buy a big pack of chicken legs, thighs or leg quarters I’ll break them down into serving sizes when I get home and vac seal them. Having a chambered machine is worth every penny you will spend on it and you won’t regret it.