Elk burger - beef suet or pork fat?
Contributors to this thread:Elk
From: JDM
26-Aug-18
I know it's premature, but if I should be lucky enough to arrow an elk, when making burger since it's so lean, what fat do you add to keep it together, pork or beef? Does it flavor the meat much?
From: Michael
26-Aug-18
Last year the locker I used in Wyoming added beef fat. I didn’t think it changed the flavor.
From: JakeBrake
26-Aug-18
If it were me and you or your meat guys knows how...I’d make Italian sausage with pork
From: Adventurewriter
26-Aug-18
I use olive oil...
From: WV Mountaineer
26-Aug-18
Yep. No need in adding animal fat.
From: Mossyhorn
26-Aug-18
Beef fat is for burger and pork for sausage.
From: dirtclod Az.
26-Aug-18
Sage pork sausage
From: PushCoArcher
26-Aug-18
I do the same as Mossyhorn. But if I had to choose one it'd be pork.
From: Kurt
26-Aug-18
No fat, does not keep as long with fat added. We grind 100% lean. If we want burgers off the grill we mix in a bit of olive oil and Worcestershire sauce. We have excellent burger meat that was ground 100% lean and vacuumn packed 3 or 4 years ago.
From: Huntcell
26-Aug-18
All natural, naturally <•••••••<<<<< €
From: BullBuster
27-Aug-18
Add Fat!! I go 10% beef or 8% pork. Prefer oinker.
From: weekender21
27-Aug-18
I've used beef kidney fat and pork fat in the past but I typically don't add any fat to ground venison anymore. The only exception is for making burgers; I'll add 30% smoked bacon to my venison that I plan to make burgers with. It's amazing.
From: BULELK1
27-Aug-18
Beef for elk
Pork for Antelope
Good luck, Robb
From: 320 bull
27-Aug-18
I freeze it without adding anything. If I want to make burgers I will shred a little pork kidney fat in and mix it in with the seasoning. Cheese grater works great. The other bonus to having a stick of kidney fat in the freezer is rubbing it on the grill grate once warm. Works great for me I call it the fat crayon.
From: Vids
27-Aug-18
I've tried both and preferred the flavor of pork fat in both burger and sausage. I like to keep it lean, so I only add 6% to burger and 15% to sausage. Just need to be careful not to dry out the sausage when smoking it.
From: TrapperKayak
27-Aug-18
No fat at all here. Just lean meat. When I make the burger, I add Italian bread crumbs, diced mushrooms, onion, green pepper maybe, and seasonings. Touch of olive oil, and she holds together just fine. Fat is why I don't eat as much beef or any pork. Animal fat clogs arteries and I want to LIVE, baby!
From: Bigdan
27-Aug-18
15% pork for me & my Family the meat cutter I use had never used pork before only beef now 75% of his orders are pork
From: carcus
27-Aug-18
I've used pork in the past, I will use it again, its fact now that animal fat doesn't clog arteries, its the shitty carbs that cause coronary artery disease
From: NoWiser
27-Aug-18
We have great luck with 15% pork fat for our burger. It always turns out great. I don't want to have to worry about adding oil, egg, bread, etc. when it comes time to throwing burgers on the grill.
From: Ski & Skin
27-Aug-18
No fat at all for me. I don't want to taint the meat with fat from pigs or cows.
From: PECO
27-Aug-18
We process ourselves, and do not add fat at time of processing. Olive oil when browning for pasta, chile, or Mexican food. For burgers we add diced up bacon mixed in with meat, and brush with olive oil before slapping them on the grill. If we make sausage, we add pork butt.
From: Ermine
27-Aug-18
Strait elk for me. Why add in beef and pork into wonderful elk? Burgers hold up just fine strait
From: KHunter
27-Aug-18
no fat. as other stated. absolutley not necessary. I add olive oil or sometimes add egg and bread crumbs to make a more cohesive, richer tasting burger.
Same with sausage, I buy suasage spices amd mix into no-fat-added burger when I want sausage patties. fast, easy, tastier, and cheap! the markup to have a processor make bulk sausage is absurd.
I guess the corner I cut is paying to have a great butcher cut up my elk for me as that is more chore than I want but I do the smaller animals.
From: c3
27-Aug-18
I'm with the 15% pork fat crowd. Add some minced green olives and it's the tastiest burgers you'll ever BBQ !!!
Cheers, Pete
From: dave K
27-Aug-18
I add smoked bacon to my burger. about 10-12% for a lean burger with no fat in skillet when I cook, but taste awesome..
From: Outdoorsdude
27-Aug-18
X3-- Bacon! or beef tallow-not capping fat.
From: South Farm
27-Aug-18
We add no fat, but at grill time we do add a couple slices of bacon to each burger. For what the local markets charge for beef fat these days it'd be cheaper to buy fillet mignon!
From: JusPassin
27-Aug-18
My wife and I live on Elk and White Tail year round. We add no fat at all and prefer the lean texture.
From: painless
27-Aug-18
5% beef tallow
From: bowbender77
27-Aug-18
Pork !
From: x-man
27-Aug-18
5% pork or beef for burger (depends on what's cheapest that year.) 15% pork for cured link sausage. Note: I don't buy fat, I'll buy the chubs of 70/30 ground beef and add it to the ground venison. Same goes for the pork. I'll buy plain ground pork and side pork to mix with the ground venison for making sausage. I used to use bacon, but it seems to be too dry that way.
We use ground meat for our jerky, and it is ground straight with nothing added.
From: TD
27-Aug-18
Most grinds I add nothing, we make a lot of tacos and such with crumbled meat, meatloaf, etc. . Burger I add pork belly. Makes great burgers. Have a new dbl. burger press and #6 disher (large ice cream scoop) I just got. Can't wait to try it out.
From: Cheesehead Mike
27-Aug-18
10% beef suet
From: Ucsdryder
27-Aug-18
This is making me think. I’ve done both, but never considered neither. Would the best of both worlds be to make 30% of it with beef suet for burgers and the rest pure for crumbled meat such as tacos?
From: Bowboy
27-Aug-18
I add nothing 100% pure elk burger.
From: squid
27-Aug-18
Add nothing. To me it defeats the purpose. If I want beef, I'll buy beef. If I want pork, I'll by pork.
From: Cheesehead Mike
28-Aug-18
To each there own. I prefer 10% beef suet because it adds a little moisture and helps the meat bind together better. Family, friends and girlfriend like it better that way too...
