Pork Fat for Burger

[Desk Jockey]

Is there other kind? I thought that was pretty much what beef suet was, was kidney fat.

not suet, which is the hard fat from the kidneys and loins, but I have had a butcher save me beef fat trimmings. made some grind for a guy that is not into pork. I had to order it a few days ahead. $2 a pound. It was good enough that I do it every year now for myself.

 

[S-3 ranch]

I recommend beef fat again
pork like some types of fish don’t freeze well with out a cure or smoked added
unless your on a venison diet and eat it very quickly it will sour in a freezer, 90 days +/-

 

[Tod osier]

First off I searched this topic and I know a bunch of you don't add fat to your elk burger. I have done that, and I prefer a little fat in my ground game burger. I have always used beef suet. One time I had some spare pork shoulder and used that and it was amazing, has me considering using pork fat instead. Those that do - any concern over food safety? Do you cook more well done with a pork mix than you would with a beef suet mix? Thanks

I always use pork for burgers. Usually bacon in a 1 bacon to 5 game ratio. I preform patties and freeze on trays and vacuum seal after frozen. They last a long time that way.

I sous vide them for a couple hours at 125 and sear off in a pan. They are a thing of beauty. Not a classic grilled hand formed burger, but an awesome tender, juicy, pink piece of meat.

I do not believe the whole pork fat goes rancid in the freezer under typical timeframes like a year or 2. I have had cured sausages in the deep freeze for up to 5 years vac sealed and the pork fat is just getting funky then. I have made things with uncured vac sealed pork belly, backfat and shoulder that was a more than a year old and it was perfect.

 

[Macintosh]

We get pork back fat from a friend who raises pasture-raised pigs. 15% added to our grind venison. We wrap in plastic and butcher paper, and freeze. Lasts at least a year with zero issues. Tastes great.

 

[easleyreckless]

I've always used pork belly from costco I get on sale @1.99 a pound. It's normally gone by march or so and we've never had issues of it turning on us. People rave about the ground with the pork belly in it. I do about an 85/15 or 90/10 mix.

 

[Tyson]

Pork back fat is the way to go IMO, some responses said that pork will sour in the freezer, hasn’t been my experience at all. I grind it at about a 15% mix then vacuum seal it and freeze. Tastes great 1.5 yrs later

 

[BRTreedogs]

I had 90 lbs of elk burger done about 3 years ago with pork fat, it was terrible.
We choked down probably 10 lbs out of guilt for killing the elk but ended up throwing the rest away.
A total waste of effort, time, money. Never again.

 

[Tod osier]

I had 90 lbs of elk burger done about 3 years ago with pork fat, it was terrible.
We choked down probably 10 lbs out of guilt for killing the elk but ended up throwing the rest away.
A total waste of effort, time, money. Never again.

"had... burger done" I think is the key. You just don't know what they are putting in there. Having said that I don't mix anything into my general ground meat, but do put fat into burgers.

 

[BRTreedogs]

"had... burger done" I think is the key. You just don't know what they are putting in there. Having said that I don't mix anything into my general ground meat, but do put fat into burgers.

Every one always accuses butchers of this kinda stuff. Mixing/selling/ keeping. All this stuff is illegal.
They are usda inspected, I highly doubt there just doing whatever they want.

I haven't taken an animal to a butcher since, but not everyone has the time or know how.

How would you know where the pork fat comes from? Unless you raised and butcher the hog yourself?

 

[SuperDUECE22]

our family has a small cattle operation, and we still use pork shoulder in all our wild game processing.
Zero concern over food safety but I've also eaten raw hamburger my entire life with no problems so I may be an anomaly!

 

[Tod osier]

Every one always accuses butchers of this kinda stuff. Mixing/selling/ keeping. All this stuff is illegal.
They are usda inspected, I highly doubt there just doing whatever they want.

I haven't taken an animal to a butcher since, but not everyone has the time or know how.

How would you know where the pork fat comes from? Unless you raised and butcher the hog yourself?

