Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Elk Burger Question

i don't add any fat either. ground elk makes some delicious tacos, burritos, spagetti, etc.

Not exactly what you asked for but try this with some of your elk burger.


Summer Sausage

Ingredients:
2 lbs. cheap hamburger
1 cup water
2 tsp. liquid smoke
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp garlic pepper
� tsp. onion powder
1tsp mustard powder
1 tsp mustard seed
3 tbs Morton�s Tender Quick

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together well.
Roll into 2 or 3 rolls as firmly as possible.
Roll in aluminum foil with the shiny side to the meat.
Let stand in the refrigerator for 24 hours. This is critical.
Punch holes in foil bottom & sides when ready to bake.
Bake @ 325 degrees for 1-1/4 hours.
Cool & re-wrap in aluminum foil (leave in sausage casing if that is what you use).
Store in freezer if it lasts any length of time.



Note:
When preparing summer sausage I like to make it with wild game and in big batches. This recipe multiplies out real well. For instance if you want to make 10 lbs of the sausage just multiply everything by 5 etc. When I make it with wild game I use 2 parts of game meat (minus ALL fat) and 1 part of the cheapest, fattest hamburger that I can find. This combination works real well and gives it a good fat content. Also I go to the butcher shop and get 3 lb sausage casings. This seems to work better than the aluminum foil. Just remember to poke holes in it. If you don�t it can get a little exciting when it builds up steam from cooking.

My wife made four rolls of summer sausage last night with a similar recipe we use. I'll get her to try this one also. Thanks.

We ate Elk burgers last night after we vacuum sealed all of it, and I can see why people like Elk burger. It was very good, and count me in on those that love elk now.

Today, we are doing the other hind quarter, backstraps for steaks, etc, and the shoulders are for jerky. I am really glad I went on this hunt, at 57 years of age, it was a thrilling, and tough hunt. I am glad I had to earn it, makes you feel all the better when it is over. I know this, I've been pretty worn out in the past getting a big mule deer out of tough country, but stocking this elk and getting her out used up all nine lives of mine, if I were a cat....LOL.

Couldn't agree more saddlesore! No reason to ruin excellent ground meat with inferior additives. Adding fat is only necessary if you want to duplicate the methods and recipes for cooking beef. Elk meat needs better treatment. Learn to cook elk meat as it requires, and it will reward you with fine eating and superior nutrition.

I can't remember where I read it, but I recall reading that pork fat can spoil even while frozen. Just something to think about...

That said, I don't add anything to my elk burger. Heck, I'm too cheap and don't want the extra work.

Count me in on one who grinds elk without any additional fat.
Fat can become rancid over time and who wants that to contaminate your delicious wild game meat?
I make hamburger patties using tin foil so I turn flip the foil to grill them. I believe there are round metal forms you can buy to hold the burger intact while grilling.

I'm another no-fat guy.
I try to remove it from my diet whenever possible.
If you are planning on grilling a lot of burgers however a very small % is helpful to keep them from falling apart on the grill.

If you onlt flip the burgers once,they won't fall apart

I tried the following this year and it made the best burgers I've ever eaten. My wife (who hates wild game) and several friends also agree- best burgers they've ever had.

I pick up choice ribeye steaks on sale for $5/ lb. Slice the ribeye steaks up into cubes with fat and all- then mix 1 part ribeye to 3 parts elk while grinding.

Just the right amount of fat to make for a really juicy burger, yet still fairly lean. Incredibly rich flavor. Ends up around $1.67/ lb- a lot cheaper than the junk ground 'beef' you buy in the stores around here.

B A C O N !!! About 5 to 10% by weight, depending on your taste. No other lean meat is needed. You can often buy bacon odds and ends at stores that cut their own meat.

+2 (or is that 3 or 4?)

I grind my own. No fat added or wanted. If I want it to "hang together" a little better, a bit of raw egg mixed in works well. Can add some hard bread crumbs as well.

I'm another guy that adds no fat to my wild game meat. Elk meat has more protien, less fat and less cholesterol than just about any other meat. It contains no steroids, no additives, nothing but pure lean meat. Most of my ground meat gets used in casseroles, chilis, tacos, etc. Ocasionally I do make pattys and then, as has already been mentioned, I turn them just once and they hang together.

KC

I've been grinding my own for 20 plus years and started with pork fat, went to beef, and now add nothing.

I found pork fat didn't survive as long in the freezer as beef fat.

I look back now wonder now why I ever felt the need to add any fat to elk HB.

All I'll say is that it's heartening to hear about so many people who don't add fat to their game-burger anymore. As somebody already noted, it isn't necessary to get hamburger patties to hold together while cooking.

I suspect that myth started because so many guys just like to dink around with the meat their grilling. Maybe such activiy makes them feel like to they're doing more than they are, but if you just leave a fat-free elk burger on the grill for a few minutes before turning the dang thing, it will hold together nicely. They only fall apart when somebody feels the burgers have to be turned every few seconds.

I have seen this compulsive dinking-and-turning behavior in a lot of men. I once spent 10 days in an Alaskan moose camp with a cook who, whenever he prepared the fresh salmon we caught from the river, turned the darn fillets every 30 seconds and then SALTED them every time as well. By the time they got to the table they were like salty hocky pucks, but by God he looked busy!

For me, adding fat thing was because "That's the way Dad did it." Without questioning why, I took up the practice, but have since learned better.

Kinda like when I was learning to hunt, many preached cutting the throat of just shot big game animals as mandatory. I don't know anyone who routinely does this anymore.

Agree on the no turning theory on elk burgers. Sear long enough on one side to denature the proteins, and they will flip just fine.

Next time I will do it without. But, I don't think what I have will last long enough to go bad. I'm liking it too much!

I'm in the why add ketchup to steak camp, no fat added and gentle on the flipping of smallish patties works great for me. Cook thoroughly on one side, flip only once. No squeezing, all that does is squeeze tasty juices out.

Add my name to this list as well. No fat added... Grind our own.

5% beef at most for any wild game. I use olive oil if I need more 'fat'.