# Deer Meat



## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

I've been gifted with ground deer meat. 

Is is good for hamburgers?

If not, what's a good recipe?

Thanks


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## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

My father eats deer hamburg all the time, either plain or in goulash, spaghetti sauce, etc. I'm a bit fussier with the taste but do make some similar dishes and eat it though it isn't my favorite. Just a personal thing!


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Was wondering if I made a hamburger with it, it would be too dry.


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## RideBarefoot (Jun 29, 2008)

I've never done it up as burgers, but love it in chili.


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## altair (Jul 23, 2011)

Being so lean it does tend to be drier. My father isn't a fussy man and just uses some ketchup


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## Chew (Jan 11, 2020)

If it has no fat added just add a little olive oil to it when you make a patty.

if you're going to use it in things like spaghetti or tacos you don't need to add anything.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

my son is making up hamburgers with it as we speak. that's what he's having for his supper along with some fries he said.


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## newfieannie (Dec 24, 2006)

i think my son fries it in salt pork. i gave him a slab in with his other stuff when he left. often when i would make them for my husband i would add some sour cream, caribou that was but more or less same thing. ~Georgia ~Georgia


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## hiddensprings (Aug 6, 2009)

I make burgers with ground deer although, when I grind it, I add some fat into it.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Often people buy some beef fat trimmings and grind the venison with the beef fat so it isn't so dry. It isn't beek nor ork so tastes different. If you ate nothing but venison for a month, beef would taste odd. It is just a case of getting accustom to the different taste.


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

You can use this in spaghetti and it is also great for meatloaf that uses plenty of bread and ketchup. Also great in chili.

For hamburgers on the grill, you might want to let it thaw and then mix with about 25% beef and/or pork and you will have some great lean burgers.

A lot depends on the deer. For very young deer, it is not that much different than beef for hamburgers, especially if you have a butcher add some pork and beef. For a very large buck it will be drier. I have some burger from a very large buck now that is on the dry side even though I had some beef added and I might try Chew's suggestion of working some olive oil into my hamburger patties.


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## Wolf mom (Mar 8, 2005)

Thanks all for the suggestions. I'm gonna try a burger with a little olive oil first. I have enough defrosting to make a stroganoff type dish with the rest .


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## po boy (Jul 12, 2010)

I think some folks mix a little pork sausage in it.....


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

Venison is pretty a pretty forgiving meat to me. I can yell from the kitchen in cooking mid meal that the main course has just changed from burgers to chops to roast and use the same pieces of meat.
Lard or bacon fat for consistency and flavor.


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## boatswain2PA (Feb 13, 2020)

Venison is exceptionally lean, arguably too lean for most American's palates.

We eat almost exclusively venison for our "red meat", and have learned several tricks over the past few years to make it exceptionally enjoyable.

Two big keys to cooking with venison: Add fat, and don't overcook.

Most of the ground venison we package (we process ourselves) we mix 50/50 with high-fat (70%) hamburger, and then use this as ground beef in everything, including making hamburgers.

I also save some ground venison and package it as "chili meat", and use it in recipes that are heavily spiced like chili (venison in chili is EXCEPTIONAL), or other recipes where additional fat (bacon, cream, sour cream, cheese, etc) is added and/or the taste of the meat is dampened by other predominant flavors. Look for the venison burger bake and the venison taco pie recipes from gameandfishingmag.com, and mossyoak.com also has some recipes.

We package the large rump roasts. We sometimes eat them as actual roasts, but they are EXCEPTIONALLY lean and do taste significantly different from beef roasts. Key strategies is using more spices than you think you need, and DON'T OVERCOOK. Much better to cook very slowly and use a meat thermometer. Sometimes we also cut these up and make venison stew with it (have one thawing in fridge to do this with today). We also package the ball roasts and slow cook them to make barbecued pulled-venison sandwiches in the summer.

