Cooking Ground Game, Other Lean Ground Meats

[heidih]

I fell into the lure of Wild Fork and an item I bought was ground elk - 1 pound. My plan was to turn it into meatballs much like @Shelby does with venison. Then afer a horrid day but with kitchen time & space & sleep not happening I decided on free form "meatloaf" in case it did not hold together as balls.  I'd already thought to add my neices undercooked mushroom rissotto (not her fault - shrew asking is it ready yet repeatedly). So I broke 2 eggs in bowl, pepper, generous sprinke of spicy dried onion/garlic, meat, dashes of soy. asdded in the rice dish but it didn't feel right so added a pacml of seasoned small croutons from  salad kit. Forned it into a patty and baked at 350 for approx half hour. The elk does not have a lot of strong taste but is to me SO much nicer than say ground beef. No granular taste or fat taste you get even with low% fat and still moist. If you can get it - worth experimenting.

[Smithy]

How interesting! I'm not sure I've ever had elk in any form. Venison, antelope -- yes. Not elk. Thanks for the report.

[heidih]

I just finished it off tonight. I'll definitely buy again. Thanks again to @KennethT for the prompt. 

[lemniscate]

During the winter months, I will order the ground elk offerings from Costco, only when they go on sale (sometimes up to $50 off on special).  They've had more offerings like preformed elk burgers and elk medallions. 

**  EDITING to add that the elk burgers and medallions are still on the Costco site as of 9/7/2023 and the preformed burgers are onsale online $50USD off.

This is not economical meat but for game meat it's more affordable if you have the space to store it.

I'd say elk is my number 3 fave, bison is first, wild boar is second.   The venison I've ordered hasn't been loved by the household so I quit buying it.

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by lemniscate
correction (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

Elk is one of my favorites. I first had it a zillion years ago in a Bavarian restaurant in Black Hawk, Colorado (now replaced by yet another casino) and loved it at first bite. A friend has a swoon-worthy recipe for elk with porcini, but it's been a few years since he was able to get an elk during the season. Which is just as well, since my stash of dry porcini is pretty much depleted.

[Cleobeach]

I have many hunters in my life and elk regularly makes an appearance on the table.  I enjoy it very much. The only time Elk has disappointed me was a bar/grill style restaurant, the elk burger was very dry.

[heidih]

1 hour ago, Cleobeach said:

I have many hunters in my life and elk regularly makes an appearance on the table.  I enjoy it very much. The only time Elk has disappointed me was a bar/grill style restaurant, the elk burger was very dry.

Hello @Cleobeach The elk I used was from Wild Fork and is "pasture raised, grass fed, and grass finished". I imagine hunted elk have varied diets and living circumstances which can affect taste and texture. Skill in handling such lean meat of course also big deal.

 

As an aside I've gone on this feed rids - fascinating to be so close up.  https://www.highonadventure.com/hoa17mar/yvette/idaho-winter.htm

[TdeV]

Hello @Cleobeach. Many fabulous folk here. Welcome to eGullet.

[Cleobeach]

2 hours ago, heidih said:

Hello @Cleobeach The elk I used was from Wild Fork and is "pasture raised, grass fed, and grass finished". I imagine hunted elk have varied diets and living circumstances which can affect taste and texture. Skill in handling such lean meat of course also big deal.

 

As an aside I've gone on this feed rids - fascinating to be so close up.  https://www.highonadventure.com/hoa17mar/yvette/idaho-winter.htm

The bad elk burger was at a "dive" bar type of place that likely wasn't sourced from a higher-end provider.  

 

When I moved after college, I was unpleasantly surprised by the different taste of venison from what I knew growing up. 

 

I might need to make a Costco run for elk medallions.  

[lemniscate]

I had always been told of a "old wives tale" that elk meat should not be cooked or paired with milk due to creating a slimy feeling on the tongue when eating.

 

Tonight I totally forgot about that tale and cooked some elk burgers in the green chile/tomatillo crema sauce and served over noodles.

 

No one reported any weird sensations except that the chiles were pretty hot in the crema sauce.  To me, the spice was perfect.

 

I had heard the elk/dairy warning from multiple sources over the decades, but now I know there's no basis to it.  

 

 I did drink a nice strong tripel beer with it though.

[Margaret Pilgrim]

I was introduced to elk by relatives who hunted.    When first married, we were bombarded with all cuts of elk in efforts to help our starving student budget.    I never really learned to love it.    It is "sweet".    Needs to be cooked as rare as is safe since it dries out easily.    Ground was good in chili.    Stews/braises okay.   Steaks certainly not beef.    Just my take.

[Shel_B]

This afternoon I visited a market I've not been to in years. I went because I just discovered that they carried frozen or refrigerated coconut chunks which I plan to use with home made almond milk in both a drink and in a version of Haytaliyeh, a Lebanese milk pudding.  While exploring the store, I made discoveries of various items I'd not seen elsewhere. A return trip when I have more time is in order to both explore more and purchase some of the intriguing and interesting items I found.

