Venison Liverwurst
Next time you have the opportunity to field dress a deer, consider saving the liver to make liverwurst! It tastes great on a whole grain cracker with a bit of mustard or in a sandwich.
Venison Liverwurst
Ingredients:
2 lbs. fresh deer liver, diced into 1” cubes
3 lbs. pork shoulder, diced into 1” cubes
1 medium yellow or Vidalia onion, grated
2 Tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried marjoram
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. allspice
Directions:
Soak the venison liver in milk for about 30 minutes. Rinse the liver and pat dry. (optional step)
Combine all ingredients and grind through the fine plate of a meat grinder. Use your hands and mix the meat to make sure the seasonings are evenly distributed.
Chill mixture for about 30 minutes to an hour until chilled through. Then grind the mixture through the fine plate of a meat grinder again.
Stuff the meat mixture into a large, about 2-3”, natural pork casings or comparable collagen casings.
Simmer (poach) the stuffed sausage in water that is 170-degree or just below the boiling point until the internal temperature of the liverwurst sausage reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Once the liverwurst has finished cooking, remove it from the water and cool it to room temperature before packaging it. The liverwurst will keep in the refrigerator for a week and also freezes nicely for longer storage.
Thank you i have an abundance of venison liver and will enjoy your recipe. Stu Columbus,Wi
I hope you like it and continue to save the nutritious livers.
How long do you have to poach it? I know until the internal temp is 160, but about how long does that take?
It should take about 45 minutes to an hour to reach that temperature at a simmer.
We used this recipe today to make liverwurst with venison liver. Spices were spot on. The flavor came out fine however it is a little crumbly. I opted to add two cloves of garlic too. I think I could have ground it finer. I never let the temperature of the mix get above 36 degrees.
Any suggestions on getting it to stick together more? add liquid?
I’m glad to hear you tried the liverwurst recipe and enjoyed the flavor! Garlic sounds like a nice addition. If it was a bit crumbly it is possible that there was not enough fat to get the smoother texture you were looking for and to hold it together. Usually the fat in the pork shoulder is enough, but if that was super lean, the lack of fat could have led to the crumbly texture. Running it through the grinder a few times helps as well. The other tricky thing can be cooking it at a simmer, below the boiling point. Hopefully, you can play with the recipe some more to get it to where you like it. Enjoy!
I’m trying your recipe for the first time today with a young black tail buck liver… which came in at exactly 2 lbs when cleaned. I’m using left over pork loin trimmings which should have enough fat content. It’s resting in the fridge now waiting for the final grind and, casing and poaching. Looking forward to some tasty sandwiches soon!
Thanks for the recipe
Sounds like you were on your way to some delicious liverwurst. I hope you enjoyed the end product!
Can u smoke there liver for a bit before
grindng it up.
Wanting smoke the liver pieces on racks and pork before grinding. Then smoke again after cooked
Smoking the meats before could change the smooth consistency desired in a liverwurst. I would recommend smoking the meat after it is in the casing and fully cooked. Sorry I missed this message! How did the smoking work out for you?