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Thread: Venison Burger

  1. #21
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    I must be weird, but we grind all of ours pure. I don't make regular hamburgers using it much, but for spaghetti, chili, meat loaf etc, that's the way I like it now.

    I used to add the cheap burger years ago, seems like I used to do about two parts deer to one part cheap beef, but haven't for a long time.

  2. #22
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    I keep mine pure, also. When making burgers, we add either ground pork, breakfast sausage or bacon ends. Approximately, a quarter pound to one pound of venison. Had burger made with beef suet, once. Never again. Completely, different taste.

    Winelover

  3. #23
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    same thing I do. A 3lb tube added to about 10bs of lean venison makes good burger. tried just using beef fat I got from the local butcher but it was just to hard to grind and mix with the burger. Never did care for pork fat added. My dad did it that way and us kids never did care for the burger we were fed around deer season. Adding 2 or 3 lbs of bacon works too but its expensive and some things I make with burger like chili and spaghetti I don't want a bacon taste in. Anymore if I want bacon on my burger I just fry up some bacon. Im not a big fan of just grinding lean venison either. Its tough to keep together when cooking and fat adds flavor.
    Quote Originally Posted by 725 View Post
    I butcher my own & I add some of that cheap Wal-Mart burger in the tube to my grind. there is so much fat in the wal mart stuff, that it makes a pretty dandy venison burger.

  4. #24
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    My FIL was a butcher with a `brick & mortar` store. He processed deer for hunters and tried to do their `dream` order as good as possible considering how shot up the carcass was. On the burger he would do it as you wanted it done or offer suggestions on the mix of meat and fats. Beef trimmings of fat was usually the add in so when it was cooked you wouldn`t have a hockey puck for a game later. He told me about mixing antelope burger with pork sausage 50/50, talk about great with eggs and home made toast with hash browns!Robert

  5. #25
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    used to mix in venison with my sausage. Found I like just pork in my sauage better. Pork buts are about the perfect meat to fat ration for fresh sausage like breakfast, Italian or bratts. Now summer sausage I make is 80 percent venison 20 percent pork but. Same with other stick sausages like peperoni salami ect. plus I like some spice in my sausage and mixing it with breakfast sausage 5050 without adding more spice would be a bit to bland for me. Dad does the same thing though. he buys bulk sausage and cuts it with venison 5050
    Quote Originally Posted by Hardcast416taylor View Post
    My FIL was a butcher with a `brick & mortar` store. He processed deer for hunters and tried to do their `dream` order as good as possible considering how shot up the carcass was. On the burger he would do it as you wanted it done or offer suggestions on the mix of meat and fats. Beef trimmings of fat was usually the add in so when it was cooked you wouldn`t have a hockey puck for a game later. He told me about mixing antelope burger with pork sausage 50/50, talk about great with eggs and home made toast with hash browns!Robert

  6. #26
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    Thanks for the replies.
    Keep them coming....dale

  7. #27
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    Never tried beef, but I'm sure it's not bad! We usually use pork fat from our homegrown hogs. Sometimes it has some lean in it, sometimes not. One time I used the trimmings off of our homemade bacon, that went over well! In a pinch, I've just added a scoop of lard to the frying pan, works just fine for tacos, etc, not sure how well it'd work for burgers.

    I ground up a batch today and probably added 30% pork trimmings. I figure I got it right if I brown up a pan of meat and there is nothing to pour off. I don't know how they define commercial 80/20, but it sure isn't 80% meat to 20% fat, as there is always plenty of grease to drain off. Commercial sausage is even worse. By the looks of it, some brands could be 75%+ fat. All the better for mixing with venison, I suppose.

  8. #28
    Boolit Master MyFlatline's Avatar
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    THe best I have had was mixed with Ribeye fat, 20%. You would swear a ribeye was on the grill from the aroma. That is what I will try next.

