How Much Beef??

VolFan9183 · November 7, 2006, 10:12 PM

Hey folks-

Finally bought a meat grinder at the end of last season, and got to try it out over the weekend on my first deer of this season. I really enjoyed using it, and can see this is going to add a lot of options to how I use the meat. I've almost always butchered my own deer for steaks, roasts, etc. I usually took one deer a year to the processor for hamburger/sausage.

For this one, I added about 50% beef, basically because I wasn't sure how much to add. Any suggestions on how much you use? I'd like to get away with less than 50% if it will still work OK.

While we're at it, what about pork when making sausage?

Thanks, in advance, for the advice. Good hunting to all....

rem33 · November 7, 2006, 11:25 PM

We grind our own, all we add is suet ( beef fat) we get from the local Albertsons. We shoot for about %10 but we mix by looks and not measurement.
Mix it as you grind, you can see what looks right.
Never tried making sausage.

FirstFreedom · November 7, 2006, 11:50 PM

I like it lean; I add nothing, and it tastes great.

On sausage, the processor adds pork fat.

I take it you got an electric one, not a hand-cranker?

mete · November 8, 2006, 03:57 AM

I usually use pork , 1/3 - 1/2 , and use the pork shoulder . Experiment , that's the advantage of a grinder. BTW I use the grinder attachment fo my Kitchen-Aid mixer, it works very well.

Wild Bill Bucks · November 8, 2006, 10:34 AM

Only part I don't grind is the back strap. I mix it with 1/3 MILD pork sausage. This gives the meat a mildly seasoned flavor, without having to season while cooking. We make everything from Tacos to Italian food, with it.

I take the back strap, and get it almost to the freezing point, and then run it through my slicer,( about 1/8" thick) Lay the strips out and put a little dressing (Like turkey dressing from Thanksgiving) on them, and roll the meat up around the dressing, with a toothpick to hold it together. In the oven for about 1/2 hour at 300 degrees. UUUUUUMMM ! Good.

NRA4life · November 8, 2006, 10:34 AM

I add about 20-25% of cheap beef hamburger to the pure ground venison. Plus I do leave some without the beef for stuff like chili or taco meat. For sausages like brats or polish that are not smoked, I add 50% pork butts to the venison. Any less and the sausage is too dry. For Salami and summer sausage, I just follow the recipes in the book I got from The Sausage Maker.

castnblast · November 8, 2006, 05:26 PM

Use the coarse grind feature for great chili. No beef necessary. For sausage, I use 33% by weight pork trimmings, which have some meat, they are not all fat. I grind it together, season then run it back throught the stuffer. I found a finder grind when you run it back through gives the sausage a much better consistancy.

swampdog · November 8, 2006, 07:16 PM

I usually shoot for 10% beef suet, but only if I'm going to cook burgers on the grill. For chili, spaghetti, stroganoff and other ground "beef" uses, I don't add anything.

Deer meat keeps better and longer, unground, so I usually grind it as I need it. I usually freeze about a 1/2 of a ham per package. When I thaw it out, I'll grind as much as I can use in a couple of days, maybe chunk some up for stew or chili and make jerky out of the rest.

I usually grind all of the shoulders, but never the backstraps or inner loins. They're too good on the grill.

Have Fun

VolFan9183 · November 8, 2006, 08:42 PM

Thanks for all the quick replies....

Sounds like I may have added too much beef on this first round, but hopefully there will be more to come.

For those who asked, I got the small electric grinder from Bass Pro on sale. Seems to be plenty powerful for my needs.

dan20703 · November 8, 2006, 08:56 PM

I grind it up plain and freeze in 1 pound packs. Depending what I want to use it for I add either ground pork or beef at the time I am using it. Keeps better in the freezer that way. Also some things require no additives such as ground meat jerky. More options when packed and frozen plain.

riddleofsteel · November 8, 2006, 10:05 PM

Why take a lean meat like venison and grind beef fat into it? If you are frying it as hamburger just put some olive oil in the pan to keep it from sticking. If you are making chili, meatballs, sauces or hamburger helper type meals you don't need the fat anyway. Ground deer sausage is good with some pork and spices ground with it. I use the fresh pork from picnic shoulders we get on sale at the store or from wild hogs we kill in SC. Most hogs have plenty of fat in the meat. I trim away most of the excess.

