Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Food, Cooking, and Game Preparation What to mix with ground venison?

Hi guys. In the past I've mixed pork with my ground deer meat and it has been good or maybe good enough...... so what else can I do? I've heard that I can also use beef fat, beef tallow or pork fat. I guess I am looking for a way to make my venison stick together without actually adding another meat to it. What do you guys suggest?
Thanks in advance, Bob

I buy Rib racks for steaks and trim the fat off the outside to suit me . I freeze it until I work up a deer. Ribeye fat makes a good mix with ground venison.

Bacon

I prefer pork to beef so I use ground pork, pork fat, bacon or smoked jowl with my ground venison.

Go get stake trimmings from your butcher

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

Beef trimmings from my local supermarket... free or cheap and works better than pork fat in my opinion.

For burgers, I like beef fat @ 10%. For sausage, pork fat @ 30%. We can get ~ 5 lb frozen bags of ground fat at a local groceteria.

Not pork meat, just pork fat?

I take a box of bacon ends and grind it up and mix what i think I need in ground deer or elk. Make great burgers!

That


Beef fat has a higher 'melting' temp, I don't like sheit over cooked and I don't like balls of beef fat still hanging out in my burger

Yes. I find using straight fat it’s easier to calculate % without guessing.
We’ve done sausage w bacon and/or shoulder and it seems less like sausage of whatever the game meat is.

I have used pork steak in the past, this year I made some venison sausage with mild Italian bulk sausage. I add teriyaki to the mix and smoke with alderwood for 3 hrs. finishing in the oven at 200 degrees for one hour.

Also, much easier to grind if it's half frozen, especially the fat.

Im in the bacon camp as well. Buy a box of ends and pieces. Grind with the venison.

I like to mix 70 percent deer to 30 percent smoked bacon end pieces.

I prefer beef fat for burger, not sure I have a preference for sausage. I generally mix 6-10% depending on how much fat I have and how fat assed I am at the time of butchering. Honestly 6-8% is just as good as 10% in my opinion. My dad disagrees with me.

Our local grocers will cut and save beef or pork fat if you ask them too, usually. Sometimes they give it to me for free, sometimes it's like $0.25/lb.

I like that reasoning.


I reckon a deer sausage ought to taste a bit like deer. Never did mind.


Hell, I like mutton.

With the last deer I processed, I used beef fat. My son's restaurant buys a lot of beef, and trims the rounds. I get those trimmings and mix 20% in with the ground venison. Makes a great tasting burger that holds together on the grill.

beef fat,grind the fat as small as you like then mix it in the venison and grind. you will get a better mix and no more 'fat balls' then with all beef.


8lbs of meat
2lbs of fat

local krogers sell beef fat