Gamey Mule Deer -Summer Sausage question

[work765]

Hi, I just got my first archery mule deer back from the butcher, and I tasted the summer sausage and its they gamey-ist and stinkiest sausage ive ever had in my life. It stinks like mule deer and not in a good way. I wasn't sure if it was because the deer sat part of the night dead and I found him in the AM? or, if its the butchers process? its the first time i've used this butcher. I wont even been able to eat this sausage at all. and its a serious waste of my money. Im not sure what to think about it.

Deer was shot in CO, about 8000ft elevation.

Have any of you guys donated wild game meet before?

 

[MeatBuck]

Where did you shoot it? Guts? Piss sack? Did he use the deer fat in the grind? Have you asked him anything before posting here?
Another thing, ya u wasted some money but the potential waste of meat is where your concern should lie imo.

 

[Nick Muche]

If summer sausage is gamey, it's likely because the butcher did not trim the meat very well and there was ample fat content from the deer itself. Deer summer sausage will be terrible if the fat is not trimmed completely off prior to making it.

 

[work765]

First shot was high, just over his lungs, but he was injured. I shot him late morning, and then finally found him bedded in the evening and he got up and was walking slowly away from me. he paused for a moment and I landed one in his gut close to the lungs. and he still walked off. I tracked him till night, and couldnt find him. got up early morning and found him around 8am. I gutted him in the field that morning but he was pretty damn stinky. Took him to the butcher a couple hours later, and they said he was okay. but they had to do some double check smells to make sure the meat hadn't gone bad.

 

[sndmn11]

The lesson here is to have zero sausage made when trying a new processor. Get all your ground meat first to try, then later have it made into sausage.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I had to leave an elk a few years back. The butcher immediately knew it had some spoilage. He did a smell test all over the hind quarters and ended up cutting 20-25lbs off the hind quarters. He said that any animal left overnight will have some degree of bone spoilage at the ball joint. I would assume your butcher wasn’t as knowledgeable and ground up some tainted meat. Once it’s ground into the pile of meat it ruins everything. Sucks but I bet that’s what happened to your meat.

 

[Axlrod]

Dead overnight it is spoiled

 

[work765]

So, what would you guys do? How many 2nd opinions do i need to have a valid conversation with the butcher?

or is this one of those expensive lessons that everyone has to learn?

Im going to try a few of the other things I had made and see how they taste.
I got hot links, and chorizo, brats, and some jalepeno summer sausage as well.

Im praying its not all horrible!

 

[sram9102]

One thing you can do in the future is take your own ground meat in if the processor will take it. You'll have a weight on the meat that you took in and should be able to tell if any of it was spoiled. Can cut down on a fair amount of cost as well. Local processor some friends used to use ran $40 to skin a deer. If all else fails your dog or a friends dog would probably be thrilled to eat any of that.

 

[92xj]

Did you bone the meat out or take the deer whole minus guts?

One thing that makes grind taste like stank deer is not getting the hair off the meat. I've seen it more than I can imagine, meat with hair grinded up and made into whatever.

It's almost really hard to get mixed sausage to taste bad of you mix with your fats correctly, mix the seasoning into the meat well and then smoke it correctly.

 

[work765]

I took it in with the hide on and gutted. But he skinned it for me, and then hit it with some torch to burn off anything lingering.
I just tried the hot links and the jalapeño summer sausage. Not edible in my opinion.

 

[work765]

I just spoke with the butcher. He said bring it back whatever im not happy with and he will refund half my cost of the order. He was extremely apologetic, and was completely understanding. So thats not a horrible outcome in my opinion.
Thats better than nothing.

 

[92xj]

I took it in with the hide on and gutted. But he skinned it for me, and then hit it with some torch to burn off anything lingering.
I just tried the hot links and the jalapeño summer sausage. Not edible in my opinion.

That's good to know. Most won't take the time to burn the hair. That fact actually gives me a little confidence that you actually have a good one to use.

 

[Bubblehide]

I process all of my gamemeat myself. From experience I can tell that the gameness is in the sinew, muscle sheath, and the fat. So I seperate every muscle, remove the sheeth, fat ... since I have been doing this, I have never experienced gamey meat. But keep in mind, no butcher is going to do this.

 

[TheGDog]

Stink comes from silver-skin and the vicera. Sounds like he tried to get lazy and not meticulously shave-off all the silver-skin and viscera.

Also...for my steak pieces I always let it soak in water to draw out the blood. Change water several times. The blood being still within the muscle contributes to gamey taste a small amount.

But yeah, if you're saying stinky.. it's the silver-skin and viscera. I cook all that up and give it to the dogs. They LOVE it.

 

[NoWiser]

Stink comes from silver-skin and the vicera. Sounds like he tried to get lazy and not meticulously shave-off all the silver-skin and viscera.

Also...for my steak pieces I always let it soak in water to draw out the blood. Change water several times. The blood being still within the muscle contributes to gamey taste a small amount.

But yeah, if you're saying stinky.. it's the silver-skin and viscera. I cook all that up and give it to the dogs. They LOVE it.

Not sure I agree with this. I braise all of my shanks with tendon/silverskin/bone left on. Not a hint of a bad taste. I also never soak my game meat in water and wouldn't recommend it.

 

[TheGDog]

Just so were clear, I soak in water while defrosting, and just before preparing. I'm not saying soak in water before freezing. Just in case there was any confusion there. I typically follow it up with a Olive-Oil Brush-On with my flavorings/herbs/spices added into the oil of the brush-on, and broiled on Low. Pieces not much more than 1/2" thick no more than 6 minutes on each side gives perfection.

 

[sndmn11]

So, what would you guys do? How many 2nd opinions do i need to have a valid conversation with the butcher?

or is this one of those expensive lessons that everyone has to learn?

Im going to try a few of the other things I had made and see how they taste.
I got hot links, and chorizo, brats, and some jalepeno summer sausage as well.

Im praying its not all horrible!

Who was the processor?

 

[SIontheHunt]

did you grind the whole thing? Do you not have a tenderloin or backstrap to cook up and see if its gamey? it wouldn't spoil like meet deep in the hams but it will give you a hint. Stressed out and dying for a day then left out all night is generally not good.

 

[SIontheHunt]

Just so were clear, I soak in water while defrosting, and just before preparing. I'm not saying soak in water before freezing. Just in case there was any confusion there. I typically follow it up with a Olive-Oil Brush-On with my flavorings/herbs/spices added into the oil of the brush-on, and broiled on Low. Pieces not much more than 1/2" thick no more than 6 minutes on each side gives perfection.

try that same process with a simple brine, works even better especially for people that arent used to what real animals taste like.