Deer Season!

I was in the parking lot of our local grocer yesterday when a hunter/butcher friend of mine called out to me.

We got instantly excited as we anticipate the upcoming meat processing week. It is mostly deer and pigs, but it could also be turkeys, cows, or sheep. Together we share several pieces of equipment (at this point, I am not even sure who really owns what): we have a sausage stuffer, several meat grinders, a pulley, a scale, Cryovac and a dehydrator. Add string, butcher paper, Cryo bags, spices, garlic and lots of sharp knives and we have a fully operational meat packing plant!

We slaughtered our two pigs on Wednesday and will package them up on Sunday - perhaps have a pig roast Sunday night. We have put off doing it because the weather has been so warm but it is time and it is getting costly to keep the pigs. It is a lovely fit; venison and pork go well together for sausage making, as there is so much fat on a pig and none on a deer.

<<We had two pigs this year and here I am hanging them for three days before we butcher them. Our pigs were smaller this year as we did not get them until August.  They were Berkshire Old Spot heritage breed.

So we grind up the deer meat – three-parts deer meat to one-part pork shoulder or scraps to one-part pork fat, add spices and herbs, and we are on our way to stuffing delicious sausage.

Salami

<<We made three types of sausage this year, salami, bacon and head cheese. It is a satisfying project that makes me drool thinking about it!

It is a joyful time and we all vie for who has the best recipe, eating skillets full of sausages as we go (although this year I will not be eating, as I am still on my no animal protein diet and feeling pretty good about it!).