Homemade Wild Boar Maple Breakfast Sausage Recipe
Updated: Mar 21
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This Homemade Wild Boar Maple Breakfast Sausage Recipe is probably the easiest and most satisfying sausage that you can make. Whether it be from a wild hog that you harvested yourself or a delicious fatty heritage breed that you pick up from your local farmer, this recipe will not let you down.
If you follow these easy steps, you'll be making batches of your own homemade breakfast sausage in no time like a pro. You have the option of stuffing this sausage into casings or forming your own breakfast sausage patties for a quick meal or to make breakfast sandwiches "because I love a good biscuit)".
Cooks Tips:
Can I Use Other Cuts from a Wild Pig to Make Breakfast Sausage? In theory, you could use any cut from a pig to make the sausage, but you won't have enough fat content by working with lean meat. I highly recommend sticking with using the shoulder/pork butt as it usually has just the right amount of fat.
Keep Things Cold: Keeping your meat grinder attachments ice cold is just as important as for the meat and fat. It plays a part in achieving superior flavor and texture with this sausage. Grinder attachments can warm up fast and when metal warms up, fat starts to melt. I also like to pre-chill the container that the ground pork will be falling into while grinding, in the freezer before starting as well.
How Long Does Breakfast Sausage Last in the Refrigerator? I have no problem leaving the uncooked sausages in the refrigerator for up to a week if they are well-wrapped. After that, they start to lose flavor and color. Again, wrapping and storing them properly in an airtight container or plastic wrap will help with a quality shelf life.
Can You Freeze Breakfast Sausage? Absolutely. Like most fatty sausages, if they are stored properly, they freeze well for around 3 months and still retain their quality. I like to wrap them first in a layer of plastic food wrap, followed by either freezer paper or freezer bags. Vacuum sealing is another great and convenient option.
Can I Use a Replacement for the Real Maple Syrup? I recommend not using artificial pancake syrup, simply because the taste quality isn't on the same level and more than likely it contains food coloring and other additives. I also wouldn't use corn syrup, as there really isn't much flavor and it wouldn't be on my list of clean ingredients. Another great option would be to use honey or sorghum for another delicious way of adding sweetness. Or you can opt to leave the sweetness out altogether.
Can I Swap Out the Fresh Herbs for Dried Herbs? Yep! There's nothing wrong with using simple ingredients. You can also take another shortcut and use the same quantity of salt-free poultry seasoning in place for what herbs that I have listed. The flavors won't be as bright and profound as with fresh, but they will still be tasty.
Watch Out for Burning: When cooking sausages with added sugars, you need to be extra careful not to burn the meat. I recommend cooking the sausage at around medium heat to get that golden brown color that most of us are after. You could take it up to medium-high heat, but I would be cautious.
Internal Temperature: If you are working with wild boar/wild hog the CDC/USDA recommends cooking the meat to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. If you are worried, you can easily do this with an instant-read thermometer.
Forming Sausage Patties: A great way and probably the easiest way to form uniform sausage patties, is to roll the homemade sausage up into a log using food-grade plastic wrap. Place into the freezer until the ground meat mixture is firm. Remove the plastic wrap and cut into disks. However, most of the time I just patty them out with my hands right before cooking them.
Optional Equipment and Specialty Items:
Homemade Wild Boar Maple Breakfast Sausage
Yield: 5 Pounds
Ingredients
5 pounds boneless pork shoulder
3 tablespoons of coarse kosher salt (around 40 grams if using a different salt)
1 tablespoon dried ginger (or 1/4 cup minced fresh ginger)
1 tablespoon dried thyme
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic cloves (finely chopped)
1/4 cup fresh sage (finely chopped) or 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons dried sage
1/2 cup real maple syrup (chilled in the refrigerator)
1/2 cup ice-cold water
Directions
Combine all of the ingredients except the maple syrup and the water into a large bowl. Toss thoroughly to combine.
Grind the pork mixture through the small die plate into your chilled mixing bowl or a bowl that is sitting over ice.
Using your stand mixer's paddle attachment (or a sturdy spoon), start mixing the ground pork at a low speed. Slowly pour in the chilled maple syrup. Now slowly pour in the ice-cold water and mix on low speed until the liquids are fully combined and the meat has a tacky/sticky appearance.
Check for Seasoning: Fry a small piece of the sausage and taste. Now is the time to add seasoning as you see fit. This could be more salt, herbs, or syrup. If you want a little spice, you could add in a teaspoon or two of red pepper flakes. Repeat until you are satisfied with the finished product.
Refrigerate until needed or freeze for future use.
Looking for other wild game sausage recipes? These are a few of my favorites:
Lastly, if you make this simple Homemade Wild Boar Maple Breakfast Sausage Recipe, be sure to leave a comment or tag me on Instagram! I thoroughly enjoy hearing feedback and checking out the photos of recipes that you've made.
