How We Grind Venison Meat

This is just another suggestion on how to grind up your deer meat this season if you process it yourself.

I know that everyone has a personal preference, a tradition that they were raised with and of course a palate that is unique to each individual.

We like to reference our burger by A or B grinds as well as Single verses Double grinds. We also label our ground burger based on what section it came from on the animal: front quarter, back quarter, neck and rib meat…etc. This allows us to have more flexibility when cooking so each pound of ground is just a little different in flavor and texture.

I utilize all edibles from every harvest when I can. We separate, wash and dry each cut. We package the steaks, roasts, backstraps and tenderloins first. Then we grind.

I use a ratio of 10/90 or 10% beef fat to 90% venison. Be sure to use a scale when portioning the fat to the meat. You can always add more if needed, but of course cannot remove if you’ve added too much. Also, be sure to grind your fat first before grinding with your game meat. You’ll find that the fat is more evenly distributed.

And just a quick note, don’t overlook the neck meat. Yes, it’s lean and when ground can tend to have a consistency of ground chicken or pork, but boy-o-boy is it flavorful. If you have the time, utilize every piece down to the windpipe. You’ll yield more in your freezer and it’s truly delicious when used in tacos, enchiladas, meatloaf or simply browned and served with gravy and mashed potatoes.

AFTER GRINDING THE WILD GAME MEAT

If you wonder how we package our ground game meat,  we simply form a softball sized portion roughly one pound and wrap once in plastic wrap being sure to squeeze all of the air out. Then we wrap a second time. We then label a freezer bag ‘His’ or ‘Hers’, the year, the grind type and stick 4 into each freezer bag sealing tightly. That’s TRIPLE protection right there! Of course it’s a little time consuming, but that’s what friends are for… not to mention, in our experience it’ll last up to 24 months without freezer burn. ~ Happy Processing… Kristy

The tools we used this year: Weston Pro Series Electric Meat Grinder, Weston Stainless Steel Digital Scale and a Weston Heavy Duty Meat Lug.