Hot Link Camp Sausage Skillet
Texas-style venison hot links, browned in a skillet with garlic and mustard and eaten straight out of the pan.
- calories
- 620
- weight
- 7 oz
- cal / oz
- 89
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 6, scales
- prep
- 90 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 110 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Trimmed venison | 2 lb | cubed and chilled near freezing |
|---|---|---|
| Pork shoulder | 2 lb | the fat is the point, do not trim it |
| Kosher salt | 2 tbsp | |
| Sweet paprika | 1 tbsp | |
| Chili powder | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground cayenne pepper | 1 tsp | more if you want it to bite |
| Black pepper | 1 tbsp | |
| Ground coriander seed | 1 tsp | |
| Mustard powder | 1 tsp | |
| Granulated sugar | 1 tbsp | |
| Garlic | 1 head | minced fine |
| Cold beer | 1 cup | keep it cold until it goes in |
| Hog casings | about 10 ft | rinsed and soaked a half hour |
| Prepared yellow mustard | a few squeezes | carried in the squeeze bottle |
Method
- At home: rinse the packing salt off the casings, soak them thirty minutes, then run warm water through each length to open it up.
- Grind the venison and pork together while both are cold enough to hurt your hands. Warm meat smears instead of cutting.
- Mix the salt, paprika, chili powder, cayenne, black pepper, coriander, mustard powder, sugar, and garlic into the ground meat, then work in the cold beer until the mass turns tacky and holds together.
- Stuff into the casings without packing them tight, twist into links about six inches long, and refrigerate overnight. Freeze what you are not eating this week.
- In camp: build a fire and let it burn down to coals, or set a grate over it. A cast iron skillet on the grate works better than direct flame, which splits the casings.
- Cook the links about ten minutes a side over moderate heat until the skin is dark and taut and the juices run clear. Do not poke them.
- Eat with yellow mustard, off the pan or in a tortilla.
Hot links are a home-prep project that pays off in camp. All the work happens at a kitchen counter days ahead: grinding, spicing, stuffing, twisting. What you carry is a frozen bundle that thaws in the cooler and needs nothing but heat and twenty minutes.
The cold matters more than the spice blend. Meat and beer both go in near freezing so the fat stays in solid pieces instead of smearing into paste, which is what makes a link juicy rather than crumbly. Over coals, keep the skillet between the links and the flame; direct fire blows the casings open and the fat you worked to keep ends up in the coals.
Packing
Links go frozen into the bottom of the cooler and thaw on the drive. They will hold two or three days packed against ice. Mustard rides in the door pocket.
Variations
- Add half a pound of extra pork fat if your deer was lean.
- Cut the cayenne in half and add another tablespoon of paprika for a version kids will eat.
- No grinder at home means asking a butcher for a coarse grind on the venison and shoulder together.
https://realtree.com/timber-2-table-wild-game-recipes/venison-and-pork-texas-hot-link-style-sausage-recipe