We mix 10% beef tallow with grinding on our deer meat. Elk are a lot bigger and I am a bit concerned about spoilage with the fat mixed in. Will take a while to consume an elk. We usually put two deer in the freezer that last right up to opening day of the next year. Advice is appreciated, of course I have to get one first.

I mix my Elk every year with 10% same as you do with your deer, vacuum pack, and never had any problems.Good luck on your hunt.

Indeed, sealed it will last for a long time; unless some idiot kicks the cord loose from your freezer, which I witnessed once after the fact. Talk about one MAJOR piss off!

We don't mix fat with our elkburger but we do make a lot of burger out of our elk, and a little sauage.. We don't like deer burger so we steak deer out...I love elk burger, make a lot of it and don't mix beef in it..Its clean, great for tacos, spegetti, stew, and hamburgers as is..
I also have a beef in the freezer all the time.

I doubt if you will have any problem with suit or fat in your elk, beef is good for many months if package properly..meat will last much longer if package in those air tight sealed bags..I have some meat over a year old and good as new in those sealed bags...

We used to add beef fat into the hamburger, but quit.
Now, we just grind the venison without addition. Frankly, we like that better for most uses. But if you need some fat, we buy some of the cheapest hamburger at the store and mix right before cooking.

Thank all of you. Got home today with a 7x7.

It's hard to beat straight venison chili. When my boys were in high school, my home was filled with their friends + when the word was out that I was making venison chili, I had to make a HUGE batch. Teenage boys can eat A LOT! That has been over 35 years ago but every now + then I see one of those grown-up boys in the grocery store + they still call me Dad + want to know when I'm gonna make another batch. Always makes me feel good.

Big congrats to Okie on the 7X57.

It may sound gross to some. But, in addition to the usual seasoning, I've added extra virgin olive oil to venison or elk burger for extra fat and flavor with some bread crumbs to hold it together like fine cut crusty Italian bread. It's best cooked to at least medium. O.O. tastes buttery when cooked, totally different than uncooked.

When I was ranching, my son was going to SuL Ross college, When we branded he bought his school frineds to the ranch and that was a hoot..

At the time I had around 10 saddle mules, a string of brood mares and about 10 ranch horses and he would bring the whole horse shoeing course cowboys to shoe my horses, the mules had never been shod and some of those mares had not, it was a rodeo to watch, then had to knock them down tie the feet and shoe them,,I should have sold tickets to all the folks in AlPine and Marathon tExas...

I fed then fried deer meat, pinto beans, flour tortillas, pico de gallo, mashed potatoes and they could eat a whole deer at one meal, 5 or 6 Spanish goats bar b qued, and a hind quarter at a time..expensive but they earned their feed..

It was a fun 4 or 5 days, those kids loved it. Then hunting season rolled around and 4 or 5 of them would show up and hunt..

Sounds like a lot of fun to me.