bacon in burger question
General Topic
For you guys grinding bacon into your burger, what ratio are you using? Do you use grocery store prepackaged bacon from the refrigerated aisle? I'd like to try it. Thanks.
I do 10% regular bacon. Yummy!!
Matt
I've done it afterwards, by just dicing up and mixing in bacon with defrosted burger. Maybe 4-5 strips per pound of burger, so i'd imagine Grey Ghost is probably about right.
I get those 3 or 4 lb packs of thick sliced, hickory smoked bacon from the Wallymartin. I slice those up in maybe 3/4" pieces and feed the pieces with the meat going down the grinder neck. Just about every piece of meat will have some bacon going down with it. I don't have a mixer so that is how I do it. As long as I'm consistent feeding the bacon, it mixes up pretty well.
You can never go wrong with bacon. I do about 20% bacon
Save your bacon grease. When mixing up your burgers add one tablespoon melted fat per pound. You already paid for that, so it’s like it’s free.
Best price for bacon at Walmart is the 3lb bits and pieces pack. Usually about half the price of regular strips. Perfect for mixing in to burger.
One 3 lb pkg of ends and pieces from the bacon isle per 30 lbs of wild game grind.
I also put a dab of bacon fat on game steaks just as they come off the grill. Cover with foil on a warmed plate to rest a few minutes.
1 - fry 3 - 1/2 pieces of bacon in pan
2 - Remove bacon - add venison burger to bacon grease in pan
3 - Cook burger, turn only once
4 - Add cheese and the 3 pieces of bacon to top of burger - let melt
5 - Enjoy
Wow why have you guys been hiding this? I have ground the bacon in through the grinded, loved it.
but I've been missing out on tons of other great ideas. dang.
And here I have been dumping bacon grease in the old rotten stump in the backyard for years. It provides for some cool pictures, and keeps the ants in one central location. hehe
oz
Ambush are you originally from the south? I thought everyone kept their bacon grease for cooking!
For burger I use fresh pork butts. I get them at a local store called 10Box for about a dollar a pound. Way cheaper than bacon and makes for great burger. I usually add 20% because it is not all fat.
For burgers I add "bacon". What ratio? Don't really measure, depends on what I have available, how much I'm grinding and what I feel like. I'd guess 10 to 20% but I've never measured it.
For ground meat like for tacos or meatloaf or other things I just use straight ground with nothing added. I only add bacon for burgers. For that it normally goes from the grinder (ground twice mixes it up real good too) right into the burger press. Use a "portioner" scoop, #6 white handle makes a near perfect 1/3 lb patty. The press seals each patty with no air in plastic wrap and from there to freezer zip locks and into the freezer.
Costco normally has slabs of pork bellies for good prices and quantities. Works great.
For burger patties, I grind the bacon and mix it in with the ground venison at 25%. Get the cheapest bacon you can find, as it usually has the most fat.
Tacos, pasta, soups, etc. no bacon is added.
if you have an iga in your area you can get Hatfield bacon ends in 10# boxes & they actually come from Hatfield in a 20# box with 2 10# boxes inside. this is your best bet. & we have actually gotten away from useing bacon & now buy pork shoulder when on sale usually less than 1.00$ per # as for ratios we put roughly 10 #s pork be it bacon or Boston butt to 40#s venison this is enough to give good sizzle when cooked
3 lb. bacon ends and pieces / 10 lb. venison.
I will agree that EVERYTHING taste better with bacon or bacon grease on or in it. but the reason we switched from bacon to pork shoulder is the nitrates I'm 58 with 3 stints in my heart & one heart attack was enough for me
I don't use bacon. It's way too expensive vs using a pork shoulder for the exact same effect. Basically a 20 to 25 lbs pork shoulder will do most of the burger from a cow elk at about 15%.
Next time you're cutting up an elk, buy a pork shoulder roast, get a third of it sliced into 1/2" thick steaks and the rest you use at 15% in your elk burger.
Take the steaks, sprinkle a bit of Montreal steak seasoning and BBQ hot and fast. You'll never buy a pork chop again after doing pork shoulder steaks. For you burger mix, dice up some green olives to mix in and you'll never want any other burger ever. Plus you'll never need to do bacon again for your elk burger either. Not that bacon is bad, it's just a bit more expensive than the equally amazing pork shoulder roast :)
Just my $0.02 on pork and elk combo's
Cheers, Pete
Thanks guys. I have ground a lot with pork fat and pork shoulders in the past. Currently I do all my grind straight game meat unless I'm making sausage. I have about 30 lbs of deer to be ground and since everyone always talks about grinding with bacon I'm going to try it, since I never did it. Not going to do all 30lbs, maybe just a 5lb batch with bacon and 8lbs of it will go for the sausage recipe.
We then patty some in 1/4lb size using the Cabelas press and freeze the rest in 1.5 lb packages.
Don't bother with a grocery store for your bacon grind, you will be paying way too much. Go to your local butcher and buy bacon scraps. It will be mostly fat and will cost way less.
Go to your local locker plant and get scrap beef or pork fat. Some will give it to you and some will charge up to 50 cents a pound in my neck of the woods. I mix 10% fat with the meet. I use pork for any type of sausage and beef for the rest.
