Venison Hamburger

[gooty]

Hi all, just wanted to get some opinions on what people use to add fat to their venison hamburger. In the past I've used pork fat, 10 % or so, but have some friends that use beef fat. Any recommendations?

[LakeoftheWoods]

I always take the cheapest pork roast I can find, and grind that up, and mix in with my veni.

[lichen fox]

I use mostly pork...but I do use beef from time to time also...both are good...I do however, freeze my ground venison without any fat mixed in...I always mix it just before I plan on cooking it...lean meat keeps much longer than that with more fat in it...so, it depends on how long you plan on keeping it frozen...pure lean venison will last at least 12 month's in the freezer...if you add pork fat before you freeze and package it...your freezer shelf life will be at least half of that...

[Fever]

I have been making ven burger out of my scraps for the past 4-5 years. Before that it was all ring sausage. I've done 60% venison mixed with 40% pork and it was ok. Recently I've gone to 50/50 venison to beef and really like it. I use the burger for every single application you'd use hamburger for and to me the flavor is substantially better. If I'm lucky enough, I plan on doing it again this fall/winter.

[reinhard1]

i'm starting to incorporate beef in my sausage also along with my venison and sausage. the only reason i'm doing it is because my grandfather who owned a butcher shop in germany had beef mixed with all his sausage reciepies. for example in my last venison kielbasa reciepe i had 11 pounds of venison, 10 lbs of pork butt, and 4 pounds of ground chuck. next time i may up the beef a little more. i like using chuck because it has great flavor. it's all about what YOU like, that's what's important. everyone has different tastes. good luck.

[TylerS]

I'm a big pork fan, but I keep the ratio fairly lean. Too much pork and it doesn't taste like venison anymore. Highest I'll go is 80-20, and that would be for a burger. Usually if I'm mixing ground venison into a dish, it's straight venison with no filler.

[Crow Hunter]

10% or at most 15% beef fat for me. Burgers stay plenty juicy on the grill, and still taste like venison. If you use pork it will have an off taste after being frozen a few months.

[gooty]

I'm a big pork fan, but I keep the ratio fairly lean. Too much pork and it doesn't taste like venison anymore. Highest I'll go is 80-20, and that would be for a burger. Usually if I'm mixing ground venison into a dish, it's straight venison with no filler.

I agree, I want the lean qualities of the venison and want to taste it. I was just thinking of trying beef instead of the pork. Plus, if I buy 5 lbs of beef trim from my local butcher for 1.50 a lb, I'll end up with about a pound of prime beef cut for stew/etc.

I'm guessing sausage is a whole different ballgame

[SpecialK]

I don't tend to make burgers out of my venison so I keep my venison straight and use it in place of beef.

[Musky Buck]

I go 50lbs of beef to the veni burger and have a year supply every year, that I get a deer.

[fivebucks]

I go with 100% straight venison. I don't make burgers too often so this works good for us. If I want a veni burger I mix egg with it to keep things sticking together. I just like the taste of venison and don't want to dilute it.

[DonBo]

10% or at most 15% beef fat for me. Burgers stay plenty juicy on the grill, and still taste like venison. If you use pork it will have an off taste after being frozen a few months.

Agreed! Beef freezes much better (longer) than pork. If I don't have much scrap to grind I'll add as much chuck as neccessary to get all the burger we can use in a year.

[puddleduck]

80% venison and 20% bacon. Mmmm.

[certified jumbo]

100% venison. don't make any burgers, just spaghetti, fajita's, taco's, lasagna, sloppy joes, etc.

plus beef is mega expensive.

[Boar]

You guys gota try this. Go to wallmart an get the red bag of bacon pieces an trimings, this is if you have a grinder. Toss in a chunck of veny then a chunk of bacon, chunk of veny, chunk of bacon an so on... went its all done run it thru again an walla! the best dang bacon burger on planet protien. Give great flavor an grease to the pan.

[reinhard1]

BACON RULES!!!good luck.

[Cheetah]

Straight venison for us. I do 50/50 ven & pork butt for the sausage that I mix.

[DonBo]

Bacon does make for a great mix. My wife LOVES it.

[mskyfshntchr]

We use beef tallow. Ask at a butcher for the kidney tallow. That is pure white and good fat. Usually they will sell to you pretty cheap- some will even give it to you- best to call in advance to have them hold for you.

