My first Fallow burgers

[75]

As above - fat not liquid for moisture when cooked

 

[FilipRugby]

Ok i will keep that in my mind. Thank you

 

[GlennUK]

It must have been a truly exquisite feast.

I join the question above about roast haunch!

Have to be honest, having shot, gralloched, skinned and butchered the deer (which was all new to me), i did wonder how it would feel to eat 'Bambi'. I thought my wife/son would be wary, but no one was and we have enjoyed the 1st batch.

My wife used some the cubes from 1st time to make chilli and other dishes.

We were talking about the haunch Saturday as i was 'butchering' the carcass wondering how good they are.

 

[Gameking]

Check out the FOOD PORN thread as this will give you loads of inspiration for all things Venison .

 

[FilipRugby]

Have to be honest, having shot, gralloched, skinned and butchered the deer (which was all new to me), i did wonder how it would feel to eat 'Bambi'. I thought my wife/son would be wary, but no one was and we have enjoyed the 1st batch.

My wife used some the cubes from 1st time to make chilli and other dishes.

We were talking about the haunch Saturday as i was 'butchering' the carcass wondering how good they are.

Tbh I would never thought about Bambi when i was shooting but from now on i will remeber that

 

[FilipRugby]

Check out the FOOD PORN thread as this will give you loads of inspiration for all things Venison .

Yeah definitelly will check this out. Thank you

 

[Mike1979]

Have to be honest, having shot, gralloched, skinned and butchered the deer (which was all new to me), i did wonder how it would feel to eat 'Bambi'. I thought my wife/son would be wary, but no one was and we have enjoyed the 1st batch.

My wife used some the cubes from 1st time to make chilli and other dishes.

We were talking about the haunch Saturday as i was 'butchering' the carcass wondering how good they are.

If you dealt with the conflict of shooting bambi in the first place the butchering and eating side should have been easy

Personally the biggest issue with any wild meat is how well (or badly) its cooked. There are loads of different cuts in the haunch so depends on what you want to do but as for roast haunch..cooked well its lovely

 

[VSS]

The key to keeping them juicy is the same as for keeping sausages juicy - you have to vigorously mix the meat as this helps develop the collagen and will make the mix sticky.
If you do this then when you cook them the meat holds together and doesn’t crumble plus you can seal in the moisture, a bit like with a steak.

No. This is not the case with burgers. You are not trying to make sausagemeat. Avoid vigorous mixing at all costs. Burgers should have an open texture, and not be rubbery when cooked.
That is exactly what I did wrong when I started. I just couldn't get the texture right. So I phoned Scott Rea for some advice. And he was right. Don't mix vigorously. Just gently, by hand, enough to incorporate all the ingredients, then run the mixture through the mincer again as I described earlier.

 

[GlennUK]

If you dealt with the conflict of shooting bambi in the first place the butchering and eating side should have been easy

Personally the biggest issue with any wild meat is how well (or badly) its cooked. There are loads of different cuts in the haunch so depends on what you want to do but as for roast haunch..cooked well its lovely

My experience prior to gralloching two fallow was previous experience with rabbits/pheasants, and never have been shown, i can say i made a real hash of things, it s not pleasant.

It was only when i got my first chance to witness 1st hand a gralloch properly executed that i realised it didn't have to be like that.

My wife found it odd cutting up the deer on Saturday, finding the meat still warm to the touch, this stalking malarky has given us a few new experiences we have not had before. But we will still be eating them!

 

[GlennUK]

No. This is not the case with burgers. You are not trying to make sausagemeat. Avoid vigorous mixing at all costs. Burgers should have an open texture, and not be rubbery when cooked.
That is exactly what I did wrong when I started. I just couldn't get the texture right. So I phoned Scott Rea for some advice. And he was right. Don't mix vigorously. Just gently, by hand, enough to incorporate all the ingredients, then run the mixture through the mincer again as I described earlier.

Thats interesting, twice minced for burgers.

We have some natural casings ands a risk/mix and were planning on making sausages next time, i had assumed that it would be better to use the medium disc for mincing, any thoughts?

 

[Mike1979]

My experience prior to gralloching two fallow was previous experience with rabbits/pheasants, and never have been shown, i can say i made a real hash of things, it s not pleasant.

It was only when i got my first chance to witness 1st hand a gralloch properly executed that i realised it didn't have to be like that.

My wife found it odd cutting up the deer on Saturday, finding the meat still warm to the touch, this stalking malarky has given us a few new experiences we have not had before. But we will still be eating them!

