Last summer we harvested a number of our older ducks. After 2 years they stop laying eggs reliably and we can’t afford to support ever increasing numbers of retired ducks. We ended up with 20 pounds of boned duck meat. Old ducks are tough. In the past two days we have made sausages from those ducks.

Michael was in charge of feeding the frozen duck pieces through our new grinder. We burned out our KitchenAid last year. The new machine is wicked heavy, but it grinds meat like a beast.

This is a batch of bratwurst made with 10 pounds duck meat and 2 pounds duck skin and fat. Onions, seasoning, eggs, and beer complete the composition. Kneading the mix distributes everything and improves texture.

Everything we’ve read counsels keeping the mix as cold as possible. Luckily, we have tons of snow right handy.

After mixing we always need to fry up a bit to check seasonings. The bratwurst passed muster, even without mustard.

We invested in a sausage stuffer last year. It’s been a good investment! This is Michael being cranked.

This part of the process always embarrasses Irene.

Twelve pounds of duck meat and fat made 15 pounds of bratwurst.

The chest freezer, packed like a suitcase.

Today we made potato sausage. It is a Swedish type of sausage that usually features beef and pork, potatoes, onions, and seasonings. We made one batch with all duck meat and a second batch with duck and pork. Most of the potatoes are fed through The… — Today we made potato sausage. It is a Swedish type of sausage that usually features beef and pork, potatoes, onions, and seasonings. We made one batch with all duck meat and a second batch with duck and pork. Most of the potatoes are fed through The Beast along with the onions and meat. I chopped 20% of the potatoes into larger pieces, as that keeps the consistency from becoming too mushy.

Cold fingers fumble tying off the sausage rings.

Fifteen pounds of meat, fifteen pounds of potatoes, five pounds of onions, salt, thyme, allspice, cardamom, white and black pepper and milk made a mound of sausage. The tape measure helped me gauge how long to make the sausage loops into one pound q… — Fifteen pounds of meat, fifteen pounds of potatoes, five pounds of onions, salt, thyme, allspice, cardamom, white and black pepper and milk made a mound of sausage. The tape measure helped me gauge how long to make the sausage loops into one pound quantities. No. We will not eat all this ourselves.

This has been a ton of work. Just good that Michael and I do this dance together, making physical exertion fun. Next week we hope to take some of our venison and make smoked kielbasa. Today, we are ready to take a shower and tuck into bed.