Burger Question

bhugg

How can I make burgers from frozen meat? 

I completely agree that fresh ground meat makes the best burger, but I have some frozen ground venison that I would like to use. Any ideas?

nolaegghead

Thaw it out enough to cut into strips that fit in your grinder.  You'll want to cut it with some beef and fat.  Pork fat, esp belly is the best.  Anyway, grind all that stuff up.  It's a little less messy if everything is lightly frozen.  I like to grind with a course die.  Burgers.

jfm0830

When I grind my own burger meat I come at it from the opposite direction. I throw it in the freezer for about 30 minutes after I've cut it into the strips. 30 minutes gives it a light freeze makes it more rigid which helps it to go to the grinder plate more easily. I used the KitchenAid meat grinder attachment for my stand mixer. And I actually keep the metal grinder plate and the worm gear in a bag in the freezer to keep it cold too.

nolaegghead

I do that too Jim, but his venison is already frozen.

buzd504

And already ground, apparently.

nolaegghead

oh, I missed that

xiphoid007

I pulled out some once that didn't defrost for dinner. Did reverse sear at 350 indirect and then cranked to 600. Just about the best burgers I've ever made!

TexanOfTheNorth

If it's not already formed into patties not sure what you can do except to wait for it to thaw. I've never done burgers with frozen ground venison but, with beef, there's not really a good way, that I know of, to significantly speed up the thawing process.