I guess it is all a matter of taste.

guntotin_fool · November 9, 2006, 03:57 PM

One added thought, we often grind up "flavored" venison. We rough chunk the meat to be ground up and throw it in a plastic tub with some salt pepper and some other spices, (we buy some stuff called "petey's original") and add that, let the whole thing sit in the fridge for a while. When we grind it up we add some shredded onion too. Seems to work really well on older bucks and does that sometime have that gamey taste. Anyway we drop this in to paper tubes and tie the ends off. we generally freeze it in about 1 1/2 pound packs. We only add fat (suet) to the sausage mixes. the homemade brats are killer.

Capp35 · November 9, 2006, 07:53 PM

Ok here is a question maybe dumb to some of you, but........

How is the best way to make jerky?
Drying it, seasoning, ect.

Thanks

dan20703 · November 9, 2006, 08:05 PM

For jerky I now only use the "Jerky Cannon" with store bought mixes that have the cure with them. I sometimes add other seasonings like hot pepper, garlic, smoke flavoring, etc.
I never thought ground meat jerky would be any good until I tried it. Also makes good snack sticks.

swampdog · November 9, 2006, 09:08 PM

Capp35,

I don't know if there is a "best" way to make jerky. You can marinade it or dry season it before making. I do mine in the oven, but it's good cold smoked, too. I hang the pieces from the racks and put heavy foil in the bottom of the oven.

Here's a page with a bunch of recipes. I usually use Texas Pete instead of vinegar. The third one down by Doc is close to what I use.

Good Luck

Capp35 · November 9, 2006, 11:04 PM

How do you do it in the oven? I have an electric.
Or is there a fairly cheap smaller drier?

I see some use formed hamburger and some use sliced steak.
What usually turns out the best?

Could I use tenderized round steak cut into strips?

Thanks for the recipes.

swampdog · November 10, 2006, 11:42 PM

Quote:

How do you do it in the oven? I have an electric.

I usually hang marinaded strips from the oven racks. Cut the strips with the grain. Put the oven on warm, leave the door slightly cracked and check it in around 6 hours. I like mine chewy. If you leave it in too long, it gets real brittle. If you don't want to have to scrub your racks, you can lay it out on baking sheets. I think it dries quicker hanging on the racks and you can do more at once.

I've never tried round steak but london broil makes excellent jerky.

FirstFreedom · November 11, 2006, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Why take a lean meat like venison and grind beef fat into it? If you are frying it as hamburger just put some olive oil in the pan to keep it from sticking

+1. If you need to make hamburger patties, you can just put an egg into several pounds of meat, and this will keep it from falling apart.

rem33 · November 11, 2006, 10:52 AM

Different strokes for different folks I guess.
I find deer so lean and dry that a small amount beef fat vastly improves hamburger to me. Thats my personal taste and find that a small amount of suet doesn't' affect the taste. Another one I do on occasion is wrap a piece of bacon around a good deer/elk steak held in place with toothpicks before tossing it on the barbie. MMMMM good, personal again.

November 7, 2006, 10:12 PM	#1
VolFan9183 Member Join Date: October 11, 2005 Posts: 19	How Much Beef?? Hey folks- Finally bought a meat grinder at the end of last season, and got to try it out over the weekend on my first deer of this season. I really enjoyed using it, and can see this is going to add a lot of options to how I use the meat. I've almost always butchered my own deer for steaks, roasts, etc. I usually took one deer a year to the processor for hamburger/sausage. For this one, I added about 50% beef, basically because I wasn't sure how much to add. Any suggestions on how much you use? I'd like to get away with less than 50% if it will still work OK. While we're at it, what about pork when making sausage? Thanks, in advance, for the advice. Good hunting to all....

