Some on the cooking forum are wondering how do you keep venison from falling apart WITHOUT ADDING ANYTHING TO IT (please, no post about pork, eggs, etc.)? My ground elk and deer last year came back from the processor last year and it holds together without anything added to it. I' m going to do it myself this year and want the same results. What is the secert, anybody know?

If it came from a processor and wasn' t larded with pork or beef fat they probably used some sort of binding agent . Their are too many binders to list here , but they don' t change the taste . A probable suspect would be unflavored gelatin . Butchers commonly add this to ground beef to add weight , the unscroupulous ones use red gel to stain the fat particles making the meat look leaner . You could try posing your question to your processor , they might answer it . However , if they did use a binder it may not be available to the public .

Like Kevin1 said the processor used either beef fat or unflavored gelatin. I' m a certified butcher and we usually use the gelatin. You can' t even tell it' s there. You can get it at any meat market. It' s really cheap and you just add it to the meat when you grind it.

The only time I have had trouble with it not staying toghther was when it was put through gthe grinder more that once then it was like mush and would not stay together. It may be the processor and not the meat!!!!!