Ground venison - what kind and how much other meat/fat to add?

[SPEARFISH]

4 minutes ago, Bowhunter444 said:

I've been grinding up bacon with mine 1lb bacon to 5 lbs venison. Makes the best burgers I've eaten in a while

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I'll have to try the bacon.

[Lunatic]

35 minutes ago, Hitemnasty said:

I do 20% beef fat. Not sure why people use pork when beef is a comparable red meat and pork as has been discussed on here has cooking limitations on what’s safe and what’s not. I’ll never worry about my burgers being cooked rare to med rare with beef fat. I get it from a local grass fed beef butcher for a few dollars a pound. 

Nobody has ever complained about the flavor it’s actually quite the contrary!

Pork fat rules. Beef don’t evens come close in flavor. Beef fat has no taste 

[Lphunsjr]

3 hours ago, SPEARFISH said:

There's no set requirements on what you add, only personal preference.  If making tacos or chili I don't add anything.  For sausage and snack sticks I add around 25% pork.  I usually get a shoulder or pork belly.  It's all good.  And no, I don't calculate exactly 25%, just somewhere close.

Same. I get the cheapest pork cuts on sale and grind them in. Usually a shoulder with a good amount of fat

[Hitemnasty]

30 minutes ago, Lunatic said:

Pork fat rules. Beef don’t evens come close in flavor. Beef fat has no taste 

Yea pork fat is great no doubt but why you want your venison tasting like pork?! Don’t like venison?? I don’t need the added flavor in my venison from pork just the moisture the beef fat adds

[BuzzBomber]

2 hours ago, Bowhunter444 said:

I've been grinding up bacon with mine 1lb bacon to 5 lbs venison. Makes the best burgers I've eaten in a while

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That's roughly what I do.  Haven't measured the bacon by weight, but I take strips of bacon, partially cooked (not enough to liquefy the grease), chop it, and mix into ground venison to make burgers.  3 strips of bacon per pound of venison works well for me.

Edited January 17, 2020 by BuzzBomber
corrected ratio

[Lunatic]

1 hour ago, Hitemnasty said:

Yea pork fat is great no doubt but why you want your venison tasting like pork?! Don’t like venison?? I don’t need the added flavor in my venison from pork just the moisture the beef fat adds

Pork fat is simply superior to beef for what you are using it. It melts much better, giving you much better texture and it binds the meat much better. Beef pork is just fat without any of the qualities pork fat will give you. I worked as a butcher fir 3 years, back in the 80 when we did actual butchering and I would never use beef fat, it’s foul to me. Would you ever take beef fat, melt it and use it as a spread? yet pork shined even in this odd application as shmaltz 

at the end taste is taste so use what makes you happy 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Lunatic

[nmc02]

Personal preference. I like mine mixed at a higher ratio. Venison 60%, pork 25 %, & beef trimmings 15%. The flavor of the three together is optimal, in my opinion. 

[Tarhunt]

4 hours ago, archer36 said:

Are you asking what to add BEFORE you freeze or when you are cooking it? I would not add pork, beef, or anything else ahead of time. There are so many ways to make ground venison that some does not need anything added. I can always find recipes for anything that does not call for adding pork, beef, fat. Adding ground pork to venison when making meatballs, meatloaf, etc will "soften" the venison flavor. You can add "fat" in many ways that don't include pork or beef fat. For instance in meatballs you can add Ricotta to the mix. In Burgers you can add Mayo. Like I said, putting something in before you freeze limits your cooking choices. If you make a Tomato Meat Sauce as well as Sloppy Joe's, you don't need anything added. I always freeze my ground venison "pure" and add later if needed. 

I agree. I make alot of venison meatloaf and never add beef or pork. 

[Hitemnasty]

6 minutes ago, Lunatic said:

Pork fat is simply superior to beef for what you are using it. It melts much better, giving you much better texture and it binds the meat much better. Beef pork is just fat without any of the qualities pork fat will give you. I worked as a butcher fir 3 years, back in the 80 when we did actual butchering and I would never use beef fat, it’s foul to me. Would you ever take beef fat, melt it and use it as a spread? yet pork shined even in this odd application as shmaltz 

at the end taste is taste so use what makes you happy 

Maybe the things you say are true about certain applications but they don't add pork fat to ground beef. Is a ordinary hamburger foul to you, whats the difference between it being in a beef burger or a venison burger with the same fat other than the flavor of the protein? Don't you enjoy the fat on a nice ribeye? That is the best part and you'll never see my plate with bits of fat still on it. Would you ever take ground pork, make a burger, cook it rare and eat it? Hell no you wouldn't cause that would be just crazy! Yes do what makes you happy because thats what its all about but don't just dismiss another common option as "foul" when its clearly normal and potentially safer!