November 7, 2006, 11:50 PM	#3
FirstFreedom Junior member Join Date: May 31, 2004 Location: The Toll Road State, U.S.A. Posts: 12,451	deer burger I like it lean; I add nothing, and it tastes great. On sausage, the processor adds pork fat. I take it you got an electric one, not a hand-cranker?

November 8, 2006, 05:26 PM	#7
castnblast Senior Member Join Date: July 2, 2006 Location: Corpus Christi TX Posts: 1,148	Use the coarse grind feature for great chili. No beef necessary. For sausage, I use 33% by weight pork trimmings, which have some meat, they are not all fat. I grind it together, season then run it back throught the stuffer. I found a finder grind when you run it back through gives the sausage a much better consistancy. __________________ VEGETARIAN...old indian word for bad hunter

November 8, 2006, 08:56 PM	#10
dan20703 Member Join Date: May 20, 2006 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 36	I grind it up plain and freeze in 1 pound packs. Depending what I want to use it for I add either ground pork or beef at the time I am using it. Keeps better in the freezer that way. Also some things require no additives such as ground meat jerky. More options when packed and frozen plain. __________________ "It's all about shot placement" - David (Slayer of Goliath) "The gun is not the answer to all of your personal protection problems, but when you need a gun, you really need a gun."

November 8, 2006, 10:05 PM	#11
riddleofsteel Senior Member Join Date: January 18, 2000 Location: above ground Posts: 1,558	Why take a lean meat like venison and grind beef fat into it? If you are frying it as hamburger just put some olive oil in the pan to keep it from sticking. If you are making chili, meatballs, sauces or hamburger helper type meals you don't need the fat anyway. Ground deer sausage is good with some pork and spices ground with it. I use the fresh pork from picnic shoulders we get on sale at the store or from wild hogs we kill in SC. Most hogs have plenty of fat in the meat. I trim away most of the excess. I guess it is all a matter of taste. __________________ For him there was always the discipline of steel.

November 7, 2006, 11:25 PM	#2
rem33 Junior member Join Date: March 31, 2006 Posts: 1,528	We grind our own, all we add is suet ( beef fat) we get from the local Albertsons. We shoot for about %10 but we mix by looks and not measurement. Mix it as you grind, you can see what looks right. Never tried making sausage.

November 8, 2006, 03:57 AM	#4
mete Senior Member Join Date: June 14, 2004 Location: NY State Posts: 6,575	I usually use pork , 1/3 - 1/2 , and use the pork shoulder . Experiment , that's the advantage of a grinder. BTW I use the grinder attachment fo my Kitchen-Aid mixer, it works very well.

November 8, 2006, 10:34 AM	#5
Wild Bill Bucks Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2005 Location: Southeastern Oklahoma, Next door to Sasquatch Posts: 1,266	Only part I don't grind is the back strap. I mix it with 1/3 MILD pork sausage. This gives the meat a mildly seasoned flavor, without having to season while cooking. We make everything from Tacos to Italian food, with it. I take the back strap, and get it almost to the freezing point, and then run it through my slicer,( about 1/8" thick) Lay the strips out and put a little dressing (Like turkey dressing from Thanksgiving) on them, and roll the meat up around the dressing, with a toothpick to hold it together. In the oven for about 1/2 hour at 300 degrees. UUUUUUMMM ! Good.

November 8, 2006, 10:34 AM	#6
NRA4life Senior Member Join Date: July 26, 2001 Location: WA Posts: 183	I add about 20-25% of cheap beef hamburger to the pure ground venison. Plus I do leave some without the beef for stuff like chili or taco meat. For sausages like brats or polish that are not smoked, I add 50% pork butts to the venison. Any less and the sausage is too dry. For Salami and summer sausage, I just follow the recipes in the book I got from The Sausage Maker.

