trimmings for burgers: mayonnaise, relish, mustard, tomato jam, hot sauce, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles, etc.
Instructions
*Tip: the bacon is easier to mince if it is still partially frozen. Keep the slices in a block, and dice it as small as possible (¼ inch/.5cm or less).
Put the venison into a shallow bowl. Sprinkle it evenly with the diced bacon, tapioca starch, minced garlic, and pepper. Use your hands to combine it. Try to mix it as lightly and gently as possible - do not overmix.
Divide the meat mixture into 6 equal parts, and gently pat it into wide, thick patties (1-inch/2.5cm thick). Push your thumb into the middle of each patty to make a shallow indented dip - this keeps the middles from bulging up to a dome shape and prevents all the juices from dripping off. Brush both sides of the patties lightly with the oil.
Heat the barbecue grill to medium heat, and cook the burgers over direct flame with the barbecue lid covered, for about 5 minutes per side, flipping them once. You still want them to be slightly pink in the middles so the venison burgers are moist and juicy.
Alternately, you can pan-fry the venison burgers in the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat for about 5 to 6 minutes per side, until the outsides are crispy and brown and the insides are still lightly pink.
Remove the burgers from the heat and cover them loosely with foil or a large bowl inverted over them. Let them rest for at least 5 minutes.
Grill the buns or heat them in the oven. Serve the venison burgers on the buns with your favourite hamburger trimmings.
Makes 6 venison burgers.
Notes
Other lean, wild game can benefit from these tricks, too - like moose, elk, bison. This recipe and tips also work with lean ground beef - use the leanest ground beef you can get (grind your own or get trimmed and ground sirloin or extra lean ground beef) and make these into delicious beef-bacon burgers.Freeze your bacon the night before, then remove it 1 -1½ hours before you need it and it will be still firm, but able to cut through with a big sharp knife. That makes it much easier to get small dice. Keep the strips together in a block, cut them in half, then cut thin matchstick lengthwise strips. Stack them and cut the bacon across as thinly as possible into tiny dice. Alternately you can grind the partially frozen bacon in a meat grinder, or grind it in the food processor, as long as it's still somewhat frozen (if fully defrosted, it will just smear in the food processor, rather than grind into nice little bits).The generous thickness of these patties adds to their tender moistness, however, if you need the meat to feed more people, you can make 8 thinner patties from this recipe. Make sure to cook them for a shorter time so they don't dry out. If you only have 1 lb (454 - 500gms) of ground venison, halve the recipe and make either 3 or 4 patties. If making 4 patties, also cook them for a shorter time so they stay moist.I used Schär Gluten Free Ciabatta Buns for these burgers, tops brushed with melted butter and reheated in the oven until crispy.