Roasts or Burger?

elkguide

WKR
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
4,788
Location
Vermont
Deer, backstraps and tender loins are always cut into steaks. Most everything else goes into bacon burger.
Elk, if it can be cut into a steak, done. Everything else is burger.
No roasts in our house. Found that we always ended up grinding them up later.
 

Wrench

WKR
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
6,305
Location
WA
I just made #175 burger and #75 of sausage. I keep the best, grind the rest....except lately I've been making 30 pounds into chile Colorado every year and freeze drying it.
 

Bugger

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jul 24, 2024
Messages
150
Another good option if you’re overloaded on ground is to make a big ol batch of barbacoa style shredded meat with shoulder, trim, and neck meat. Slide it into burger bags a pound or so each and refreeze to use later. It’s super easy to thaw in the fridge or toss in water for a couple hours and make tacos, hash, pita pockets or my kids favorite sloppy does. It takes other seasonings really well when reheating in a pan.
 

Erict

WKR
Joined
Jun 28, 2020
Messages
674
Location
near Albany, NY
Cut, weigh, vaccuum seal and freeze roasts.
Grind bits and pieces and the "lesser" cuts to get a few packs of ready to go ground meat.
Thaw and use roasts as is, or grind fresh, or chip, slice, dice for whatever is on the menu.

You can't ungrind good roasts.
 
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COJoe

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Nov 22, 2023
Messages
267
Location
Southern Colorado
My wife and I enjoy a roast cooked low and slow and the option to shred it after the first meal with it. I also like to slice up left over meat to put on a tortilla with smoked gouda cheese, warmed up in a toaster oven at work for lunch, mmmm. But I'll do that with ground beef too. I'm all talk this year though with no elk. :(Buying a meat package from a local ranch on Monday and it's half ground burger.
 

5MilesBack

"DADDY"
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Messages
16,174
Location
Colorado Springs
I grind most everything except tenderloin and back strap, but sometimes I save a roast or two for Mississippi pot roast over mashed potatoes. We use a lot of ground. And if we want any other kind of meat it's generally a good prime rib or ribeyes.
 
Joined
Jul 27, 2021
Messages
1,599
Back straps , tender loins are cut to fillets, these are fine wrapped in some good bacon and slow cooked over hickory coals especially in a lazy fish camp during the spring trout season with home fries a couple eggs and sour dough bread with sweet butter and a smear of home made wild blue berry jam, hind quarters are broken down to muscle groups for Jerky and pastrami the rest is ground for bologna since I make my own its actually a rather easy process sometimes I will keep a few steaks from a hind quarter I like them done low and slow over a good bed of hickory coals with sea salt and a good grind of fresh black pepper.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2014
Messages
2,422
Burger but keep a couple pieces for roasts. I like to make roasts from pieces like the neck, shanks, or front legs. Sometimes laziness when butchering has me making more roasts.
 

stooxie

FNG
Joined
Nov 27, 2024
Messages
7
Location
Northern VA
Another vote for backstraps and loins whole, rest ground up. Once I figured out a really good meatball recipe, I'll go through two pounds of ground venison a week.

-Stooxie
 
Joined
Jul 20, 2014
Messages
1,281
Location
Kirtland, NM
I cut my backstraps into 6”-8” roasts and smoke them wrapped in bacon. Slice for a thick steak when done or even thin for some kind of sandwich or Philly cheesesteak. Tenderloins are left whole and smoked as well. One or two inside rounds are cut then tenderized for country fried steak or steak fingers. The rest is all ground for burger and usually pressed jerky and summer sausage. We eat a lot of burger in my house.
 

JoeDirt

WKR
Joined
Mar 6, 2019
Messages
477
I just do burger and roasts, easier to process. Create whatever you want with that in the off season.

Larger roasts go in the crock pot

Smaller roasts get seasoned for 24hours, then grilled/seared, once the roast is browned you baste with some garlic herb butter. Then slice your perfectly cooked steaks.

Pictures of my tailgate tenderloins

IMG_9102.jpg
IMG_9098.jpg
 
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