Each fall when sportsmen bring home the rewards of the hunt, home and professional meat processors are presented with an array of opportunities to prepare and use the meat.

For those trying their hands at various types of venison sausage, good taste and safety are the most important elements.

Giving novice sausage makers a head start on sanitary handling and proper seasoning of meat, Rodney Schaffer of Con Yeager Spice Company in Jackson Township instructs a class each year on sausage making.

The class, offered in two sessions, is hosted by Con Yeager in January, February and March each year, this year held at the Butler County Vocational-Technical School.

Among the attendees at the recent March class was Rebecca Peck of Middlesex Township, a beginning sausage maker preparing venison sausage in her home.

"We now have four hunters in the woods. I just want to be able to do things with (the venison) and do it safely."

Other class members included hunters looking to begin processing their meat at home and two business partners preparing to process venison professionally.

For hunters, Schaffer said the first step to both safe and good-tasting venison is to cool the meat as soon as possible.

"There's really no advantage to letting this deer hang.

"The big reason you have funny tasting venison is it wasn't chilled properly," he said.

For those who can't begin making sausage soon after the hunt, Schaffer recommended cutting the meat into even-sided chunks and freezing, so the meat can thaw quickly and evenly.

Since venison is a lean meat, fat must be added to make sausage.

Schaffer recommended pork fat instead of beef fat, which carries its own flavor.

He advised students that good pork fat can be purchased from a meat processor.

"Good sausage is made when you have nice, white, firm fat."

When it's time to prepare the sausage, Schaffer said it is important that the grinder be clean and coated with mineral oil.

He stores the knives and plates for his grinder in containers of mineral oil.

To ensure proper working of a grinder, Schaffer said it is important to use knives and plates as pairs and not swap them out.

To ensure proper distribution of meat and fat, Schaffer begins by grinding meat through a 3/8-inch plate, creating marble-sized chunks of meat.

Then the meat is mixed with spices exactly following a prescribed recipe.

"You've gotta weigh the meat, you've got to weigh the seasoning," Schaffer said.

He also noted that old family recipes to make sausage may not work because sausage today is made leaner, usually 20 percent fat, as opposed to 50 percent fat recipes used in the past.

Additives are also added to sausage today to aid in cooking, storing and holding moisture.

Dextrose, Schaffer said, aids in browning, which occurs less with the lower fat content.

Soy flour or condensed soy protein helps hold moisture in the sausage.

Some additives can also discolor the meat or develop rancid flavors over time.

Schaffer advises using distilled water when mixing the meat, since chlorine and iron in tap water could cause discoloration.

Additives known as BHA, BHT and citric acid keep meat from turning rancid while frozen.

Once mixed, meat is ground through a smaller plate, such a 3/16-inch plate, before being stuffed.

Once stuffed, Schaffer said sausage that is going to be frozen should be vacuum packaged or wrapped tightly with plastic wrap with latex, such as Saran Wrap.

For information about sausage recipes and spices, visit www.conyeagerspice.com.