halfhunted.com

DEER

Venison Smash Burgers

Thin, fast and crusty. The fix for the mountain of ground venison nobody knows what to do with.

  • PREP15 min
  • COOK10 min
  • TOTAL25 min
  • SERVES4

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground venison
  • 4 oz beef fat or bacon ends, ground in
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 1 tsp coarse black pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil or beef tallow
  • 4 soft burger buns
  • 4 slices American cheese
  • To serve
  • Thin sliced white onion
  • Dill pickle chips
  • Yellow mustard

From the Half Hunted kit

  • Smash burger seasoning blend
  • Shelf-stable dill pickle chips
  • Freeze dried onion

You bring the meat. We bring the rest.

Ground venison is the biggest pile in most freezers and the one people get most bored of. This is the fix. Smashing the patty thin on a screaming hot pan builds a crust fast, which matters because venison has almost no fat to keep it juicy. Thin and fast beats thick and slow every time.

The beef fat is not optional. Venison runs about 2 percent fat against 20 percent for supermarket beef mince. Without added fat the burger goes dry and grey. Ask your processor for beef fat when you drop the animal off, or use bacon ends.

Cooked and tested three times before this went up.

Method

  1. Mix the venison and the beef fat with your hands until just combined. Stop as soon as it holds together. Overworking it makes the burger tough.
  2. Divide into four loose balls, about 5 oz each. Do not flatten them yet. Put them back in the fridge while the pan heats.
  3. Heat a cast iron pan or a flat griddle over high heat for a full five minutes. It has to be hotter than feels sensible. A drop of water should skitter across it.
  4. Toast the cut sides of the buns in a dry pan until golden. Set aside.
  5. Add the oil to the hot pan. Put two balls in, well apart.
  6. Smash each one flat with a stiff spatula, hard, for about ten seconds. Aim for a quarter inch thick and ragged edges. The ragged edges are the best part.
  7. Season the top with half the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Cook without touching for 90 seconds, until the edges are deep brown and lacy.
  8. Flip once. Lay a slice of cheese on. Cook 45 seconds more. Venison is lean, so pulling it early is better than pulling it late.
  9. Move to a bun and repeat with the other two.
  10. Serve with onion, pickles and mustard. Eat immediately. These do not wait.