• Cut venison trimmings (and pork trimmings, if using) into pieces small enough that they will easily fit into the feed hole of your meat grinder.
• Once all the venison trimmings are cut into workable slices, place meat into the freezer for 30 – 60 minutes, so it can get a chill on it. This will make the meat much easier to grind.
• While the meat chills, prepare your grinder by fitting it with the coarsest meat grinding disk you have. Set a large mixing bowl or container below the grinder to catch all of the ground venison.
• When meat has chilled, begin feeding it through the grinder the first time. This will take some time, just work slowly, piece by piece, until all the trimmings have been ground the first time.
• If you find the grinder slowing down or getting bogged down, turn it off and check to see if the disk is plugged. This can happen when large pieces of ligaments and connective tissue from the trim get stuck inside the grinding disks. Carefully clean off the disk before continuing with the remaining meat. Running a few pieces of white bread through the grinder is a great way to clean the disks!
• Set the coarsely-ground meat off to the side for a moment.
• Remove the coarse grinding disk from the meat grinder and fit with the fine grinding disk. Place another empty, large mixing bowl or container below the grinder.
• Run the ground meat through the grinder a second time, again working at a speed your grinder will allow (with a KitchenAid it’s really great to be able to vary the speed during this process).
• Once all the meat has been ground a second time, freeze it in meat bags, freezer-safe plastic bags, or vacuum seal bags in 1 or 2 pound portions. A sausage stuffer and/or kitchen scale will help make the process go very quickly!
• Thoroughly clean and sanitize all equipment before drying and storing until next hunting season.

To pack ground venison using a sausage stuffer:

• Fill the sausage stuffer with the ground venison, pushing it down to be sure there are no large air pockets.
• Set up the stuffer in the operating position and place a wild game meat bag on the extruder.
• Fill the bag in 1 or 2 pound portions, sealing with hog rings or tape.
• No matter which method of storage you choose, be sure to label each bag with the contents, weight, date, and CWD testing number (if necessary) so you know what the bag contains in the future.
• Freeze ground venison for up to 1 year.