Do you leave fat on your meat

[night bite]

How much if any fat do you leave on your venison you are going to get ground. I clean mine pretty much with no fat and a buddy leaves alot on. Just wondering if it makes a big taste difference when you grind it and mix it with pork.

[nofishfisherman]

I try to get every last bit of it off. It is my understanding that the white fatty parts are what makes a really gamey flavor. I guess if you want a strong game flavor then leaving some is fine. I prefer to mix my venison with other fats depending on how I am going to prepare it.

[TruthWalleyes]

I take the fat off and add pork or beef fat for flavor when grinding.

[TooTallTom]

I take the fat off, every bit that I can. I might be wrong, but I've been told that the fat goes rancid fairly quickly, even when frozen.

[mnviking28]

Definitely take the fat off unless you like a really gamey tasting meat.

[DonBo]

What they said. Venison fat? No good! Beef fat? Good. Pork fat? Good, but doesn't freeze as good or as long as beef, your call.

[Steve Foss]

We tried an experiment a couple years ago and left the fat on our vennie steaks. We didn't actually eat the fat after grilling them, but we don't eat the fat off pork or beef steaks, either.

The meat tasted wonderful, just as good as it did all the other times when we trimmed fat before cooking. The fat itself doesn't taste bad (we tried a bit), but has a very chalky and dry feel in the mouth. Our meat trimmings all go out on the garage roof for the birds, or are rendered into suet.

FWIW, we've never trimmed fat before freezing. Just like with meat we buy at the store, we trim fat after thawing and before cooking.

Before freezing venison, we pat the meat dry and vacuum pack it with the Foodsaver, and we've never once had gamy meat, so I don't believe freezing it with the fat on is any problem. We've pulled vennie with the fat on from the freezer that was 2 years old (in fact, just made a stew out of some of it) with absolutely no iffy taste. So I guess if leaving fat on when freezing was going to produce gamy meat, it would have happened by now after all the years we've been doing this.

For grinding burger/sausage, I'd never leave on venison fat, for the reasons already mentioned.

[Powerstroke]

These comments are right on. Venison fat is not good tasting and goes rancid easily. It is best to remove all venison fat and then mix with beef or pork fat if you need addition fat for the recipe.

[reinhard1]

venison fat is for the birds not for eating. i dont have any venison fat in ground venison or sausage. good luck.

[Boar]

Huge difference, take it all of, my dad takes every bit off an swears by it. I trimmed the meat ast year for sausage an didnt do a good enough job for him, he couldnt eat it, i thought it was good, but he didnt care for it, cause i wasnt as picky, Now if you want the best tasting burger ever, dont use pork but bacon ends an pieces, you get great flavor an can use it the same, in sausage making or just plain burger, my wife agrees, the extra money is worth the flavoring. Ends an pieces are cheaper than the regular sliced bacon, give it a try. try a small batch a see wat u think. i go fifty fity wen grinding, chunk of meat chunk of bacon an so on. running it thru the same time as the venison eliminates it being caught up in the grinder in the twirly thingy, flighting that is. Boar

[DinnerPail]

I trim it off as Steve mentioned due to the chalky and dry feeling it leaves in your mouth. I don't get as picky when triming it if I'm going to can it as it all ends up on top and you can just pick it off the top when you open the jar. As far as it making the meat gamey thats just personal opinion as i don't consider venision as being gamey, it's venision not beef and I enjoy it for what it is and don't try to make it taste like something else. To each his own as long as it doesn't go to waste.

[harvey lee]

I have done it both ways with the fat.

If someone gave me venison with the fat on, I would cut it all off along with anyhting else.

My venison is pure meat with nothing else.

For hamburger, I add beef anf beef fat so it will fry and stay together without burning. One can use pork but it will not keep as long as beef.

Venison fat is the most terrible tasting gamey fat there is in my book.

I spend more time trimming all my venison meat than anything else.

No thank you.

[Big-Al]

My belief is that venison fat will go rancid no matter what the hanging temp is if you don't skin the deer very soon after harvest. I also believe that it will go rancid very quickly even if you skin it immediately when the hanging temps are very much above forty.

Thar gamey taste that you hear everyone talk about is nothing but rancid fat or meat that has been in contact with rancid fat, in my opinion.

[eyeguy 54]

Fat off for me. For burger 1 do the 8-2-1. 8 pounds venison, 2 pounds 80/20 burger and 1 pound ground pork. I double grind it all together. Makes dang good burgers.

[Surface Tension]

If you like eating chap stick then leave the tallow on.

That is the best I can describe it and it will stick to your tongue and mouth.

It won't melt off either, it'll come off in tiny pellets.

[Big-Al]

Excellent description Frank!

[Boar]

Ha now i can just snap in half a veny braut an apply as need when tip up fishing.