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Thread: Ground Ratio's

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2021
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    49

    Ground Ratio's

    Alright let's hear from the veterans. Nog especially, please offer your advice.

    So I'm a little late to the game, learning how to hunt in my late 40's has been fun but challenging. I'm still not a fan of the killing part but once it's on the ground I'm as excited as a kid on the weekend. I just can't wait to start processing.

    Last season was my first season and I got a deer followed by a bear this spring. I've also been fortunate to be a part of my son's harvesting 2 bear and 2 deer. In addition to that many grouse, ducks, and geese have come through our door.

    In addition to steaks and roasts I am set up to grind and stuff and have made pepperoni, summer sausage, salami, breakfast and dinner sausages, as well as smokies. Some were recipes I found online, some were my own concoction, and a lot are from Stuffer's. Currently I'm doing all my ground products including our ground for spaghetti, burgers etc as a ratio of 50% game, 25% pork, and 25% fatty beef (usually brisket. I have done this by design as I need my wife to be on board with eating game. With the kids out of the house my hunting days will be over very fast if my wife won't eat it. So far we have all been very happy with the results and I'd like to up the ratios this year. What are other's doing? Is 75% game reasonable or should I work up to that over a couple of season's.

    Thanks for any advice offered.
    Brian

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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Posts
    17

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    I, and the wife, really prefer 100% game. Butchers I know, recommend pork fat, or pork meat, if you must add anything.

  4. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2021
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    49

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    Quote Originally Posted by Model 70 View Post
    I, and the wife, really prefer 100% game. Butchers I know, recommend pork fat, or pork meat, if you must add anything.
    Thanks for that. Hopefully I'll get close to that. Maybe not 100% as I like a little fat in my ground. I have heard of butchers adding pork or pork fat for years but more recently I heard a butcher talking about switching to beef. I've tried it both ways and am currently doing 50/50 but I'm leaning more towards beef as my additional meat. We don't eat a lot of pork so beef is simply more familiar to us.

  5. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2022
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    1,902

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    I have done this by design as I need my wife to be on board with eating game.
    depending on what the barrier is

    theres no right or wrong, adjust as you feel necessary and find what works best
    burger can be pure lean or fatty-dripping-off-the-elbows, sausage too
    Glad to say I have hunted Northern BC

    Simon Fraser had pretty good judgement on what he found in BC

  6. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2021
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    49

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    Quote Originally Posted by high horse Hal View Post
    depending on what the barrier is

    theres no right or wrong, adjust as you feel necessary and find what works best
    burger can be pure lean or fatty-dripping-off-the-elbows, sausage too
    The barrier is purely psychological. Over the years we've tried sausage, snack sticks etc that hunter friends have had made and it was always good. However, every time we have been given some VI deer steaks they have been pretty bad. Really gamey, smelled bad straight out of the freezer. I'm not a fussy eater and can usually get used to most things but those steaks were pretty off putting.

    When my boys decided to make a hunter out of me I was determined to approach this in a slow and steady matter. So far so good. I don't place any blame on the hunters that were so kind to give us some meat, I'm sure it was my preparation that ruined it. Now that we he have gotten on board with sous vide we find steaks and roasts to be delicious.

    Perhaps I'll give some straight game with a little added fat a go this year in a few lbs of ground. I probably won't feed it to my wife until I know we will like it.

  7. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
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    region 9
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    11,528

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    Quote Originally Posted by Model 70 View Post
    I, and the wife, really prefer 100% game. Butchers I know, recommend pork fat, or pork meat, if you must add anything.
    Same here, game meat is lean but my wife and I have been cooking with 100% game in our ground for years, love the taste and its very healthy..

    But, when making sausage with game the odd time, I usually make it with 20% pork..

  8. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Posts
    304

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    I go for between 20-30 percent when making sausage but 100 % game when grinding for burger or spag unless its a rutty buck and needs to be cut down. Matt (iron noggin) is a wealth of knowledge but I would also recommend checking out hank shaw online. https://honest-food.net/cured-meat/fresh-sausages/. He has a blog around wild game and several wild game cook books that offer up plenty of ideas you can play with, I have his buck buck moose one and it serves me well. The best part about hunting is playing with recipes in the kitchen and finding things that work for you. My greatest joy as a hunter is serving up a great wild game dinner with a nice bottle of red wine to family or friends who are hesitant about wild game and change their minds. The trophy is just as much about the horns on the wall as it is the product on the plate in the kitchen and enjoying it with loved ones.

  9. #8
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Posts
    1,769

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    I remember a butcher years ago suggesting to me that pork fat will not last as long as beef fat in the freezer. He said if you are going to consume all your burger within 6 months of processing then either fat type is good. But if you think that the meat will be frozen longer than that beef fat is a better option. He suggested pork fat will degrade more quickly than beef fat when frozen.

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Feb 2018
    Posts
    429

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    For straight burger grind I go 100% pure game meat. For sausage it’s somewhere between 20-30% fat added (pork or beef) depending on the recipe.

    With the ground meat it then depends how you are cooking it. You can always add fat back in. Making hamburgers? Mix in 10% fat to make them juicy (or do this at the grind and earmark for burger patties).

    if you’re making a spaghetti meat sauce, lasagna, or taco mix you can add back in some fat with extra butter/bacon/lard, but generally you don’t need to. In heavy tomato sauces I challenge you to taste the difference between bear, venison, or beef. It’s also nice you are not “draining” off all the liquid when you cook with extra lean meat. That’s just all the fat and water rendering out of the ground beef anyway.

    once you get used to the pure lean meat it’s hard to go back to ground beef. I literally cannot stand the smell of it cooking compared to game meat. (Still like my beef steaks though).

  11. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2021
    Posts
    49

    Re: Ground Ratio's

    Thanks for the suggestions. I guess I'll have to give straight game a go.

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