# Dehydrating Sausage



## TechAdmin

My wife got a good deal on some sausage from the store. Her parent bought the same deal and now I have several pounds of sausage.

I've put some thought into this, is it possible to dehydrate considering I'm slicing? Should I remove the casing? 

I've been dehydrating for some time, never done any meat except jerky, so I'm not sure how this will end up.


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## OldCootHillbilly

Most sausage tends ta be bout 30% fat an it won't dehydrate an store real well lessin yall put it in the fridge. Ya would be makin sorta a sausage jerky. Yall gonna have ta dehydrate at a bit higher temp if it be pork cause ya don't wanna get sick, over 145° at least.

When I dehydrate ground meat I get it with as little fat as be possible so it don't go rancid. I think I'd freeze it rather then dehydrate it.


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## cybergranny

You could fry it up in patties or crumbles and can it.


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## TechAdmin

cybergranny said:


> You could fry it up in patties or crumbles and can it.


I thought of doing that, but at the same time I was thinking it could work as a trail food better if I could get it to jerky consistency.


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## OldCootHillbilly

Pemmican be made from fruits, meat (jerky) an yup fat. Was mixed tagether fer a trail food. Ain't sure how long it would keep though. If ya froze it an just took out what ya needed might work.


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## BadgeBunny

You can dry it but it won't store quite as long as other less fatty meats. 

Crumbles are the longest lasting way. Fry it up (make sure it is well done, no pink) and then pour in a colander and rinse well under running hot water to remove as much of the grease as possible. Then dry it really good with paper towels. Spread the crumbles on the tray and dehydrate like you would hamburger crumbles. You might check it about a third of the way through and if it is shiny at all (which indicates grease is present) then take it out, pat with paper towels again until the shine is gone and put it back in the dehydrator again to finish up.

Should be really crunchy when it is done. Store in pint jars in a cool, dark, dry place. I have some I dehydrated about a month ago so I can't tell you from experience how long it will last (it was my first batch) but depending on how well you removed the fat I am expecting it should still be good at least 9 to 12 months from now ... Not sure I would keep it any longer than that without using some more suitable methods of longer term storage.

It's good in breakfast casseroles and tortilla wraps with scrambled eggs ...


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## TechAdmin

OldCootHillbilly said:


> Pemmican be made from fruits, meat (jerky) an yup fat. Was mixed tagether fer a trail food. Ain't sure how long it would keep though. If ya froze it an just took out what ya needed might work.


I've always wanted to try making it, I need to render quite a bit of fat though don't I?



BadgeBunny said:


> You can dry it but it won't store quite as long as other less fatty meats.
> 
> Crumbles are the longest lasting way. Fry it up (make sure it is well done, no pink) and then pour in a colander and rinse well under running hot water to remove as much of the grease as possible. Then dry it really good with paper towels. Spread the crumbles on the tray and dehydrate like you would hamburger crumbles. You might check it about a third of the way through and if it is shiny at all (which indicates grease is present) then take it out, pat with paper towels again until the shine is gone and put it back in the dehydrator again to finish up.
> 
> Should be really crunchy when it is done. Store in pint jars in a cool, dark, dry place. I have some I dehydrated about a month ago so I can't tell you from experience how long it will last (it was my first batch) but depending on how well you removed the fat I am expecting it should still be good at least 9 to 12 months from now ... Not sure I would keep it any longer than that without using some more suitable methods of longer term storage.
> 
> It's good in breakfast casseroles and tortilla wraps with scrambled eggs ...


I'll give it a try, I'm going try a few things over the weekend and see if I can't get it to work.


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## TechAdmin

Didn't work the way I wanted it too. I'm going to try something different this weekend.


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## Centraltn

Can it darlin!!


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## BadgeBunny

Dean said:


> Didn't work the way I wanted it too. I'm going to try something different this weekend.