November 8, 2006, 07:16 PM	#8
swampdog Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2006 Location: Dismal Swamp, NC Posts: 338	I usually shoot for 10% beef suet, but only if I'm going to cook burgers on the grill. For chili, spaghetti, stroganoff and other ground "beef" uses, I don't add anything. Deer meat keeps better and longer, unground, so I usually grind it as I need it. I usually freeze about a 1/2 of a ham per package. When I thaw it out, I'll grind as much as I can use in a couple of days, maybe chunk some up for stew or chili and make jerky out of the rest. I usually grind all of the shoulders, but never the backstraps or inner loins. They're too good on the grill. Have Fun

November 8, 2006, 08:42 PM	#9
VolFan9183 Member Join Date: October 11, 2005 Posts: 19	Thanks for all the quick replies.... Sounds like I may have added too much beef on this first round, but hopefully there will be more to come. For those who asked, I got the small electric grinder from Bass Pro on sale. Seems to be plenty powerful for my needs.

November 9, 2006, 03:57 PM	#12
guntotin_fool Senior Member Join Date: November 18, 2004 Posts: 1,446	One added thought, we often grind up "flavored" venison. We rough chunk the meat to be ground up and throw it in a plastic tub with some salt pepper and some other spices, (we buy some stuff called "petey's original") and add that, let the whole thing sit in the fridge for a while. When we grind it up we add some shredded onion too. Seems to work really well on older bucks and does that sometime have that gamey taste. Anyway we drop this in to paper tubes and tie the ends off. we generally freeze it in about 1 1/2 pound packs. We only add fat (suet) to the sausage mixes. the homemade brats are killer.

November 9, 2006, 07:53 PM	#13
Capp35 Senior Member Join Date: May 2, 2006 Location: Lone Star State Posts: 198	Ok here is a question maybe dumb to some of you, but........ How is the best way to make jerky? Drying it, seasoning, ect. Thanks

November 9, 2006, 08:05 PM	#14
dan20703 Member Join Date: May 20, 2006 Location: Katy, Texas Posts: 36	For jerky I now only use the "Jerky Cannon" with store bought mixes that have the cure with them. I sometimes add other seasonings like hot pepper, garlic, smoke flavoring, etc. I never thought ground meat jerky would be any good until I tried it. Also makes good snack sticks. __________________ "It's all about shot placement" - David (Slayer of Goliath) "The gun is not the answer to all of your personal protection problems, but when you need a gun, you really need a gun."

November 9, 2006, 09:08 PM	#15
swampdog Senior Member Join Date: January 7, 2006 Location: Dismal Swamp, NC Posts: 338	Capp35, I don't know if there is a "best" way to make jerky. You can marinade it or dry season it before making. I do mine in the oven, but it's good cold smoked, too. I hang the pieces from the racks and put heavy foil in the bottom of the oven. Here's a page with a bunch of recipes. I usually use Texas Pete instead of vinegar. The third one down by Doc is close to what I use. Good Luck

November 9, 2006, 11:04 PM	#16
Capp35 Senior Member Join Date: May 2, 2006 Location: Lone Star State Posts: 198	How do you do it in the oven? I have an electric. Or is there a fairly cheap smaller drier? I see some use formed hamburger and some use sliced steak. What usually turns out the best? Could I use tenderized round steak cut into strips? Thanks for the recipes.

November 11, 2006, 10:52 AM	#19
rem33 Junior member Join Date: March 31, 2006 Posts: 1,528	Different strokes for different folks I guess. I find deer so lean and dry that a small amount beef fat vastly improves hamburger to me. Thats my personal taste and find that a small amount of suet doesn't' affect the taste. Another one I do on occasion is wrap a piece of bacon around a good deer/elk steak held in place with toothpicks before tossing it on the barbie. MMMMM good, personal again.