Deer Burgers! It’s time to start cleaning out the freezer to get ready for the upcoming hunting season this fall, so I busted a move a few weeks ago and made some deer burgers on the Weber grill…

First, I started with about 4½ lbs. of venison burger. I processed this meat myself last fall. Two of the packages contain lean venison mixed with pork butt ground together in a 80/20 ratio. The third package in the middle contains my venison bacon burger which is venison and good smoked bacon mixed to a 50/50 ratio.

I thawed the meat on a tray in the garage refrigerator for two days so I didn’t have to use the microwave or some other method to thaw them out. Then, I mixed the ground meat toghther with about a half-cup of Oakridge BBQ Venision rub.

Some call me OCD, but I like to weigh out each meat ball before I press it into a patty. This keeps the patties all the same size so they all cook the same and get done at the same time. This saves guesswork and the need to poke and prod them to see if each is cooked through.

Then, I dusted each burger on both sides with a liberal amount of Oakridge BBQ Venison rub, and gently pressed the rub into the burger so it would begin to dissolve and “liquify” quicker.

Sorry, I don’t have any pics of the cooking process as it had gotten too dark for good pictures by the time I was ready to put these on the grill. However, I will at least describe the process… First, I started a base fire with Royal Oak lump charcoal and a few off-brand 100% Harwdood charcoal briquettes. I used no lighter fluid, instead used a Weber charcoal chimney to start my coals. Once they were going really good, I threw about 6 chunks of seasoned red oak onto the fire and shut the lid to the grill, but left the top vent wide open. After about 5 minutes, the fire had calmed down and cooled enough to put the burgers on. I don’t like to cook over super-hot coals for venison burgers, instead I favor a slower, cooler grill somewhere in the neighborhood of 450º-500º. Flip them frequently to prevent over-charring and cook with the lid on the entire time. The last step, just before I took them off was to melt a slice of swiss and a slice of provolone cheese on each burger.

While all this was going on, I put some steak fries in the oven and roasted them on a rimmed baking sheet at 475º for about 25 minutes. Immediately after they came out I dumped them into a large bowl and dusted them heavily with Oakridge BBQ Game Bird & Chicken rub and tossed to thoroughly cover each fry.

As a final touch, I dusted the top of the burger and the veges with some more Venison rub. Here’s the finished product…

Thanks for lookin’

Mike
Oakridge BBQ