DIY: Wild Game Charcuterie- How to Make Homemade Venison Wiejeska (Fresh Kielbasa with marjoram)
- Serving & Pairing Ideas
- Venison Wiejeska Sausage Ingredients
- Kitchen Equipment Needed
- How to Make Venison Wiejeska
- Venison Wiejeska (Fresh Kielbasa Sausage with Marjoram)
Wiejeska is a garlicky polish sausage that is often served at the holidays, and especially around Christmas, but is delicious anytime. If you love garlic and herbs, this might be your new favorite venison sausage recipe!
Traditionally, wiejeska was made with pork and veal, but this homemade venison wiejeska sausage version is fantastic and flavorful, and a great way to use your wild game meat. This wild game sausage recipe is adapted from the wiejeska recipe in the classic Charcuterie cookbook by Ruhlman & Polcyn.
I’ve used a blend of pork and venison, but you could replace the venison portion with any large hoofed game like elk, sheep, or goat, or even use bear (if you use bear meat, make sure to cook the sausages to an internal temperature of 170F, or 165F for at least three minutes).
Serving & Pairing Ideas
This fresh sausage is great on the grill, smoked, pan-seared, or gently poached… but however you prepare it, your friends and family are sure to love this venison wiejeska!
I like to pair these sausages with homemade sauerkraut, grilled or caramelized onions, and a dollop of grainy beer or cranberry mustard, and serve them on sturdy sausage buns, or with soft rye rolls. They’re also delicious served on a bowl of homemade buttered egg noodles or spaetzle, or with a pile of pierogi or potato pancakes and homemade applesauce!
Venison Wiejeska Sausage Ingredients
- boneless venison, cubed (shoulder, roasts, stew meat, or lean trim from butchering)
- fatty pork shoulder or fatback, cubed (look for pork with good marbling to supplement the lean venison for juicy, flavorful sausages)
- kosher salt (flaky, not coarse)
- minced fresh garlic
- dried marjoram
- fresh ground black pepper
- granulated garlic powder (not garlic salt)
- ice water
- hog sausage casings, soaked and rinsed
Kitchen Equipment Needed
Meat Grinder or Grinder Attachment for Stand Mixer:
I use a meat grinder attachment on my KitchenAid mixer, but if you make a lot of sausages or ground meat, it’s worth investing in a higher-powered dedicated grinder.
Keep everything very cold, and take breaks from grinding meat to clear any sinew from the grinder blade. Make sure you unplug the grinder or mixer before unscrewing the blade cover!
Sausage Press or Sausage Stuffing Attachment for Stand Mixer:
If you make a lot of sausage, it’s worth getting a sausage press, which is much more efficient, faster, and less likely to overwork the meat mixture when stuffing than forcing it back through the worm-drive of the KitchenAid meat grinder, but if you are just starting out or only occasionally make sausage, it will do.
I recommend buying a spacer plate with large openings to use instead of the grinder die if your grinder didn’t come with them. If you don’t have one, use the largest grinder plate you have, or try stuffing without a plate.
Large Mixing Bowls, Tubs, or Hotel Pans:
You will need to mix the cubed meat with the spices, and to hold the meat as you grind it. You’ll need another larger bowl or tub for ice to nest under the bowl of sausage mixture if you aren’t working in a cold area or walk-in cooler.
Sheet Pans or Trays:
Use these to catch the finished sausage while you are pressing it, and to refrigerate it before using or freezing.
How to Make Venison Wiejeska
Prep sausage ingredients:
- Cube the meat and measure out all of the seasoning ingredients.
- Combine all ingredients except water in a large bowl and chill, preferably overnight.
- Put the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour before grinding if possible. You want the meat as cold as possible without being frozen.
Grind & bind sausage mixture:
- Grind (small die) the seasoned meat mixture into a bowl (use an ice bath under the bowl, especially if you are working in a warm kitchen or if you didn’t partially freeze the mix).
- Stop periodically, unplug your grinder, and clear silverskin and sinew from grinder blade and plates (add these to your trimmings bag to make homemade stock if you save scraps in your freezer).
- Add ice water and mix the sausage until well bound, uniform, and sticky. Keep it cold, both for food safety and to protect the texture!
- Cook a very small patty of the sausage mixture in a saute pan, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
Stuff into casings:
- If you are using a mixer and grinder attachment, replace the meat grinder die plate with an open spacer plate and stuffing tube.
- Thread the rinsed sausage casings onto the stuffing tube, tie off the end (you can use butcher’s twine or tie the casing in a knot), and stuff the sausage mixture into casings.
- Use the wooden plunger from the grinder attachment or a sausage press to push the mix into the casings, and keep a gentle even tension on the casings- fill evenly but don’t overstuff.
- Form the sausages into links by twisting or tying off sections, or coil into large rings.
- Use a sausage pricker or sharp skewer or tip of a paring knife to pop any air bubbles.
Chill and store your sausage:
- Refrigerate your wiejeska overnight if possible before cooking or freezing. This will allow the casings to dry out a bit and tighten up the sausages.
- Portion and freeze any sausage you won’t use in the next few days.
- If you have a vacuum sealer, use it, otherwise wrap well with plastic wrap or butcher’s paper, or store in zip-seal freezer bags or an airtight container to prevent freezer burn.
Venison Wiejeska (Fresh Kielbasa Sausage with Marjoram)
Equipment
- Meat grinder (freestanding or mixer attachment) with fine die
- Sausage press or mixer attachment and sausage die plate (open grinder plate spacer)
Ingredients
- 3 ½ lb venison cubed
- 1 ½ lb fatty pork shoulder or fatback cubed
- 1 ½ oz kosher salt 3 T
- ¼ c. minced fresh garlic
- 1 ½ t. dried marjoram
- 1 T. fresh ground black pepper
- ½ tsp. granulated garlic powder not salt
- ½ c. ice water
- hog casings soaked and rinsed
Instructions
- Cube the meat and measure out all of the seasoning ingredients.
- Combine all ingredients except water in a large bowl and chill, preferably overnight. Put the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour before grinding if possible.
- Grind (small die) the mixture into a bowl (use an ice bath under the bowl, especially if you are working in a warm kitchen or if you didn't partially freeze the mix). Stop periodically, unplug grinder, and clear silverskin and sinew from grinder blade and plates.
- Add ice water and mix until well bound, uniform, and sticky. Keep it cold!
- Cook a very small patty in a saute pan, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- If using a mixer and grinder attachment, replace grinder die with an open spacer plate and stuffing tube. Thread the rinsed casings onto the stuffing tube, tie off the end, and stuff sausage mixture into casings. Use the wooden plunger from the grinder attachment or a sausage press to push the mix into the casings, and keep a gentle even tension on the casings- fill evenly but don’t overstuff.
- Form into links by twisting or tying off sections, or coil into rings. Use a sausage pricker or sharp skewer or tip of a paring knife to pop any air bubbles.
- Refrigerate overnight if possible and then portion and freeze any sausage you won't use in the next few days.
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