Noob assistance with meat question

[Okanagan]

Lotta good info here, from those who have been there and done it. 

Some recipes/uses of hamburger work better without fat, and some with some fat added.  I cut off all venison fat to avoid the sticky tallow texture it carries.  Hamburger patties need a little fat to hold together well, while most pasta and spaghetti sauces are better made of pure lean venison hamburger with no fat added.  The last couple of times I did all with 10-15% of pork fat added rather than make two kinds of hamburger.  I have the half horse Cabelas grinder. 

I am able to buy pork fat from a local butcher.  Last time I bought ten pounds or so at 60 cents a pound.  A package of cheap bacon would go a long way to add flavor and binding to pure lean venison hamburger. 

[fishngamereaper]

I like to get it all done at once... 10 percent pork into all ground..1lb bags and into the freezer....when I want a burger I want it now...

I add additional pork for summer sausage..  you need to get set up like this... processing meat is fun.

[WSU]

I also like to do it all at once so I only have to clean up once.

[DOUBLELUNG]

I butcher my own and cut the burger meat into strips and freeze them in 2-3 lb bags.  When I need ground meat, I usually buy some ground pork and grind about 2-3 parts  of the slightly thawed venison strips with 1 part pork.  I use a kitchen aid meat grinder attachment (only doing a few pounds at a time) and it works fine.  I think the attachment cost about $40.  We already had a Kitchen Aid mixer.  I have ground meat after 9 months in the freezer and it is as it was the day I froze it. 

I also use the Kitchenaid grinder attachment.  Timed it out of curiosity last month, took 40 minutes to run 23 lbs of clean venison strips.  Not incredibly efficient, but plenty efficient for one deer at a time.  Vacuum sealed in 2lb packs took another 20 minutes.

[The Weazle]

I started with that Cabelas pro grinder.  Did most of an elk in a weekend, and froze it in 5 pound bags using 2 gallon ziplocks.  Ran it all through the course grinder.  Then I started using hi mountain kits and using untrimmed pork butt for fat at a 4-1 ratio, then back through the grinder on the course plate again after the seasonings are mixed in.  Now I have a 1 HP grinder, 11 lb stuffer, burger patty maker, mixer, scale, and vacuum sealer.  I do bratwurst, summer sausage, snack sticks, burgers (I use bacon for fat in the burgers), and just burger with no fat for tacos, spaghetti, etc just use a little olive oil when cooking to keep it moist.

Now I use Spokane Spice or fresh sausage recipes from the internet, and I have only bought one piece of gear a year in leu of butcher fee's and have everything I need now, and am money ahead, and know everything going into my meat, and the care it receives from field to table.  I need to upgrade my vacuum sealer, but for now my friend has a vacmaster that he lets me use until I can shell out the $800 to get my own...my food saver has worked well, but its not meant for doing as much as I do now and the bag rolls are expensive as hell.  Buy your gear and spice kits off season and it really breaks it up, and you are ready when the meat hits the freezer.