Ground venison

Well I'm far from an expert on this subject but I am always experimenting. Seems 5 to 10% fat is the best IME. I have tried both beef and pork fat and flavorwise the beef was better to me.
Have been told that beef fat has a higher melting point than pork. Last year I didn't put any fat in my ground and I think I prefer it that way.

Whereabouts in Hendricks county are ya? I'm in Pittsboro.

It's all a matter of taste but I have always used about 20% pork trimmings in my ground venison. I've used it instead of ground beef for any recipe...there's been a lot of my relation/friends that eat it and think it's ground beef.

But a lot of it has to do with how the fresh kill is handled, cooled, aged and butchered-not everyone does that the same as I do. I still haven't figured out how the typical person can put an entire deer in the freezer in less than a couple of hours!! It takes me about an evening per quarter to debone, get all the fat and silver off and package for the freezer...but that's me being very particular about what I'm going to eat later. I'd rather spend extra time at the beginning and know that when I take a package out of the freezer later it will be the best venison that I could have possibly put on the table.

I'm on vacation in SC right now and have the last of last years venison with us (where we will have a party on the dock with it). The people from down here always make the comment that they can't believe venison can taste that good! I'm not bragging on my butchering/chef skills- but more am of the opinion that the "local" ways of handling deer after the kill contribute to the taste that they associate with venison. When I hear about a #180 buck getting killed down here (which is big for along the coast) I know that weight is the whole deer-they don't field dress them before taking them to check in....which with the warmer weather they have down I have never understood except for having the bragging rights for that "big" buck...YUCK!!!!!

But I was also over at another neighbors last fall that has a regular walk in cooler and all the "cool" butchering tools. I walked in with intention of helping but almost got sick from the smell-here they were butchering out a couple of gut shot doe from the night before that had just been thrown in the cooler and not even field dressed....DOUBLE YUCK!!!! What was even worse is that they were showing some young Boy Scouts (who had never hunted) how to butcher a deer-I can only imagine what kind of impression it made on those young'uns

Enough rant....just do the best you can with your fresh kill. The first hour or two determines what the meat will taste like for the next several months!

Thanks for your input guys. I'm all for not adding anything. We'll talk it over and go from there. I'm sure we'll experiment some.

Huntmeister: I live on the east edge of Danville. So not too far from you. Hate living in town but it's not in the cards to buy property out somewhere.

dadfsr: my buddy and I are very meticulous in how we handle our deer. I agree 100% that it's all in how you handle it. With this being our first experience, I'm sure we'll make some mistakes. As with everything, you typically learn as you go for what to not do the next time. Hopefully the mistakes will be minimal. It can't be any worse than the job I had done last year by a processor near Bainbridge. Have fun on your trip, and be safe headed home.

I grind mine without fat.

You can't really make hamburgers with it like that... but it works great for anything that uses loose ground meat.

You guys should try canning some too. That's my wife's and both my sisters favorite way.

Jabba

I use 20% pork fat, I like burgers and like jabba said if you don't use fat the burgers fall apart. Even with 20% when you are done cooking there is very little grease left in the pan. I also grind mine twice.

Yuk yuk YUK.

Venison fat is NASTY!! but to each their own.

Jabba

Venison fat ruins the taste, trim it off. I think beef fat ruins the taste also.

About 20% pork tastes pretty good, we always used cheap pork shoulders (butt) rather than pure fat. However, the lasty few years I quit adding anything and prefer it plain.

Venison plain or with the added pork makes poor hamburgers, as there isn't enough fat to make it stick together good. They fall apart on the grill. If you want good venison burgers, thaw it out and mix with an egg or two, some bar-B-q sauce, cracker crumbs, etc. and then make into patties. Ground blue cheese mixed in is pretty awesome.

Not the hard outer crap, the fat around the meat. It is still VERY lean.
I've had several people that ate my venison that had no idea they were eating venison. A few had told me they didn't like venison, but had no problem chowing down on it. When I make jerky, their isn't enough fat in it to need a drip pan.

Was that Kevin or someone else? Kevin has a good set up, but he runs a lot of deer through it.... What was wrong with the butchering?