I've processed my first deer. I have several bags of meat with the fat trimmed completely off to do burger with..and some sausage.

I understand I need beef fat to grind in with it. Where do I get this? Or other ingredients?

I don't have a grinder..so looking at options there. Walmart has the little cheap hand one over by the hunting stuff. I don't plan on doing more than one or two deer a year, so I figure I don't need a really expensive grinder.

Do yourself a favor and buy an electric grinder. It will pay for itself in one year. My grinder and my food saver both came from Cabelas.

I don't add fat to my ground deer meat. Some people do. I typically don't use it for burgers, so I don't need the fat to help it stay together. If you use fat, I would use beef fat.

Some people use pork butts of bacon to add fat. But, to me that changes the flavor to much.

Doe killer's right get an electric grinder. I like grinding with bacon. I like the flavor it adds.

I have an LEM grinder and also don't use fat. It is perfect for chili, soups, etc.

Only add fat if youre making sausage.

When I make patty sausage, I use the seasoning packets that are rated for 5#'s of sausage. I use 3.5-4#'s of ground deer to 1# of cheap store bought pork sausage for the fat. Mix it by hand and then freeze it. Yea, get an electric grinder. The food saver vacuum thingy works good too.

When yall grind burger, do you trim all the white skin off, or just cut into chunks and grind?

I usually just cut into chunks and grind away

I don't trim it all, but I get most of it. A lot of it gets caught in the blade and you have to clean it out.

I cut what I can, but I'm not sitting out there all night. I'm more worried about that slimy film that covered the outside of the muscle.

The rest will grind just fine. Play around and experiment. You'll figure it out quick.

I actually cut all the silver skin or white skin off, in addition to the slimy stuff mentioned. I spent hours cleaning everything up before I froze it. Maybe it will be worth it.

I guess it makes sense to not add fat unless making sausage. When we buy ground beef, we actually buy ground chuck. It has less fat and is better to us. Maybe I should just toss a few pieces of Bacon in and go that route. Now that I think about it, adding fat may make it more like ground beef and full of grease when cooked. Not what we want at all.

Sausage is a different story and I understand adding a little fat there. Where can I get the seasoning for it?

Any big box outdoor store or grocery store has sausage seasoning. I use my own recipe.

I have some penzey's venison seasoning. I haven't used it yet since I got it. Last year was my 2nd time processing my own deer. The first deer I ever did came two weeks after having one processed, I didn't have a grinder so everything besides inside tenderloins and backstraps became roast or stew meat. Last year I had to process one and I had to borrow a hand grinder, it was the WORST thing ever. A huge PITA, my wife complained about the time it took and the smell it made throughout my parents house that she convinced my MIL to buy me an electric grinder from Cabela's for my birthday last year. However, the deer I got a few weeks ago the wife wouldn't let me process it in the apartment.

As what everyone else has said, get an electric grinder and google seasoning recipes or order one offline

Ground burger and ground sausage is easy. Smoked sausage, I have learned, is best left to the professionals.

My FinL has been making summer sausage and its really simple. He's been getting the seasoning/cure mixture at Gander Mtn along with the casing. Mix venison, pork, seasoning and stuff casing then smoking them on the Treager. Fine stuff!

I add a little bacon to the ground meat we will use for hamburgers. Beef fat is good if you can find it but not so many grocery stores cut their own meat any more so it is harder to find than it used to be.

For chili, etc.....I don't add any fat.

whenever i cook bacon i save the grease from the pan. use a coffee filter to strain out the chunks of junk, then save the fat in a tupperware in the fridge. easy way to add fat and flavor to your deer sausage...