Venison Bacon Burger!

[ThunderLund78]

Got a new meat grinder for xmas, had a great time breaking it in over the weekend. On a whim, I winged it and ground up approximately 3-4 lbs of venison that was taking up some freezer room, 1 lb of bacon and added a 1 lb package of already-ground beef. Mixed it all together, vac sealed three packages of it and made 4 big burger patties for supper with the rest. It was AWESOME and it gives me a good starter mix to mess around with and tweak. Looking forward to keeping the experiment going!

[pikestabber]

Grinding experiments are the best kind of experiments

I like 2 lbs. of venison to a 1 lb. of bacon, then I'll thrown in some onions, garlic, and hot peppers and grind it all together for patties. You can tinker with things like hi-temp cheese, etc. It's all good in the mix!

[ThunderLund78]

Yeah, spices are next for sure. Thanks for the suggestions!

[DonBo]

I have been grinding bacon into my venison for years. I typically use 2lbs of bacon to 10lbs of vennie. I will add some ground beef to the mix only if I think I'm short of what will last me the year.

[nofishfisherman]

There is a lot you can do with the grinder. I just recently made some meatloaf using one pound venison, one pound elk, and one pound pork.

I mixed all three with seasoning and bread crumbs and made them into small loaves. Made maybe 12 single serving loaves. Toward the end of their baking we made a ketchup/balsamic vinegar glaze to go over them. Spooned a little on during the last 5-10 minutes of cooking and then served the rest on the side.

Ate what we wanted for dinner that night and the froze the remaining on a plate over night and then vacuum sealed the rest for future dinners. Turned out fantastic.

I'm about to get started making venison meatballs, breakfast sausage and I'm going to give the ground venison bacon a shot this year.

[ThunderLund78]

I almost left out the beef but it was easier to sell the wife on eating it with it in there. She's not a huge fan of "plain" venison but eats up anything we get processed like sticks and summer sausage. My goal is to be doing that myself within the next year or two. Off to a good start!

[pikestabber]

I almost left out the beef but it was easier to sell the wife on eating it with it in there. She's not a huge fan of "plain" venison but eats up anything we get processed like sticks and summer sausage. My goal is to be doing that myself within the next year or two. Off to a good start!

Once you start down that path, it's all downhill

Not sure what your equipment set up or strategy is, but I'd offer this advice...when you start stuffing sticks, etc., doing so from your grinder with the attachments is possible, but a royal pain in the nether. Do yourself a favor and get a vertical stuffer. Even a small one will outperform the grinder by a margin of 1000:1 (I made that up, but it's probably fairly accurate!). LEM makes a 5lb stuffer that I have found to work well.

[blue_healer_guy]

+1

[bak2MN]

Get a stuffer!!

[leechlake]

read yesterday that for the upcoming Packer playoff game at Lambeau they are serving "The Big Game Burger" for $20.

venison, bacon, beef mixed together. You guys are ahead of your time...

[ThunderLund78]

Definitely planning on buying a stuffer before I "process" any venison. In fact I'm going to try it with beef a few times before I potentially destroy precious wild game while learning/experimenting. But before I even get that far, I need to complete my smoker build which won't be until this spring. Until then I'll just be grinding burger, possibly doing some seasoning mixes such as breakfast sausage and making patties to freeze. I also have a meat slicer so I will be doing some jerky - in the oven for now.

[leechlake]

I'm getting ready to grind. Have about a pound of bacon in freezer so it grinds better. Going to grind and mix with a pound of ground beef and make bacon burgers for dinner. I'm licking my lips as I type, will post a photo or two.

[eyeguy 54]

I gotta mix italian sausage with mine. have fun!

[leechlake]

They look like the could kill you. Good sign.

[eyeguy 54]

course ground and hand mixed? looks good!

[leechlake]

I did go with the coarse grind. I wanted to error on that side rather than making em "mealy". Could be my last post if I eat two of them. Maybe have some green veggies to balance it out.

[leechlake]

they were amazing. I feel like I've wasted 47 years of my life not having these as a staple for hunting/fishing trips. A new menu item has been added.

[delcecchi]

I presume you cook those until pretty much well done? I would think medium rare bacon would be sort of gross, likewise sausage.

[leechlake]

yes. I decided to make them in a cast iron skillet. Figured the bacon would flame up on the grill. I seared them and then covered loosely to cook through. Even cooked with no pink they are really tender most likely due to all the fat from the bacon. Watch the first bite though the fat can be a tad hot. Medium rare bacon wouldn't be by thing either.

[ThunderLund78]

Put venison in there and it's like the richest, juiciest beef you've ever ate. I'll be bringing a couple packs of my venison bacon burger up north next weekend for ice fishing...

[ThunderLund78]

By the way, I found the best accompaniment to the bacon burger patty (Venison or otherwise) is to season it with your favorite cajun seasoning, top with some blue cheese crumbles when almost done and put on a buttered, toasted pretzel bun. No ketchup or mustard, just a few splashes of some Louisiana Hot Sauce. BOOYAH!

[Pherris]

yes. I decided to make them in a cast iron skillet. Figured the bacon would flame up on the grill

I grind bacon into goose burger and grill them frequently and have never had a problem. They are dang good!

[pikestabber]

I decided to make them in a cast iron skillet. Figured the bacon would flame up on the grill.

Not sure if you use gas or charcoal, but I indirect anything with bacon or anything prone to dripping a lot. I use charcoal, so I just mound the coals on one side and cook on the other (sear right over the coals and move over to the indirect side to finish). You can do the same with gas by light one burner and cooking it over on the other side.