Venison Burgers

Today I’m looking to mix our dinner routine up a bit. As dad of 5 kids, you can guess the requests that come in on the regular—spaghetti, pizza, shake and bake, chicken and squash.
As I looked through the freezer for an idea for lazy Sunday afternoon, I noticed I still have a bit of ground venison from the deer that was hit in front of me in February (jackpot!) as well as some ground pork from some hogs we raised in the summer time. Yep, Dad’s cookin and it’s burger time!

Living on a small hobby farm, there’s something really special about being able to raise your own animals. We just have a small little operation—pigs, chickens and goats (the goats are pets, not food). Although we don’t make any money off of what we sell, it’s nice to be able to know where your food is coming from.

So, here’s a recipe of the burgers I whipped up….

1.5 lbs of ground venison
.5 lbs of ground pork (most people will go 20% pork to 80% venison, but I like mine a bit more greasy)
2 eggs- freshly laid today
2 cloves garlic, chopped fine
dash of wash-yer-sister-sauce
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ cup applesauce
½ cup shredded cheese (your choice, I prefer blue but we did sharp cheddar this round)

Mix up your meat together until it is well incorporated. Then throw in your garlic, WYS sauce and brown sugar. Mix again. Crack the eggs in and the apple sauce and mix again. Then sprinkle the crumbs in until it is the right consistency and throw in your cheese. Remember—you are not making meatloaf, you are making burgers. The meat should just stick together but not form a brick. Make about 12 patties and sprinkle some salt on the tops.

Preheat oven to 375. You can do it on the bbq or frying pan but I find that the oven gives a nice even cook as my kids will complain if there is anything less than medium well. Aim to cook it medium well but if you like it med-rare, whatever floats your boat. It’ll take about 20-25 minutes in the oven. Throw your burgers on some nice crusty buns or whatever your choosing and top as you’d like it.

As October is already screaming away from me, I’m feeling the urge to get back out to the ground blind to secure some more venison for the freezer. To be truthful, I’ve only shot waterfowl and small game. There was a year i shot a nice buck during the rut but it was gut shot and never recovered. I still have nightmares about that one. Seeing the deer hit by a car in front of me on my drive in February was a lucky day. So Here’s hoping lady luck brings me another year wild game in the ice box.

Enjoy.

Good luck and thanks for sharing your recipe.

Cheers

Sounds good, hope you post a photo of the finished product.

It sounds like an awesome recipe for Spaghetti and venison meatballs.

Try putting crumbled blue cheese in the middle or a slice of blue on top. I also use Cajun seasoning in mine, the real stuff (Tony Chachere’s).

Roe+