We do 7-8# of venison to 1# of tallow. That is about 87-90% lean when you do the math.

Turns out great- plenty of fat to hold together for on the grill.

We also do some with no fat for casseroles, hotdishes, etc.

[harvey lee]

All we eat for hamburger so we mix 30% beref with the venison meat. One cannot tell the difference from hamburger so the ones that say they do not like the wild taste so not say that with this mixture.

I have tried other ways and it seems to have a bit of a wils taste to me.

I like all my meat very lean so no grease for me. I purchase the best beef dcraps I can and end up with awesome burger meat or chilli meat, whatever,

I have thought about trying pork but have been told there is a good chance it could spoil in the freezer to long.

[reinhard1]

i have heard people comment also about pork vs beef/venison as far as length of time in the freezer. the number one ingrediant in freezing is using the proper methods of freezing your food. vacume sealing is the best, with freezer paper a close second. zip bags to me are a waste of money for freezing if longer than 1 month.

here are some examples:

Pork

roasts 4 to 8 monts

chops 3 to 4 months

ground pork 3 to 4 months

sausage 1 to 2 months

cokked pord 2 to 3 months

proccessed pork even shorter

Beef

roasts, steaks 6 months to a year

stew 3 to 4 months

gr. beef 3 months

corned beef 2 to 3 months

cooked beef 2 to 3 months

proccessed beef [hot dogs, sausage, lunchmeant] 3 to 4 months

so as you can see outside beef roasts and steaks, there isn't realy that much difference. once you break up meat [grind or chop] the length of freezer time decreases due to more air being able to infiltrate if not properly stored and wrapped. once seasonings are added [salt] the freezing time decreases, for salt draws out moisture in meat. well, there is a lot more to say about storage of food but you get the idea.

i have had meat in the freezer a year or a little more. i also have no freezer burn. i do not store heavy items on top of meat. i label and date my meat. try not to have your wrapped items or vacume pacs poked so there are small holes in the package. also of course, try to eat your stored foods before the meat gets lost in the shuffle. i hope this helps. good luck.

[LakeoftheWoods]

i have heard people comment also about pork vs beef/venison as far as length of time in the freezer. the number one ingrediant in freezing is using the proper methods of freezing your food. vacume sealing is the best, with freezer paper a close second. zip bags to me are a waste of money for freezing if longer than 1 month.

here are some examples:

Pork

roasts 4 to 8 monts

chops 3 to 4 months

ground pork 3 to 4 months

sausage 1 to 2 months

cokked pord 2 to 3 months

proccessed pork even shorter

Beef

roasts, steaks 6 months to a year

stew 3 to 4 months

gr. beef 3 months

corned beef 2 to 3 months

cooked beef 2 to 3 months

proccessed beef [hot dogs, sausage, lunchmeant] 3 to 4 months

so as you can see outside beef roasts and steaks, there isn't realy that much difference. once you break up meat [grind or chop] the length of freezer time decreases due to more air being able to infiltrate if not properly stored and wrapped. once seasonings are added [salt] the freezing time decreases, for salt draws out moisture in meat. well, there is a lot more to say about storage of food but you get the idea.

i have had meat in the freezer a year or a little more. i also have no freezer burn. i do not store heavy items on top of meat. i label and date my meat. try not to have your wrapped items or vacume pacs poked so there are small holes in the package. also of course, try to eat your stored foods before the meat gets lost in the shuffle. i hope this helps. good luck.

I disagree, I used freezerbags exclusivley last year, Im just finishing up the last of the 3 deer we got between me and my wife, and it still tastes as good as it did the day they were shot.

[reinhard1]

i think your going to get a variety of opinions on what works for everyone. if the freezer plastic bags work for you than i would continue using them. it's just not my personal choice. the whole idea of freezing is to not have any air trapped inside the method used or to have the package [whatever you wrap or store it in] get punchured, ripped, or damaged in someway. this is why the vacume sealing is the best in my opinion for meats that you want to store for a longer period of time. good luck.

[LakeoftheWoods]

maybe I've always had crappy vacuum sealers. But there always seems to be a small gap in my "seal" that lets air in. My method with the freezer bag is to push all the air out I can, and with a small straw, suck out the majority of the rest of it. It has seemed to work for me so far.

I do agree though, if you have a vacuum sealer that works properly...thats by far the best way to go.