Of course, backstrap, tenderloins, and the hind loins are our favorites. With the backstrap I will make venison parmigiana that many non-hunters will eat while saying they couldn't tell the difference between it and beef. I also cut it into steaks (serving with gravy from drippings for added fat), or fillet open and stuff with cream cheese/spinach mixtures and then wrap in bacon. The tenderloins are where the real sweet meat is though!


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## Gayle in KY (May 13, 2002)

I had the same problem with ground goat. I added a big dollop of mayonnaise to it. That helped a lot. I'm pretty sure the olive oil would do the same thing.


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## Evons hubby (Oct 3, 2005)

I’d blend in a bit of sausage and a bit of chopped onion for burgers.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Venison makes great hamburgers, but you have to handle it a bit differently. With no fat in it, it does not stick together as well and the patties will fall apart if you flip them more than once or twice.
My favorite way to do deer burgers is to blend the meat with some cracker crumbs, egg and your favorite spices to bind it all together, then make into patties and wrap outside edge of patty with a slice of bacon tooth picked in place.


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## Tom Horn (Feb 10, 2021)

Wolf mom said:


> I've been gifted with ground deer meat.
> 
> Is is good for hamburgers?
> 
> ...


A lot depends on you.

Deer meat, like bull meat is very lean so it does not easily retain a patty in the pan and would be a disaster on the grill as it would crumble and fall through the grate and into the fire.

Nearly all venison at the custom butcher shops, is mixed with either beef or pork fat to make it hold its form when grilled. Summer sausage is quite popular around here and quite a bit of venison goes for that.

Mixing the venison with 70/30 ground beef has been suggested. This is an excellent idea for giving it the cohesion necessary for grilled burgers. Ground pork also works well for this purpose.

You may wish to pan cook a little straight venison, venison beef mix and venison pork mix to get a sample of the final taste of each and go with what you like and to determine the correct ratio of venison to beef/pork for cohesiveness. This also depends on how much venison you have been given in the first place.

At any rate, you can use all of the above in any recipe that calls for ground beef.


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## Tom Horn (Feb 10, 2021)

boatswain2PA said:


> We package the large rump roasts. We sometimes eat them as actual roasts, but they are EXCEPTIONALLY lean and do taste significantly different from beef roasts.


 If you are having your deer processed at a custom locker those roasts are the top rounds. They make excellent jerky and I have to ask, who in their right mind doesn't like jerky?

If they come to you frozen just thaw them to the point where the meat is still partially frozen but will allow you to slice it as thin as you can. Season it and put in a dehydrator or on an oven rack with the oven set at the lowest setting that you can get. I would line the bottom of the oven with foil to catch any drippings. I marinade my jerky in a mixture of dry Italian salad dressing mix, Worcestershire, soy sauce and maybe a touch of apple cider vinegar. Watch the drying process in the oven as there are hot and cold spots, (you'll be able to see this in the jerky.) Rotate and turn the jerky as needed. Store in a gallon zip-lock in the fridge, that is, if there is any left to store.


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## B&L Chicken Ranch and Spa (Jan 4, 2019)

Gayle in KY said:


> I had the same problem with ground goat. I added a big dollop of mayonnaise to it. That helped a lot. I'm pretty sure the olive oil would do the same thing.


Mix 20% ground goat to 80% beef and you get a burger that is juicy on the inside and crusty on the outside - YUM!

Add some beef fat to your ground deer and that is one tasty, juicy burger - Double YUM!

You won't like either if Burgerking or Taco Bell are considered food by you though.... sorry....


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## dodgesmammaw (Jun 19, 2013)

I use my ground venison for taco meat, chilI. I mix it 50/50 with beef for burgers.


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## WildPrGardens (Mar 8, 2014)

I have a friend who hunts regularly, many times for farmers to reduce the pressure on their crops. He gets 5 to 11 deer each year and grinds it all, his brother is trying to talk him into doing other cuts. 
My niece and nephew had nothing but venison for years growing up and loved it. You could take them to a top restaurant and buy them the best t-bone or porterhouse steak and they couldn't finish them. They thought they were too greasy. 
Buffalo meat is very lean, native Americans ate a lot of bison and were very healthy. 

Good luck


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