I know I've ground hundreds and hundreds of pounds of game with pork butt, pork belly or fatback and eaten it fresh, cured and after having been frozen for up to several years after in probably 100 different batches. It is always excellent in burgers, fresh sausages, snack sticks or cured sausages. I don't know where your problem came from, nor do I doubt that the meat sucked. I'm a picky mutherfucker about my food and it has to be perfect. There is no way that good quality pork can negatively affect good quality game.

 

[BRTreedogs]

I know I've ground hundreds and hundreds of pounds of game with pork butt, pork belly or fatback and eaten it fresh, cured and after having been frozen for up to several years after in probably 100 different batches. It is always excellent in burgers, fresh sausages, snack sticks or cured sausages. I don't know where your problem came from, nor do I doubt that the meat sucked. I'm a picky mutherfucker about my food and it has to be perfect. There is no way that good quality pork can negatively affect good quality game.

It smelled even cooking it.
Even drowned in taco seasoning it was terrible.

 

[Tod osier]

It smelled even cooking it.
Even drowned in taco seasoning it was terrible.

I got you. When meat goes bad it is disgusting.

I had an elk that one hindquarter had a tiny, tiny bit of bone sour, not soured a tiny bit but a very small part of it was sour, like a tennis/soft ball sized piece of one roast from what I can tell. I did not know that this was the case when I butchered it, but given that it took a while to get the hide off and get it broken down (kinda a survival situation), I'm not surprised. Anyway, I froze the elk out west and brought it home on the bone (this was before CWD regulations). I partly thawed the hindquarter and butchered it with ice still in it, so very cold and I didn't smell anything off. I packaged and froze. When I cooked the piece it smelled bad and I tasted it and it was amazing, I've never spit something out so fast. The cut was the top round and it was just one end (probably the deepest part of the hindquarter). The rest of the entire elk was excellent. If you ground that piece with 100 pounds of meat, I have no doubt that it would ruin the whole batch, it was that disgusting.

Butchers often batch grind. Hunters bring in bad meat that goes undetected. It is easy to wreck and elk quarter if it sits before cooling. I'm not saying it was your meat, but if they are batching, that would be easy to have happen.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I don’t put any fat in my ground venison. I prefer it that way.

 

[*zap*]

^ concur, no fat added. lean is best.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

22 % fatback, maybe 25% more than that and it gets too greasy. butcher I used ONCE, used 35%.

 

[Wags]

I've got a bunch of grinding to do next week. Maybe I'll see if I can get my hands on some beef fat to try. I've always used pork in the past with no issue. I've also gone completely lean and never had issues except when it came to making burgers. They tended to fall apart on me a little more than those with fat.

 

[GSPHUNTER]

I've got a bunch of grinding to do next week. Maybe I'll see if I can get my hands on some beef fat to try. I've always used pork in the past with no issue. I've also gone completely lean and never had issues except when it came to making burgers. They tended to fall apart on me a little more than those with fat.

I personally do not like to use beef fat. I much prefer the taste and texture of pork fat.

 

[Brendan]

I'm almost wondering what everyone who's had issues with pork fat is doing differently than I am. Literally not one issue ever even with stuff 2-3 years in the freezer. I have always gone to a good butcher, bought it fresh, and use it relatively quickly before getting everything in the deep freeze, it gets vacuum sealed, and frozen real cold. I have a temp gauge on my freezer and it never goes above zero.

Generally though, I make sausages with anything that gets added fat. Like a lot of others here straight burger / ground meat mostly gets left lean, prefer it that way as we don't do a lot of straight-up burgers on the grill and can always add fat for whatever the recipe is if we're making meatballs or meatloaf. Never been worried about the fat, just more flexible that way - can always add it in, but can't take it back out.

 

[Steelruger22]

I have always done two different grinds when I am processing my own burger. I will do a lean grind that is pure whatever the meat happens to be. This is great for tacos, spaghetti, strogonoff, etc. And then I will do a cheeseburger grind where I will add bacon to the grinding process to help keep the lean burger together while on the grill and to add some flavor. I will also add different dry rubs to this blend and then divide and package after its all been ground and mixed. Makes for some awesome burgers on the grill. I will add my bacon while I am grinding the chunk meat at about a 1:5 ratio. I have done this for 15+ years and have never had an issue aside from people fighting over my meat!