 

Today I came across these items and purchased a package of each, thinking that the good folks here might have some thoughts about cooking and preparing them:

 

 

I've eaten goat a few time when living in Mexico, but that was many years ago and it was prepared by someone else and it wasn't ground meat. Elk was enjoyed during a visit to Washinton state, also years ago, and also not ground.

 

Any ideas on how these items can be enjoyed?

[Ddanno]

Make a little patty of each to get a feel for how it cooks up and tastes, then follow your instincts. I'd probably make kofte with the goat, myself, but I have a general hunger for that lately 

Edited Thursday at 01:03 AM by Ddanno (log)

[Dr. Teeth]

I’m a huge fan of elk.   Probably my favorite red meat.   Tried to take up hunting just to get a supply.

 

I would probably make patties, reasonably thick, salt maybe a small bit of pepper or smoked paprika and sear it on a very hot surface, going for rare-medium rare.

[YvetteMT]

On 8/8/2025 at 6:38 AM, Dr. Teeth said:

I’m a huge fan of elk.   Probably my favorite red meat.   Tried to take up hunting just to get a supply.

 

I would probably make patties, reasonably thick, salt maybe a small bit of pepper or smoked paprika and sear it on a very hot surface, going for rare-medium rare.

that would be my treatment as well if you are wanting the elk flavor to stand out. Keep in mind that elk is quite lean so I'd be careful not to get much past Med-rare or you will be chewing a hockey puck and cursing all venison. 

[Shel_B]

20 minutes ago, YvetteMT said:

that would be my treatment as well if you are wanting the elk flavor to stand out. Keep in mind that elk is quite lean so I'd be careful not to get much past Med-rare or you will be chewing a hockey puck and cursing all venison. 

In 1969 I spent time living and working in Chinook, and spent time in other towns along the high line, and had the opportunity to learn how to cook venison. If memory serves me, I posted about that experience here. Additionally, over the years I've had occasion to cook ground bison meat which I've always understood should be cooked in a fashion similar to venison. In any case, right or wrong, I've always cooked it low and slow and on the rare side. I was actually taught how to cook venison steaks and meat (nothing ground, though) and developed my bison cooking technique by reading about it and by trial and error.

 

Your comment about "cursing all venison" suggests that venison includes more than just deer meat, and includes elk, antelope, and similar species. Is that correct?

 

In any case, my original post about how to cook ground elk and goat was more directed to getting some recipe ideas rather than just how to cook an elk or goat burger. Somewhere in the dusty corners of my mind there's an echo of blueberry sauce being a nice complement to certain game meat. Suggestions?

[YvetteMT]

16 minutes ago, Shel_B said:

In 1969 I spent time living and working in Chinook, and spent time in other towns along the high line, and had the opportunity to learn how to cook venison. If memory serves me, I posted about that experience here. Additionally, over the years I've had occasion to cook ground bison meat which I've always understood should be cooked in a fashion similar to venison. In any case, right or wrong, I've always cooked it low and slow and on the rare side. I was actually taught how to cook venison steaks and meat (nothing ground, though) and developed my bison cooking technique by reading about it and by trial and error.

 

Your comment about "cursing all venison" suggests that venison includes more than just deer meat, and includes elk, antelope, and similar species. Is that correct?

 

In any case, my original post about how to cook ground elk and goat was more directed to getting some recipe ideas rather than just how to cook an elk or goat burger. Somewhere in the dusty corners of my mind there's an echo of blueberry sauce being a nice complement to certain game meat. Suggestions?

I do include most/all in "venison"- moose, elk, whitetail and mule deer. (When we were in South Africa, they called all their meat "venison". Didn't matter if it was from a cape buffalo or a springbok. The only time the ranch differentiated was if it was a domestic animal. They learned that when I asked what the meat was, I wanted to know the species, not just "venison")

 

 

Hank Shaw has some nice looking options for ground venison- https://honest-food.net/wild-game/venison-recipes/burger-meatball-recipes/

And here is his steak with blueberry recipe- https://honest-food.net/venison-recipe-blueberry-sauce/

I trust Hank with a whole lot of my venison, and even fish. He likes cloves more than I do so I either halve his measurement or in the case of last weeks barbacoa (dinner thread), leave it out entirely. 

 

 

[Ddanno]

It's a mild shame the goat is minced, the first thing I'd suggest is curry goat if it was diced.

 

If you've got a grill I would be slamming kofte onto it. Here's a recipe for lamb which will do just fine with goat:

 

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jul/03/how-to-make-perfect-kofte

 

(You'll have to scroll a bit, but it isn't the usual spiel about someone's granny converting to Buddhism and feeding her 17 children on three potatoes a day, it's a worthwhile read)

 

I like them with gently pickled cucumber and red onion salad,  chilli sauce, plus flatbread and yoghurt spiced with smoked paprika as suggested in the article.

Edited 14 minutes ago by Ddanno (log)