Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk burger recipe

Looking for recipes for elk burger patties. Let’s see them.

I never add anything to the grind. Greek seasoning, a little seasoned salt a dash of sage. Only turn once on the grill

I would make it just like deer burger. I trim it up tight and add back pork or beef fat to our preference. We season when we cook it. Normally something like a little salt pepper onion powder garlic salt. Not too much but we really like it that way.

Burger is ground with a little pork added, looking for which seasoning to add.

Elk meat is too lean to just grind without adding some fat. I usually add about 10% beef fat. Once it's ground, it won't keep in the freezer nearly as long as whole meat. I fill 1 gal freezer bags with whole meat scraps and grind it as we need it. A bag will weigh about 5lb. I make most of it into patties as we grind it. Refreezing doesn't hurt it at all.
We don't add any spices before freezing. We usually add some garlic salt when we fry them.

We do not like dry, crumbly grilled burgers. We always add about 10% to 15% beef suet (fat) by weight to our burger! memtb

Grind elk meat. Form into burger patties. Cook it.


If you demand more fat, I'd suggest mixing in beef tallow before you form your patties. Word to the wise, form your patties the day before and let them rest in the fridge over night, they will hold together better.

Seasoning? Lawrys or Montreal steak.

I have a LEM burger press. I make patties as we grind it and put burger papers between them. I'll freeze them in bags of about a dozen burgers. Take them out and put them on the grill still frozen. They work great. They won't keep as long as meat so don't grind too much at once.

Our burger is used as though it were beef burger. We never make burgers at the time of grinding, merely double wrap in one pound units…..there’s only two of us, first in plastic wrap eliminating all air and then freezer paper.

The packages can then be thawed, and used for any one of a multitude of uses, soup/chili, spaghetti/meat sauce, Taco Salad, homemade dips, casserole, ect., ect. …..can even make patties for the grill! 😉

Probably, about 90% of our elk goes to burger! memtb

I don't add anything as I us most of it for spaghetti, ,tacos, chilis, enchiladas. etc. As mentioned though only flip the burgers once and they won't come apart

I thaw a pound and then spread it out on a serving plate about the thickness of the burgers, then put worcestershite sauce and some hot sauce on and then cover it with Montreal seasoning, then grill.

When I want burger for patties I grind it coarse once then mix in chopped bacon and regrind. Form in patties with paper between the patties ,bag and refreeze. Pry apart frozen as many as I want and grill. Mb

Ground Elk is too lean alone for a good juicy burger

Yes adding fat defeats the purpose of lean ground Elk

Ground beef at 85/15 makes the best smash burgers

We never add fat to elk or deer meat. Ruins the taste of wild game in my opinion.

For burgers, I like Pappy’s seasoning salt and garlic salt for spices. Only flip once when grilling. Don’t over cook. If you’re worried about a dry burger, rub with a little olive oil.

I failed to mention the cooking of elk burgers (15% suet) ……grilled with an adequate amount of Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning.

Tony’s is great with darn near everything……we’ll, maybe not ice cream. I’ll save you the disappointment with that! memtb

Same here.That is the only beef we buy. Costco in 6-7 pound packs. It has been pretty cheap lately, but not as cheap as whole pork loin.

Good stuff. Keep it coming.

I buy pork shoulder/butt roast when on sale in bulk.

I add 20% shoulder 80% wild game. ( deer/elk)

Grill on to of tinfoil to set patty firm before I char on direct grill.

Season it like you would any other burger?

SPG is a good starting point.

Seasoning salt?

Steak seasoning?

Could get wild and mix garlic, Worcestershire and some butter and do smash burgers. I'm my experience, 10-15% fat isn't enough for a good smash burger.

Salt, pepper, onion salt, garlic powder, cayenne, brown sugar, and smoked paparika. Pretty tasty

We've been adding bacon to our burgers for several year now. A venison burger with bacon ground in or added prior to the grill is tough to beat.....

Grind elk no fat added. Mix in raw egg, chopped onion, garlic salt, Lawry’s seasonal salt and pepper. Egg is like a binder. Keeps the burger together.

Telling you guys.....

BEFF TALLOW

If you insist on adding fat. Just a little bit tho

Steak trimmings are a lot better than tallow.

Generally add 10% beef fat when grinding. Not always though. Keep some plain for jerky and chili.

Do the same but use bacon ends and pieces when I can find them. Coarse grind the BE&Ps then add and mix to coarse ground elk (with out suet) and regrind medium.

Any wild game I use for burgers I mix in a handful of oatmeal to help the patties stick together… No added fat here and I serve them a bunch with no complaints.
Salt, Pepper, a bit of pepper flakes and Italian seasoning works for us.

