My mom has a nice electric grinder she is not using anymore so next year I am going to make my own burger besides paying $1 to have it ground and fat added. My question is how much beef fat should I mix per pound of deer burger? I want to say my guy usually puts 3-5 pound per 20# of deer which is usually what I take him out of these little TN I kill.

The mature doe I killed last week all fit into a walmart sack and the meat to be ground weighed 17.5#. The young buck yesterday weighed gave me 19.85# to grind and all fit into one walmart sack. They might have went 100# each. Thats alot of burger, but we eat it in everything now.

Where is the best place to get some freezer bags to package it in?

I believe it's usually about 20% of the weight. 20lbs of burger would warrant 4 pounds of beef fat. Some one else may confirm that but I believe thats right.

Next question, can I just go get some beef fat and freeze it until I need it in like 4# packages? Will a place like piggly wiggly have it if I ask for it?

That I don't know. Question I would have is what kind of consistency would thawed beef fat have and how well would it mix? You know like when you defrost hamburger meat in the microwave and it won't stick together because the fat and beef changed consistency?

I think Buck's processing up your way sells beef fat. I use them for all my deer and hogs.

Thats who I use, I will talk to him when I pick this batch up.

Scottie is good people for sure. Sometimes I feel bad on the prices he charges.

I don't add any fat to deer burger.

X2

Turk-Grind some up and put bacon in there with it. It is some of the best tasting burger you have ever eaten in your life. I don't know the percentage of bacon my processor adds to my deer meat, but it is juicy and does not dry out when grilled for burgers. The BGE helps alot on keeping it moist and yummy!!

I would invest in a vacuum sealer instead of freezer bags. Keeps stuff at least twice as long. Or at least it has for me.

I usually shoot for 10-15% by weight. Its really up to your preference. You can go to your local grocery store and talk to the meat market guys and ask them to save you some fat. Sometimes it may take them a day or two but never been a problem for me. It costs me 0.25/lb from winn dixie.

A buddy of mine has a deer processing place and he likes get a bunch of fat, freeze it, the run it through the coarse plate while still frozen. It wont gum up in the grinder that way and comes out in nice size pellets. Puts it back in the freezer and takes out what he needs in the future.

Check your PM.

I have my processor add 10% beef fat and it is perfect.

x3

For comparison's sake, here are your average beef equivalents. These numbers are approximate.

Ground "beef" = 25% fat
Ground Chuck = 20%
Ground Round = 15%
Ground Sirloin = 10%
Extra lean ground beef = 7%

Lance aka DeerMan in MS?

x2 on the bacon, adds flavor that will make you slap your momma. I use a 3:1 venison to bacon ratio when I grind.

I made deer snack sticks and sausage with 40% smoked bacon ends and Backwoods seasoning and let me tell you ITS Good!

This is what I do, I get bacon ends and pieces pre packed. Really good bacon flavor with 3 or 4:1 but not overwhelming. Makes some damn fine chili too.

i did 70 lbs all total; some just ground deer, some with 10% beef fat; some with 20% boston butt and seasoning(breakfast) ,some 40% boston butt and sesoning link and ground(smoked some of this)
40% smoked bacon deer burger and 40% bacon jalapeno snack stiks and linked.Time consuming but worth it