  9. #29
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    I've always done my own. Killed a young buck saturday w/20 ga slug. Went through an he never even kicked. Attachment 229980 Neat thing about the slug, good pass through at 60 yds but very little damage to surrounding meat. This is the exit side. Within 2 hrs had him cleaned and on ice. Made burger out of most of this one and I'm lucky in that the club where I cook uses some choice but mostly prime beef. I'm selective about the fat I use but have been accumulating for a couple of months and cryovac the trim immediately and freeze. Thawed the trim Sunday and ground and vacuum sealed Monday, quickly in the freezer. Also selective about the venison, removing all silver skin and connective tissue. As mentioned before, Gotta have moisture, at least 20% fat for a good burger. That may sound like a lot to some but a lot of that cooks out. Another source of moisture, I used 2 med - large sweet onions finely diced and about 1/4 of fresh garlic, also diced. Seasoned with salt and pepper. This was with about 23 lb of venison. Had about 1/2 bottle of decent savigon cabernet, poured over the whole tub and mixed well. Let it sit in the cooler about an hour then mix again. This assure the seasonings are well blended as well as the fatty beef and venison. A qt of apple cider or juice works as well. cryovaccuumed in 2 lb portions and froze. The next one or two will be mixed with pork and if you don't have access to good trim like I do, boston butt is naturally 30% fat in itself. 2 - 8 lb butts with a good fat cap does okay with an equal amount of lean venison. I like the old original Leggs sausage seasoning, 1 bag per 25 lbs meat. Moisture is still needed as this is a fairly lean sausage, so 1 cup or so of cider or white wine, plus 1/4 cup fresh garlic. Some additional fresh sage if you've got it, about 2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper plus 2 tablespoons of coarse grind black pepper. Mix, let it sit in the cooler and mix again. The liquid is the medium to assure the mix is even and the peppers offer flavor as well as a visual to see if it's mixed evenly. Grind and always cook a sample to see if it needs more seasoning.
    I've done this a looong time and these combos work to most peoples taste. I used to stuff into hog casings but now mostly put it up bulk in 2 lb. packages. Generally if you use the Leggs you don't need additional salt. Once you get the sausage down to your taste it's hard to beat. Not much better than a couple of sausage biscuits with a fried egg on top of the sausage anytime. Plus good GRITS of course. Hah! I know that will get some of you going!
    Attachment 229983
    Last edited by Hogtamer; 11-06-2018 at 05:33 PM. Reason: Spelling
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  10. #30
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    Straight up venison. Most of the meals people use ground meat for don't require a fat anyways. If you want to make burger patties out of it I'd suggest adding a little olive oil to the lean game meat first before forming the patties, or mix it pound for pound with beef burger at the time you are cooking it.
    Doug
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    Taxidermists are cheaper than surgeons....keep shooting

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  11. #31
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    next year when I make summer sausage again im going to try a batch with the apple cider replacing the water you mix the spice in. Never though of doing that. thanks.
    Quote Originally Posted by Hogtamer View Post
    I've always done my own. Killed a young buck saturday w/20 ga slug. Went through an he never even kicked. Attachment 229980 Neat thing about the slug, good pass through at 60 yds but very little damage to surrounding meat. This is the exit side. Within 2 hrs had him cleaned and on ice. Made burger out of most of this one and I'm lucky in that the club where I cook uses some choice but mostly prime beef. I'm selective about the fat I use but have been accumulating for a couple of months and cryovac the trim immediately and freeze. Thawed the trim Sunday and ground and vacuum sealed Monday, quickly in the freezer. Also selective about the venison, removing all silver skin and connective tissue. As mentioned before, Gotta have moisture, at least 20% fat for a good burger. That may sound like a lot to some but a lot of that cooks out. Another source of moisture, I used 2 med - large sweet onions finely diced and about 1/4 of fresh garlic, also diced. Seasoned with salt and pepper. This was with about 23 lb of venison. Had about 1/2 bottle of decent savigon cabernet, poured over the whole tub and mixed well. Let it sit in the cooler about an hour then mix again. This assure the seasonings are well blended as well as the fatty beef and venison. A qt of apple cider or juice works as well. cryovaccuumed in 2 lb portions and froze. The next one or two will be mixed with pork and if you don't have access to good trim like I do, boston butt is naturally 30% fat in itself. 2 - 8 lb butts with a good fat cap does okay with an equal amount of lean venison. I like the old original Leggs sausage seasoning, 1 bag per 25 lbs meat. Moisture is still needed as this is a fairly lean sausage, so 1 cup or so of cider or white wine, plus 1/4 cup fresh garlic. Some additional fresh sage if you've got it, about 2 tablespoons of crushed red pepper plus 2 tablespoons of coarse grind black pepper. Mix, let it sit in the cooler and mix again. The liquid is the medium to assure the mix is even and the peppers offer flavor as well as a visual to see if it's mixed evenly. Grind and always cook a sample to see if it needs more seasoning.
    I've done this a looong time and these combos work to most peoples taste. I used to stuff into hog casings but now mostly put it up bulk in 2 lb. packages. Generally if you use the Leggs you don't need additional salt. Once you get the sausage down to your taste it's hard to beat. Not much better than a couple of sausage biscuits with a fried egg on top of the sausage anytime. Plus good GRITS of course. Hah! I know that will get some of you going!
    Attachment 229983