Sorry mate, my comments were a little tongue in cheek. I think its much better when you know where you food comes from

To be fair we all have to learn and the best way is hands on. Im lucky that the boss is happy to get hands on with the gralloch and the cutting which is brilliant. The issue with people who do it all the time is that they make it look so damn easy...and then you feel a right tool for taking a day to do a bad job of cutting the animal up

I still find that I have good days where I can do a quick (for me) gralloch and then days where its a farce...but when it goes wrong we can always say "its the experience not the outcome"...tosh

 

[FilipRugby]

No. This is not the case with burgers. You are not trying to make sausagemeat. Avoid vigorous mixing at all costs. Burgers should have an open texture, and not be rubbery when cooked.
That is exactly what I did wrong when I started. I just couldn't get the texture right. So I phoned Scott Rea for some advice. And he was right. Don't mix vigorously. Just gently, by hand, enough to incorporate all the ingredients, then run the mixture through the mincer again as I described earlier.

Ok so i will stick to that one.

 

[FilipRugby]

Sorry mate, my comments were a little tongue in cheek. I think its much better when you know where you food comes from

To be fair we all have to learn and the best way is hands on. Im lucky that the boss is happy to get hands on with the gralloch and the cutting which is brilliant. The issue with people who do it all the time is that they make it look so damn easy...and then you feel a right tool for taking a day to do a bad job of cutting the animal up

I still find that I have good days where I can do a quick (for me) gralloch and then days where its a farce...but when it goes wrong we can always say "its the experience not the outcome"...tosh

"It's experience not the outcome" i like that

 

[shakey jake]

My recipe is really simple:
Venison
Chopped fresh rosemary, thyme and flat leaf parsley
Salt and pepper
Dijon mustard

The key to keeping them juicy is the same as for keeping sausages juicy - you have to vigorously mix the meat as this helps develop the collagen and will make the mix sticky.
If you do this then when you cook them the meat holds together and doesn’t crumble plus you can seal in the moisture, a bit like with a steak.

Adding other things like pork, apricots, etc wil definitely enhance the above, but if you want to keep it strictly venison then do give it

Isnt it myosin a protein bond that makes sausages sticky?
I would avoid this with a burger.
Minced meat, maybe some fat and season just before cooking.

 

[Mike1979]

"It's experience not the outcome" i like that

Polite version of "i've f****d up" or "what a s**t day" but best put a constructive spin on these things

I did my DSC2 recently and really enjoyed learning a few new things...makes a change to learn something about something you enjoy rather than stuff for work Always nice to be shown how to do it properly...and as early as possible to avoid you doing in the difficult way for years.

If your shooting fallow or bigger get yourself an electric winch...god they make life so much easier. I have one in the barn and can reverse under it. lift deer out for gralloch and skinning etc. One other thing I love is a plasterers tub. fits a fallow in nicely and stops them bleeding all over the back of my pickup..cheaper then a fancy deer tray and stronger.

 

[TringSaint]

Isnt it myosin a protein bond that makes sausages sticky?
I would avoid this with a burger.
Minced meat, maybe some fat and season just before cooking.

Yes, my mistake - they are myofibrillar proteins not collagen.

I have never had a texture issue doing this for sausages and burgers (maybe my sausages are looser than others!!) but if not well mixed and the meat well combined then the texture I find to be too open. The action of double mincing is probably quite similar to what I do as that is compressing chopping and squeezing the meat through small holes, thus breaking up the meat fibres into a more uniform texture.
Each to their own I guess.

 

[FilipRugby]

Polite version of "i've f****d up" or "what a s**t day" but best put a constructive spin on these things

I did my DSC2 recently and really enjoyed learning a few new things...makes a change to learn something about something you enjoy rather than stuff for work Always nice to be shown how to do it properly...and as early as possible to avoid you doing in the difficult way for years.

If your shooting fallow or bigger get yourself an electric winch...god they make life so much easier. I have one in the barn and can reverse under it. lift deer out for gralloch and skinning etc. One other thing I love is a plasterers tub. fits a fallow in nicely and stops them bleeding all over the back of my pickup..cheaper then a fancy deer tray and stronger.

 

[FilipRugby]

I don't even have Dsc1 yet. But I'm working on it. I know exactly what you're talking about and I also think it's better to learn about things that interest you. Thanks for another valuable piece of advice!

 

[VSS]

Yes, my mistake - they are myofibrillar proteins not collagen.

I have never had a texture issue doing this for sausages and burgers (maybe my sausages are looser than others!!) but if not well mixed and the meat well combined then the texture I find to be too open. The action of double mincing is probably quite similar to what I do as that is compressing chopping and squeezing the meat through small holes, thus breaking up the meat fibres into a more uniform texture.
Each to their own I guess.

The open texture is the main thing that makes a burger a different eating experience from a sausage. Otherwise you might just as well cook sausagemeat patties.

 

[TringSaint]

The open texture is the main thing that makes a burger a different eating experience from a sausage. Otherwise you might just as well cook sausagemeat patties.

They don’t end up like sausages at all - definitely burgery but maybe not as loose as some you might get.
Maybe the amount of mixing is so is less than you imagine - it certainly doesn’t look like sausage meat but it’s also not like minced venison - somewhere in between.