Meat grinder

[gatodoc]

What kind (size) of meat grinder do you use to grind tough cuts of deer meat into burger?

Do you add beef or pork fat to it? If so what kind and how much?

 

[TNDeerGuy]

I always grind the entire deer, except for the backstraps and tenderloin. A 3/4 horsepower grinder would be more than adequate for the normal hunter. As far as fat, I use 9pounds of meat and 1 pound of beef fat, that I obtain from a local meat market/butcher, and it always turns out great. Just make sure you double grind it for the best results.

 

[gatodoc]

Thanks for the great information....

Now.....How do I get the deer meat?

LOL

 

[bigtex]

Depends on what you are making. for burger meat, I'll do 20% beef fat.

20%? dang.

 

[bigtex]

I've been processing my own deer for many, many years. For a number of those years I had a lease in Giles county and it wasn't uncommon to kill 7-8 deer by myself and process a few more that my wife and daughter killed each season.
For a number of those years I used a hand crank type grinder. Hand crank grinders work great but for processing a number of deer it soon became a pain in the rear. I finally purchased a 1 h.p. grinder from Cabellas and I've never looked back. That thing will grind meat about as fast as you can shove it in there. I usually grind it course the first time then "re-grind" it through the finer disc the second time. I always save some of the courser grind meat for soups, etc.
I "never" mix beef or pork during the initial grinding process because for most of my needs I don't need or want anything else in it [chili, pasta sauce, soups, etc] If i'm going to make burgers for the grill i'll regrind with 50% cheap burger or if I make a batch of breakfast sausage I add about 50% pork. [yes poser, I said 50%] The reason I use pork or beef is for the fact that as most people know venison is just way too lean for making patties out of. They will just fall apart as you try to cook them.

 

[bigtex]

20% is all you need to sufficiently hold a burger together for cooking to Medium, though I sometimes use close to 40% grass fed beef mixture for making meatloaf.

Think about this: Last year at the World Squirrel Cookoff, the first place winner was a Squirrel Slider (the team deboned, ground and mixed the squirrel with fat). By the rule book, your entree has to be 80% squirrel meat. In other words, a team made a squirrel patty that won the world championship and it only contained 20% fat. If 20% if sufficient for squirrel, a much tougher meat than venison, then it is certainly a sufficient ratio for ground venison. (on a side note, I am not a fan of ground white meat).

I've had venison sausage that was mixed 50% pork fat. It didn't taste anything like venison. Don't get me wrong, it tasted good, but at some point, you might as well be eating Tennessee Pride. At the very least, it is not very accurate to call that "venison" sausage or "venison" burger, its at least as much beef or pork as it is venison. [/quote]

LOL!!
I don't profess to be a chef. I prepare my meat the way that tastes the best to me and the people I cook for. [so far I haven't had any complaints] I've tried it many ways and this is what works for me.
As far as breakfast sausage is concerned..........the spices make more difference than any amount of pork fat added. BTW, I like Jimmy Dean sausage, but mine made with venison is better.
Different strokes for different folks............