Takman: When having my "Elk Burger" made I have the butcher shop add 15% "beef kidney suet" - this is a sweeter milder fat. Our whole family fights over this burger once its mixed.
Good luck and enjoy.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Great stuff!

all we do its dice half an onion and incorporate it in the hamburger. 10 minutes a side and you have perfect big burgers... we get 5-6 patties out of a 2lb package. little salt and pepper and maybe bbq sauce

good pure cow elk meat does not need any fat added to the elk burger , i just use Lawry salt and pepper . but if its a bull elk that might need seasonings more ?

Mix in some 2% Greek Yogurt to make the burger stick together if you don’t add fat when you grind. The yogurt helps hold the burger together but doesn’t change the flavor. Season however you like a beef burger.

My wife prefers to mix ground beef with our ground game meat which is what we've done in the past. It adds some fat and she likes it better than straight game meat. No elk this year but I'm enjoying whitetail with no beef or fat added to the grind. She won't eat it so when making burgers, I make hers with beef and mine with venison.

I'm not having any trouble at all with burgers holding together on the grill with no fat, oil, egg or anything added. I mix steak seasoning throughout the ground venison and then form patties. I'm pretty fond of blue cheese and added crumbles mixed in with the seasoning last go-around. Turned out great...

We use Iron Skillet old time burger seasoning mix in our venison burger. Follow the directions on the package or do like we do and don't add any fat. Everybody we feed our venison burgers to agrees they're delicious. My wife even prefers it to beef burgers and so do I.

! elk, grind, grill.

Jerry,

The big problem with game-meat burgers "crumbling" when no fat is added is due to most people flipping them too quickly. Eileen has written about this before, but if you let them brown sufficiently on the "first side," fat-free game burgers hold together very well.

But over many years we have also both noticed that many people (especially guys) somehow think they're not really "cooking" (especially on a grill, but also in a frying pan) unless they constantly dink with the meat. Which is why it crumbles.

Have also seen this even when cooking game roasts. Many guys somehow can't resist starting to cook 'em when the grill (or indoor oven) isn't hot enough--and then turn 'em way too often. The result is pretty much gray, dry meat, all the way through. But evidently some like that....

Thanks John - I think this year is the first time I've gone with straight ground venison with no fat or ground beef added. I'll likely continue doing it this way.

I usually put meat on the pellet grill cold before lighting it and let it smoke at low temperature for a bit before turning up the heat to finish it. Burgers get flipped once only and I don't fiddle with it otherwise

I always add about 5-10% beef or pork fat to our venison.

Have also used breadcrumbs or egg to help make it stick together.

Mix equsl parts of Jimmy Dean’s hot tube pork sausage with the ground elk or venison, add an egg and mix well.

Makes a fair burger.

Kill elk. Make burger. Form burger into patty. Cook burger. Eat burger. Repeat often.

That's my recipe.

I keep my elk burger recipe pretty simple - I take my pound of thawed ground elk and let it sit for a few to get closer to room temp, then hand mix it with an egg, a splash of milk, an even smaller splash of liquid smoke, then either some salt and pepper, or sometimes some of that Montreal steak seasoning - but really you can add whatever seasoning you like with red meat. I prefer a patty that is not too thick, but with a larger circumference. That way it's easier for me to get away with a flame-kissed patty that isn't too raw in the middle and I don't dry out the outside.

I mix pork fat trimmings. Really brings out flavor
The b fat is the most flavourful part. Why do you think Ribeyes or waygu is so good. Fat.
I like my burgers 15-20% fat

I've tried it a bunch of ways: no added fat, 10% beef fat, 10% pork fat, 10% bacon ends, and this year went to 20% beef fat. I didn't care for the pork or bacon. 10% beef fat worked for me but not the wife. 20% beef fat is where I'll stay as both the wife and I like it.

My wife and I much prefer about 9% beef suet. If we are planning on a trip/hunting trip or traveling for work we will thaw make patties with paper between them and bundle up a dozen. Years ago we used bacon bits and ends in burgers but it doen't freeze that well long term.

I think adding beef or pork suet to elk completely misses the point of wild game.

Which is partly why Eileen and I don't.

But have also noticed over the decades that many hunters feel the need to add "tame" fat in order not just to satisfy their taste-expectations, but those of family members. Which in today's America often means plenty of fat.

Yes - its like recipes that wrap a piece of bacon around a grouse or pheasant breast!

My wife tried a new burger recipe last night. She put them on the grill, then her phone rang. I didn't know she'd put them on or I could have rescued them. Let's just say they were less than optimum.

Diced onion mixed with the burger then sprinkled with some johhnys seasoning salt and broiled.