How to Make Venison Hamburger

Venison, or deer meat, is a lean alternative to meat from a cow. When making hamburger out of deer meat, most butcher shops and home grinders add pork meat to give the burgers some fat content. This is both for flavor and to keep the meat from drying out as it cooks.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 1 pound venison
• 1 pound pork shoulder roast
• Meat grinder

1. Cut both the venison and the pork into chunks that can be easily handled and put through the head of the meat grinder.

2. Feed the grinder by alternating between the 2 meats. This is so you will get a good mix to the grind.

3. Shape into patties if desired.

4. Use immediately or refrigerate until needed. Any venison hamburger that will not be used within 3 days needs to be packaged and frozen.

Tips & Warnings

• An electric meat grinder is much easier to use then a hand cranked one.
• A meat grinder attachment is available for many kitchen center appliances.
• If you want to add seasonings to your burgers, add them after the meat is ground and mix in by hand.
• Regular hamburger can be substituted for the pork shoulder.
• Harvested deer that are handled properly in the field are less likely to have a "gamey" taste.
• Venison can be used in any recipe calling for cow meat.
• If you're on a low fat diet, venison will allow you to eat red meat and cut fat also.
• Many specialty grocers carry venison and often, during hunting seasons, regular butcher shops offer venison for their customers.

[MontanaGal]

on 11/15/2008 Thank you, thank you, thank you! My hubby brought home a mule deer buck this morning and decided to butcher it himself. We have a meat grinder (never used until now) so decided that we'd take a stab at making our own burger. Found this web site, went looking for pork shoulder (in a hurry!) and found some cheap cut loin chops instead ($1.99/lb). Ground up some of the lesser venison cuts with the pork and cooked up a couple of the best burgers I've ever eaten. Very good taste and not gamey at all! I'm really pleased and will finish the bulk tomorrow...wish I had a food processor. ;-)