  12. #32
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    Im a bit different then most when making something like chili or spaghetti sauce. I like fat in my bugger. Not like that Walmart tube burger but 10-15 percent and I don't drain it off after cooking the meat. the meat and fat go in the sauce or chili. To me it adds a lot of flavor. You don't cut the fat off a ribeye steak and throw it away (at least most of us) I eat it. WHY? because it tastes good. Why leave out that taste or throw it in the garbage. About any resteraunt that brags on there burger or calls them gourmet burgers us burger with fat in them. Again why? Because there not concerned with your cholesterol count there concerned with your taste buds and whether you will come back for another one. I remember when I started working as a lineman. My partner also ran a dairy farm. When his cows got to a certain age he slaughtered them and cut up the whole cow and made it into ground beef. He had the butcher leave out as much fat as possible and his selling point was that his meat was lean beef and wasn't just the junk cuts. even the tenderloins were ground up. He sold it for a buck a lb more then the going price of ground chuck. He had people on waiting lists to buy it. He asked me if I wanted to buy some one year and I told him most of my burger came from deer and buffalo. So he brought me in 5 lbs and told me just try it and id be convinced. He wasn't to happy when I told him it was probably the worse burger I ever ate. It was dry and fell apart and had little taste. Might work ok in chili and that's what I did with the last 4 lbs. But to eat as a burger it sucked.
    Quote Originally Posted by dk17hmr View Post
    Straight up venison. Most of the meals people use ground meat for don't require a fat anyways. If you want to make burger patties out of it I'd suggest adding a little olive oil to the lean game meat first before forming the patties, or mix it pound for pound with beef burger at the time you are cooking it.

  13. #33
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    For me adding farm raised, hormone infused meat to my pure organic meat defeats the purpose of killing my own groceries. If you want to add fat by all means go for it. But try olive oil mixed in and you might change your mind.

    I had a bad experience with pork shoulder going rancid in and ruining about 75 pounds of burger from a bull elk I killed a couple years ago, I couldn't eat it and ended up throwing most of it out or feeding it to my dog. You won't catch me mixing store bought meat into my burger again, unless I'm making sausage.
    Doug
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    Sticks and stones may break my bones but hollow points expand on impact.

    Taxidermists are cheaper than surgeons....keep shooting

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  14. #34
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    I like beef fat for burger fairly lean, 9%-10%. I grind it first then rough grind the venison, mix and final grind.
    I like venison sausage mixed 50-50 with commercial sausage.
    [The Montana Gianni] Front sight and squeeze

  15. #35
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    For us, unless it was to be cooked on the grill, all ground was pure. The truth in the pudding came out after about a year after the daughter had been diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. On one test the Doctor seemed puzzled. He was confused that her A1C's had dropped over a point, he asked about her diet. I had to explain that we were living off of venison as it was all we had. We were told then, that that was the best thing we could do to help her diabetes. That was 25 years ago, my how time flies.

    So to this day, unless it is sausage or hamburger for the grill, no fat added..

