Re: Deer Burger

C.D. Waite wrote: 
Just got a doe Saturday, and I thought that rather than sending it off
to a butcher I'd give it a go myself.  Things have gone fairly
smoothly, though as I'm forming the burger pile, I'm wondering what to
do with some of the scraps that have sinew and tough membrane either
covering, or interlaced through, the meat.  Lots of this, for example,
in the lower legs.  Is this OK for burger, or will I end up with ground
meat with unacceptable quantities of tough, chewy tendons?  If this
stuff should be kept out of the burger pile, what do you do with it?



When I was a butcher we made several hundred pounds of deer sausage a day during season. We used 30% pork fat mixed with your favorite spices for breakfast sausage. Mixed this way it will make sausage as good as you can buy anywhere. Anything less than 30% fat will have a texture somewhat like a hockey puck. Otherwise I use burger mostly for spaghetti sauce, chili, stews, or burritos. Sinew will not hurt anything but most home grinders that I have used will not cut it. It just wants to wad up at the blade. If you have it all prepared your local butcher should grind it for a nominal fee during season. I say during season because all equipment has to be cleaned before going back to beef or pork. When modern gun season opened we could not have beef hanging in the same locker as deer, but during archery and black powder season it was ok. Go figure.

C.D. Waite
South Central Kentucky


Another "For What It's Worth" --

Since my wife is not wild about deer meat, I decided to try something different
and it's a real winner in my book!! In fact, I now just cut a few steaks and the
rest goes into hamburger for "artificial jerky". Now the wife and grandkids are
crazy about it and bug me to get an extra deer just for that!

I mix about 3/4 cup of Worcestershire sauce, a little liquid smoke, 1 1/2 tsp
salt and 1 1/2 tsp black pepper (medium course) into each pound of
hamburger,(adjust salt and pepper to taste) roll it out in thin strips (between
a couple of *** of plastic) and put it in my dehydrator for about 3 1/2 hours
(until leathery). To give it a little extra "smoke" flavor, I lay it in my
smoker for about 30 minutes with mesquite or hickory chips.  Hmm, hmm, good!!
Keeps well,too - I found a couple of pieces left over from last year in a jacket
pocket and it was still great.

I think some dehydrators come with a jerky kit (little package of jerky mix and
a "press" for making the strips). I think you can buy it in Academy or Cabelas.

Well worth the effort, no mater how you season it - and a lot quicker than
conventional jerky. Old guys with false teeth love it also!!

Big John
.

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