Love of the Hunt TV: Jalapeno & Cheese Bear Kielbasa

This is a Butcher Block segment from Love of the Hunt TV. In this segment, Brad shows you how to make your own Jalapeno Cheese Bear Kielbasa. Brad uses:

• Outdoor Edge Knives
• Hi Mountain Kielbasa Seasonings
• Weston Meat Grinders
• Weston Sausage Stuffers
• Bradley Smokers

How to Use a Bradley Smoker Indoors

Dion from Manitoba, CA asked:

I noticed on a recent show you had a Bradley smoker going indoors - how did you pipe it outside? I do a lot of home processing but working around the Canadian north's weather is a challenge. I have plenty of room in my shop/garage, just need some advice or ideas for venting!

Thanks,

Dion




Thanks for the question Dion,

I simply put a triple wall pipe up though the ceiling, just like pluming in a wood burner. The only downfall is: on damp days it has a little trouble drafting. So I warm the pipe up by turning the smoker on to 160F for 30 minutes before I turn on the smoke generator. 

If you don't, you'll have a building full of smoke. On of top my Bradley Smoker, I have a piece of flex pipe screwed directly to the top of the smoker over top of the dampener.

Good luck and happy all year smoking!!!

Brad

Wild Game Butchering Classes?

Terrance of Seattle, WA wrote in:

I would very much like to hang out/learn from some "pros" how to properly butcher deer (maybe other game). Are you aware of any schools/courses (hands-on) that are available?



Hello Terrance!

I can honestly tell you that there's so much useless knowledge about meat processing stuffed up inside my head, you would go crazy listening to it all. I'm just kidding ya! 

With that being said, the next best thing would be the instructional DVD series that I produce. The Game Processing library has 4 discs in it, plus a 2 hour bonus hunting DVD! 9 hours of knowledge that is step by step, in detail with extreme close up video to match it all up. Each DVD has chapter menus, so you can watch each section as many times as you would like. I have a saying that goes like this: After you watch these DVDs, if you can't process game like a pro - take up knitting!

All joking aside, the closest thing to the DVDs are the 2-hour short courses I do at various events like the NRA National Show and other local events. The DVDs are a great resource that you can watch over and over again. More knowledge than I can share in any email or blog post.

Good luck this season!

- Brad Lockwood, Love of the Hunt TV

Proper Hanging Time for Wild Game Quarters

Warren from Alberta, CA asked:

Hi Brad,

I purchased the complete set of your DVDs. I understand what you are saying about the 3 day per 100 pounds.

My question then is: If you harvest a 400 lb moose. You quarter it. Then you are hanging roughly 100 pound quarters.

Is the proper hanging time 12 days or 3 days for each quarter?



Warren that's a very good question and I thank you!

Yes, you will age 12 days for a 400lb moose. The only issue you're going to run into with the quarters is going to be waste. When you quarter the animal, which I realize is the only way to get one out of the field, you create a lot of exposed surface area. That surface area is going to dry out and get dark. But after you trim it off, the meat under will be tender as velvet!

Thanks for the great question and enjoy the moose meat, it's my favorite!

-Brad

Custom Sausage Making

Jackie from Quitman, GA asked:
I am wanting to make a combo sausage using deer and rabbit. My question for you is: What fat trimmings should I use and how what is the lbs to lbs ratio. I'm big fan of the blog! Watch you from Youtube!

Thanks for the question Jackie!

That's a very interesting product! I'd love to try that someday.

The rule that I apply concerning what type of fat to use is based upon what product I'm trying to duplicate. For example, if I'm making a summer sausage which is traditionally a beef product I will mix beef trim or beef fat in with my game meat. If I'm making Kielbasa or Bratwurst which is typically a pork based product, I will add pork back fat or pork butt trimmings.

It sounds like you're making a basic sausage product, which would traditionally be a pork based product, so I would use pork back fat or pork butt trimmings.

A desirable fat to lean ratio is typically 80/20. If you trim your game meat lean, which you should, and dispose of all that off-flavored wild game fat, you will have a very lean product. That's why we love game meat so much, right?! It's lean and healthy!

After the fat is trimmed, you should have a 95-98% lean product, so if you want an 80/20 (80% lean and 20% fat) blend then you would need to add 1.5 lbs of pure back fat with 8.5lbs of good lean trim for a 10 lb batch.

Be careful using pure back fat. If you add a little too much it can be a lot! If you don't add enough, you'll never notice that it's even in the product. Pure fat can be a little tricky. It's generally not expensive to get, but it can be touchy when adding enough or not enough.

Now, when using pork butt trimmings, you will also have some lean pork in there, so the window of too much or not enough increases. You can use 3 lbs of pork butt trimmings and 7 lbs of game meat for each 10 lb batch. You have a much larger window of error. Next, mix your seasonings and a little water to blend the seasonings - and you're ready to grind!!

Good luck and thanks for the great question!

Brad Lockwood