BigDaddy12t

This will be my first year processing my own deer. The place I used to take it mixed the burger 60 40 with pork. I like that mix the best. My question is when they mix it with "pork", what kind of pork do they use? And where can I get it? Then part 2 of my question is How do I mix the 2 together? Do I run the scraps thru the grinder first, then hand mix that with the pork, or is there some other way? I have none of equipment that you need to do this with, so tell me what I need. Thanks!

Robert L E

We clean up the venison first, removing every bit of fat we can because we don't like the flavor of deer fat. Then we grind it, and the fat we are going to add to it, seperately. We then mix it all together and run it through the grinder again.

We use beef trimmings for fat because it is, or was anyway, much cheaper than pork fat. We have used fat looking pork shoulder too. We try to seperate the pork fat from the lean so that it can be judged so we get 85-90% lean burger when we are done.

Bob

countertop

I've used ground pork, and also ground up my own pork shoulder or loin.

I use a mixture of 8 ounces of pork to every pound of venison - really basically 2:1. I've also been known to throw some bacon into the grinder too and put that into the mix (Mmmm).

As to mixing them, well I grind it all up into a bowl and mix it together.

BigDaddy12t

Thanks,but I still am not 100% clear on a couple of things. When you say you add 8 oz of pork to every pound of venison, what do you mean by "pork", and where do you get it? Second, after you have every thing ran thru the grinder, do you just mix it all together by hand in the bowl?

Big Guy01

Buy pork shoulders (butts) when they are on sale usually for 0.99/lb remove the skin, debone them cut into chunks package and freeze. Weigh each package and mark it on the outside. Pork shoulder is around 25% fat so if you mix the ground pork chunks with an equal amount of venison it should come out at 12.5% just right for burgers. When I get a deer I butcher up and freeze the burger chunks marking them with their weights then if I want to make sausage or burger I semi thaw the meat and grind. You can then re-freeze no problems as long as you haven't let the meat warm up to room temps.
I prefer beef fat with my venny burger. In that case I just buy cheap burger 25% fat and mix it 50/50 with my venison

Phil from Maine

Myself I preffer bacon ends with my venison. I buy the bacon ends at a discount from the local grocery store.. They usually cut it into cubes about an inch square for me as that makes it easier to us IMO.. Then I do about the same for pork for as far as the mix goes.. MMMmmmm Bacon burgers..

baileym62

i buy hamburg stock at local store it is not gtound up yet and cut into cubes i gring one cube of deer and one cube of beef as they gring it mixes then when finished i run it all trhough the grinder again it has always seemed mixed to me and have never felt a need to mix it further. a buddy buys beef suet and just kindoff adds it to the deer as hes grinding just adds it to look like he want his hamburg to look.

BigDaddy12t

Thanks for the replies guys. I am going to reword this question. The place that I used to take my deer to, added 40% pork to it. I am just looking for what they used. (maybe I will just call them and ask them, but who knows if they will tell me) I know there are many different ways to mix it, but I have found that the 40% is what I like the best.

Champlain Islander

I use beef fat and mix in only what I need to keep the burgers together. I use ground pork when I make sausage.

jerseyhunter

They use trimmings they get when cutting up the hogs into various marketable cuts. You will get good results using pork butt as it has a high fat content.

I cube my venison(fat removed) cube my pork butt, mix them together and grind them together.
When I buy whole pork loins I save the trimminggs and all the fat I cut off while cutting it up and freeze for adding to the mix.
You don't necessarily have to add pork butt, you can add plain pork fat just change the ratio to 8lbs deer-2 lbs fat or 8 1/2- 1 1/2 for leaner, or go the other way 7 1/2 lbs deer- 3lbs fat. It's all up to what's on hand and your personal taste, you won't ruin it so experiment.