Processing Venison

[Okie Boarder]

So, how many of you grind your own venison? We have a lot of the deer we just got that is cut and ready to be used as hamburger. What do you mix in? What grinder do you use / recommend?

[eeven73]

I don't have anything to add in regards to your question.

However my neighbor did gut the deer he shot yesterday in the dirt of his garden and buried the innards probably 2 feet deep. I asked him if he was concerned about his dogs digging up the innards. He didn't respond.

[vette74]

I have never done it before. I always take mine to the processor. From what friends have told me is to take a couple of recipes, mix enough to make one link of sausage then grind it, stuff it, cook it and see how it tastes right then if you like it finish off the rest of the deer.

[chavez]

eeven73, That is going to be one disgusting mess!

Okie Boarder, i have a Waring 105 that does a really good job with chicken, but couldn't speak to venison.

[NKCrider]

i take mine to the butcher usually ~$50 cut and wrapped to my requests

[Okie Boarder]

chavez, I'd bet it does good with any meat. I'll check it out.

NKCrider, so you just take the game meat and tell them how to grind it up, and with what?

[eeven73]

Okie Boarder,

Lots of people will mix in beef to cover the gameiness. There are opinions all over the web on percentages. It really boils down to trial and error, and frankly alot will depend on the animal you shot and how it was handled.

[jt09]

the guy you want to answer this is out on a big hunt right now - jryoung.

[Okie Boarder]

I was wondering why I didn't see a response from him. I'm hoping he does well and looking forward to a thread about his trip.

[jryoung]

I have a 3/4 HP grinder from Cabelas (their commercial grade line)....and it may just be a bit too much. Not really

If you are going to do this a lot, with game and even domestic it is worth it, it just saves time as you can process a lot faster. The added bonus is that not only do you save time, for most sausage recipes they all call for the meat to be borderline frozen so speedy grinding is key.

I've heard a lot of guys say the grinder to their Kitchen Aid does great, but ours struggled the one time we tried it. If you have a piece of neck meat or shanks that have a lot of sinew and tendons they'll give the grinder a workout.

Most any grinder will get it done though, it's just how long you want it to take.

I prefer to at pork backfat to my ground meat. 10-15%ish for straight ground meat closer to 20-25% for sausages.

[jt09]

happy bday jr! you get anything? saw the pic of your bud - impressive!

[Okie Boarder]

Thanks. I'll check out the Cabelas unit.

A friend from work sent me this link...kinda considering the #1 rated unit in this list.

http://top10thebest.com/top-10-best-electric-meat-grinders-reviews/

[Okie Boarder]

I went with that #1 grinder: http://www.amazon.com/STX-INTERNATIONAL-STX-3000-TF-Turboforce-Attachment/dp/B0012KJBR0/ref=as_sl_pc_ss_til?tag=botht10tb-20&linkCode=w01&linkId=TZUWFNQLK373YRDQ&creativeASIN=B0012KJBR0

I really didn't want to spend more than $200 and this one seemed like it would do a good job within that budget. It showed up yesterday so I got my venison ground up. Most of it I just ground by itself, but I did do some with some bacon ends and bits for burgers on the grill. I may try mixing some other things in later, but for now I'm going to try it straight in things like tacos, and spaghetti. I ground up around 25# of meat yesterday and the grinder worked very well.

[Okie Boarder]

chavez, do you just grind your chicken plain or do you add anything? I may do some chicken and use it in place of beef in a couple recipes.