[Lunatic]

19 minutes ago, Hitemnasty said:

Maybe the things you say are true about certain applications but they don't add pork fat to ground beef. Is a ordinary hamburger foul to you, whats the difference between it being in a beef burger or a venison burger with the same fat other than the flavor of the protein? Don't you enjoy the fat on a nice ribeye? That is the best part and you'll never see my plate with bits of fat still on it. Would you ever take ground pork, make a burger, cook it rare and eat it? Hell no you wouldn't cause that would be just crazy! Yes do what makes you happy because thats what its all about but don't just dismiss another common option as "foul" when its clearly normal and potentially safer!

If you ever see what beef trimmed fat looks like and where it comes from you would not eat it. It’s the scraps no one wants from trimming questionable cuts of beef to begin with. Do you think you are mixing fat cut away from the ribeye. As the butcher works, he cuts away all that no one would ever accept on any roast stake r even stew meat. This fat sits in a bucket for a while until there is enough to mix it with burger, sometime for days . With pork’s fat  content as high as it is you buy a shoulder fir $10 and that’s a prime cut of meat as your fat. That’s why I said foul. 
 

Edited January 17, 2020 by Lunatic

[Hitemnasty]

31 minutes ago, Lunatic said:

If you ever see what beef trimmed fat looks like and where it comes from you would not eat it. It’s the scraps no one wants from trimming questionable cuts of beef to begin with. Do you think you are mixing fat cut away from the ribeye. As the butcher works, he cuts away all that no one would ever accept on any roast stake r even stew meat. This fat sits in a bucket for a while until there is enough to mix it with burger, sometime for days . With pork’s fat  content as high as it is you buy a shoulder fir $10 and that’s a prime cut of meat as your fat. That’s why I said foul. 
 

Maybe for some but I get mine from the butcher and it takes like a day or two to gather what I need. The same can be said for pork. The heavy fat caps get trimmed and go into a bucket. 

Think we agree to disagree here

[Lunatic]

3 minutes ago, Hitemnasty said:

Maybe for some but I get mine from the butcher and it takes like a day or two to gather what I need. The same can be said for pork. The heavy fat caps get trimmed and go into a bucket. 

Think we agree to disagree here

I’m really not trying to talk you out of using beef. I’m just telling you why I would not. Maybe a butcher has a pork fat bucket for whatever reason, but that’s not what you use as pork fat in your ground venison for burger or sausage. You use the shoulder or pork belly 

[vdep217]

It depends what I'm doing.  But I make 20 percent pork for meat loaf and burgers or bacon for burgers.  10 percent for taco or chilie..  0 for meat sauce and jerky. Every deer I take I  grind different so i have plenty of all i will need

[Hunter115522]

4 hours ago, Ryanm said:

I use a butcher, all my ground venison is not mixed with any pork fat or beef. Make tacos, meatballs, throw it in lasagna or ziti, even burgers. Egg and bread crumb for meatballs or burgers. I know my specialties I order like kielbasa and sausage are mixed though. 

 

This 100%! I have this conversation with my buddies a lot. I always tell them if you know how to cook, you can make anything with ground venison with no added fat. Eggs and breadcrumbs are your friend when it comes to meatballs, meatloaf, burgers, etc.. I like to keep my version as pure as possible without the added unhealthy fat.

Edited January 17, 2020 by Hunter115522

[Tarhunt]

4 minutes ago, Hunter115522 said:

 

This 100%! I have this conversation with my buddies a lot. I always tell them if you know how to cook, you can make anything with ground venison with no added fat. Eggs and breadcrumbs are your friend when it comes to meatballs, meatloaf, burgers, etc.. I like to keep my version as pure as possible without the added unhealthy fat.

This is exactly what I do. No complaints at all.