Elk Grind Mix? & %

[h2ofowlr]

For those that grind your own elk burger what do you like to mix in it if you add other meat to it?  Beef or pork fat?  Or pork shoulder?  If so, what percentage do you add?  90/10, 80/20, 75/25, 70/30?

[jkononen]

10-15% haggen beef fat. Can't go wrong.

[Fidelk]

Haven't ground my own and I tell the butcher just to grind it and not add any fat. I do this since it mostly gets frozen and I figure it will last longer frozen without the added fat. Fat can be ground and added to the game meat when you are ready to cook.

[PsoasHunter]

We add beef brisket from cash and carry.  Anywhere from 1:4 to 1:6 ratio depending on the size of briskets we end up with and the amount of deer and elk we're grinding at the end of the season. I haven't noticed much difference in the taste in variation of the ratio.

[WSU]

I don't mix anything.  We use it for tacos, etc.  If I want to add beef to make burgers or something that needs to bind, I do it when I thaw it (which is almost never).

[carlyoungs]

I don't add any for elk. For deer usually 3/4 deer 1/4 pork shoulder

[jason stevens]

We tried something different this year. Try adding Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage at 40 percent. It's delicious

[Bullkllr]

I don't mix anything.  We use it for tacos, etc.  If I want to add beef to make burgers or something that needs to bind, I do it when I thaw it (which is almost never).

 , pertinear exactly.

[lewy]

We keep it pretty lean, 5-10% for burger. For brats it’s 50/50 clean venison trim to pork butt.

[highside74]

For burger I do 40lbs batches of elk grind to 5-7ish pounds of beef suet. I call my local Safeway and talk to the meat cutter. Most of the time if I call ahead and give them a day or 2 it's free. This year it was $1 per pound. But I think that was because the gal that packaged it didn't know it was going to be scraps. They ended up giving me 2 packs no cost and 1 I paid for.

For sausage I buy a fatty pork butt from the U.S. Foods Chefs Store and grind that into 25lbs or so pounds of elk and spices.

[Sundance]

10% pork fat added for burger.

[Buckjunkie]

Elk is a straight grind with nothing added. For deer my first choice is to add prime steak fat trimmings at 10-15%. 2nd Choice is the most fatty pork shoulder I can find at the same %.

We tried cheap bacon for a couple years, but it got old. I love bacon, but some dishes don’t benefit from bacon.

[HntnFsh]

15% pork suet. We
 Love it.

[lokidog]

Nada! Why ruin the flavor with additives? Growing up, my parents always did 1 part lean pork shoulder to 4 parts venison. I've never found the need to add fat besides for pepperoni or summer sausage.

[h2ofowlr]

I did straight grind last year.  It was good.  I just was told adding pork shoulder made it even better.  We will find out.  I did 20% this evening.  So, hopefully it turned out good.  Local butcher I spoke with said he typically does 30% pork shoulder for his elk and it's killer.  We will find out.