:scratch:scratch I need more details!!!!!!  (About what went wrong and what you are gonna try this weekend!! :dunno: )


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## efbjr

*Just look...*

Just Google "pemmican recipes" and a lot of good recipes pop up...even one for bison pemmican (take note Gypsy Sue! )


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## TechAdmin

BadgeBunny said:


> :scratch:scratch I need more details!!!!!!  (About what went wrong and what you are gonna try this weekend!! :dunno: )


I sliced to thin. They slices ended up pulling apart from themselves. I think a thicker slice dried over less time is going to be the solution. I don't know if I can get away form the cracking altogether.


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## sewtnanny

cybergranny said:


> You could fry it up in patties or crumbles and can it.


When I was a kid (middle TN1960s) my mother and I packed our sausage (from a slaughtered pig;not store bought) in cotton bags made from old sheets. My father then hung it in the barn loft to "dry". This was in the coldest part of winter and back then we got some pretty good snowfalls. After it had dried about 2 weeks, if memory serves me correctly, he brought it down and put it in the freezer. I wonder if that would work with store sausage? Maybe in a smaller batch and NOT put it in the freezer, just a cold dark place. 
That was the absolute best sausage I ever ate. You know, there is to be a banquet table in heaven, I sure hope there's some of that sausage with :2thumb: Daddy's biscuits!!!!!!! (He was the main cook in our house, grin)


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## ReconCraftTheta

If the resources are available, what about freeze drying? Freeze dried rations and food kits are quite tasty.


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## tsrwivey

ReconCraftTheta said:


> If the resources are available, what about freeze drying? Freeze dried rations and food kits are quite tasty.


Unfortunately, freeze drying can't be done at home.


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## BadgeBunny

Dean said:


> I sliced to thin. They slices ended up pulling apart from themselves. I think a thicker slice dried over less time is going to be the solution. I don't know if I can get away form the cracking altogether.


Hmmmm ... I've not tried to dry slices of sausage. Just crumbled it like hamburger meat to use in casseroles and breakfast burritos and such ...

I'm with you ... I don't see how they won't crack at least some from the loss of moisture.


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## TechAdmin

It happened again, inlaws have a bunch of sausage to be prepped. I'm going to try the crumble method this time and see what happens.


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## whome

What kind of sausage? Everything I've read about canning sausage said sometimes the spices make it taste funny if you can it, especially sage. I've always been a bit hesitant to can it because of that. I will make patties from ground pork, fry them up and then stack them in a pint jar and can them. Then when I open the jar and reheat them I can sprinkle some thyme, sage, and black pepper on them to season them.


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## TechAdmin

whome said:


> What kind of sausage? Everything I've read about canning sausage said sometimes the spices make it taste funny if you can it, especially sage. I've always been a bit hesitant to can it because of that. I will make patties from ground pork, fry them up and then stack them in a pint jar and can them. Then when I open the jar and reheat them I can sprinkle some thyme, sage, and black pepper on them to season them.


Not sure yet. I'll find out tomorrow.


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## Davarm

Centraltn said:


> Can it darlin!!


I agree wih Centraltn, I have alot of sausage patties canned in wide mouth pint jars, works pretty well. The sausage can be used like hamburger or the patties can be taken out and browned in a frying pan-works fairly well but the texture is a little off but that is to be expected. The flavor is somewhat deminished also the heat breaks down the herbs used season it.

I tried to dehydrate some and wound up with sausage fat all in the bottom of my dehydrator, learned that grease drips right thru mesh jerkey trays, imagine that!

I am going to try "Potting" some when I get caught up with everything else. I once worked with a self proclaimed "hillbilly - ridgerunner" from West Virginia and he told me how his family did it.

Here Goes
Heat a pot of rendered fat(am going to use commercial lard) up till water drops will dance over the top of it.

Cook the sausage patties completely and quickly place a layer in a crock and cover it with the hot fat.

Repeat until you are out of sausage or the crock is full. Put a ceramic or metal plate over the top layer and weigh it down with a heavy object to ensure the meat stays under the fat.

Seal the crock lid to the crock with parrafin wax and store in a cool, dry, dark place until needed.

He was still alive at 67 so I guess it must be safe, am going to check it out in the near future, am saving an empty crock just for that purpose.


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## TechAdmin

That sounds interesting. I'm sure it would work.

I ended up having unexpected company so I made it into dinner. In all fairness it wasn't as much as last time.


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