Hard tack

[MrTom]

It’s a severely dried venison sausage about a quarter coin in diameter. The links in the picture have been dried do for about 3 weeks after stuffing and smoking. They were hung to dry 3 weeks today. Ready to seal up and freeze…. But I’ll hold one out for chewing. These were not quite the size of a 50 cent piece when first hung.

As mentioned, they’re really dried down. They are hard and stiff, as the name implies. I’ll cut 1/4” thick slices from the links, maybe a dozen at a time. I pop one in my mouth and let it take on some moisture, then enjoy the chew.

These are spiced a bit and have some heat but not super hot. I keep a link in the shop so it’s handy when I feel like a quick snack. Very tasty venison product… straight venison.

I did these a couple years ago and fell in like with the sausage so I stuffed up these links this last fall. Now, to make it last until next season. Ha! That’s a damned joke.

 

[a cloud of smoke]

hard tack is not meat..its a dense hard bread, almost a cracker that doesnt go bad...you have " jerky"...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...usg=AOvVaw2MIfLjYl16LoZTGhf0UjGd&opi=89978449

 

[Hausser1]

If you insert a torx bit on one end, you'd have a tack-driver

 

[anonymouscowherd]

hard tack is not meat..its a dense hard bread, almost a cracker that doesnt go bad...you have " jerky"...
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...usg=AOvVaw2MIfLjYl16LoZTGhf0UjGd&opi=89978449

Yup, basically a very hard very dry very dense bread roll or biscuit-that-failed-miserably. The "good" ones came in metal tins with sealed wax paper to keep the weevils out....

 

[Hausser1]

they have something against a little protien?

 

[MrTom]

I followed a recipe for "hard tack" that came from an outdoor source calling it such, so I call it hard tack.

 

[rangerod]

I followed a recipe for "hard tack" that came from an outdoor source calling it such, so I call it hard tack.

Call it what ever you want. Eat venison the way you like.

 

[Jitterbug]

MrTom’s creations typically look awesome… and this one is no exception.

I agree w/those suggesting the recipe was mislabeled, but I wouldn’t say it with my mouth full!

MrTom’s creation made me think of pemmican at first… though I think that typically had some tallow mixed in it. Hopefully not deer tallow(?).

I think of hard tack as being like “pilot biscuits.” My buddy always has some pilot biscuits rolling around under the truck seat, in his pack, in his deer stand. On a normal day, I find them to be a great diet food… as in, “appetite suppressant.”

On the other hand- if my bush plane went down, those same pilot biscuits would probably be like manna from heaven!

 

[Jitterbug]

Some years ago, I found a “sausage shop” called Kern’s, in Frankenmuth, MI. kerns sausage – - kerns sausage

I think we have some good meat markets/smokehouses around here (farm country), but Kern’s had a twist. Many of their sausages (landjagers, summer sausage, mettwurst, etc.) were said to not require refrigeration.

The best of the bunch that I bought was definitely their landjagers. Most folks around here seem to think that “landjager” translates to “hunter’s sausage.” I don’t know if that’s quite correct. There are multiple spellings of it, but every one that I’ve eaten has been good! As my fried Tom Buttars might have said, “It’s their sausage- they can mispronounce it any way they please!”

Landjagers around here typically make me think of a super-smoked Polish sausage. They’re darker, and usually packed tighter in their casing, than a Polish.

Anyway, Kern’s landjagers were definitely dried beyond what I’m used to. They were a similar consistency to some dried Italian sausages I’ve had (think consistency of a big stick of pepperoni.

I was on a motorcycle camping trip… and they never lasted long enough to give to “no refrigeration needed” claim to the test!

 

[RobRed]

That looks awesome!

Maybe I'm weird but I love jerky that is a bit tough.

I purposely cut much of my jerky thick and with the grain so it takes a little work.

 

[MrTom]

RobRed, "I purposely cut much of my jerky thick and with the grain so it takes a little work".

I cut mine exactly the same.

I have 24 pounds of cut muscle meat thawing right now. I can't handle that hamburger stuff. I don't know how they can call it jerky since its basically burger.

I vacuum sealed my "hard tack" this morning. From 2 1/4" diameter links down to 3/4". tastes great. 11 links about 11" long.