  16. #36
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    pork fat spoils faster then beef fat. Most butchers will tell you about 3 months in the freezer is about it for pork. Probably why some don't like the taste of burger with pork fat. probably why I grew up hating my dads burger with pork fat mixed in. Also when you pack burger don't do it in glad freezer bags that leave air in the bag. either get a stuffer and some ground meat bags and pack it in tight or vaccum pack it. Ive never had a bit of burger spoil using either methods and ive had some that weve ate that is close to two years in the freezer.
    Quote Originally Posted by dk17hmr View Post
    For me adding farm raised, hormone infused meat to my pure organic meat defeats the purpose of killing my own groceries. If you want to add fat by all means go for it. But try olive oil mixed in and you might change your mind.

    I had a bad experience with pork shoulder going rancid in and ruining about 75 pounds of burger from a bull elk I killed a couple years ago, I couldn't eat it and ended up throwing most of it out or feeding it to my dog. You won't catch me mixing store bought meat into my burger again, unless I'm making sausage.

  17. #37
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    I grind everything after trimming , pack in quart ' vacuum sealed ' freezer bags stored in the freezer , the little darling will mix in a pound of hot and spicy sausage when preparing it to be cooked , I have kept it stored like this for 2 years at a time . I go through around 50 lb of ground venison a year and it just works for me / although I thought about Loyds summer sausage .

  18. #38
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    love my summer sausage but its a lot of work and isn't cheap to make and I need to do burger to offset the cost of fuel running back and forth to the farm. I figure each trip costs us 20 bucks in gas and we split all the deer so if we each get 5lbs of burger off each deer we easily pay for the gas. The rest of the meat is our profit. So my routine is put 5lbs of scrap off the first deer I butcher that day goes in the burger pile and then the rest of the scrap off that deer is sausage meat. When we shoot more then one I ususally put half in the burger pile and half in the sausage pile. I butcher a bit different then someone that only shoots one or two deer a year. I take the back straps and tenderloins for grilling. the three good muscles on the hind quarter go to cube steaks. The football muscle is a roast or I give some to my sun to make jerky and the rest of the deer is burger and sausage meat. I figure we go through about 200lbs of burger a year and try to put up at least that. Another problem with summer sausage is you end up giving half of it away to family and friends.
    Quote Originally Posted by toallmy View Post
    I grind everything after trimming , pack in quart ' vacuum sealed ' freezer bags stored in the freezer , the little darling will mix in a pound of hot and spicy sausage when preparing it to be cooked , I have kept it stored like this for 2 years at a time . I go through around 50 lb of ground venison a year and it just works for me / although I thought about Loyds summer sausage .

  19. #39
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    Been making our own venison burger for a couple of years now. Generally I shoot for a 85/15 mix. We did some blind taste tests with family members using beef fat in one batch and pork fat in the other. No one could detect a difference. Our local supermarket is great. All you need to do is call them a day in advance and they will hold and even wrap all the beef or pork fat you want for free. Just picked up 13 pounds tonight as we have to make burger this weekend.
    East Tennessee

  20. #40
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    . . . it was probably the worse burger I ever ate. It was dry and fell apart and had little taste. Might work ok in chili and that's what I did with the last 4 lbs. But to eat as a burger it sucked.
    I'm with Lloyd on the fat content. I use my ground venison mostly for meatloaf and chilli, mixing it 1/1 with ground pork or beef on the day I cook it, which prevents the "stale fat" taste from being frozen a long time. For burgers too, and I generally mix minced onions and garlic into the patties when I'm mixing it. Yum. Like others have stated - enough fat for a bit left in the skillet.

    I once had the misfortune of going to a hog roast and getting moist, tender, falling-off-the-bone pulled pork that had not a smidgeon, not a particle, not a molecule of fat anywhere in it. I commented to my GF, "What th'. . ? There's no fat in it!" and the two guys who perpetrated this admittedly amazing feat proudly said, "Yessirree, not a bit!!" I didn't want to seem unappreciative, but that was the most tasteless and difficult to swallow meat I ever had - it just didn't want to go down. I spent the next 20 minutes melting in margarine (nothing else handy) in an attempt to sauce it up and help it out. I needed to eat, so I got it down, but it was no joy and more like work. . . Who in the world goes to a hog roast to get health food?

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