Adding pork fat to your ground venison is a great way to add flavor, richness, and juiciness to dishes like venison burgers, meatloaf and more.
Venison is a leaner meat that, and when cooked on a grill or pan, can be quite dry.
While some prefer to keep venison naturally lean, adding pork fat can add tons of flavor to improve the overall experience.
Below are 4 places to find pork fat for your venison.
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Where To Get Pork Fat For Venison
There are several places you can buy pork fat to add to your venison. Look for pure lard pork fatback as an additive to the venison grinding process to achieve a rich flavor. These can be found at your local butcher, at the supermarket, from pig farms, or by ordering online.
Lard and fatback are the best options as you can easily control the fat content and achieve a desirable balance of fat and meat in your ground venison.
But you have many options for what you can buy and where you can buy it when mixing pork fat with venison.
Ask the Local Butcher
Pork fat products can be bought as is, like lard or fatback, or you could save fat from fattier pork products and trim it yourself. Other options include pork butt or pork belly, fatty meat options that can be combined with venison. All of this could be purchased at your local butcher.
Start a conversation with them about your intentions and your preferences and they should be able to recommend something that is perfect for you!
You may want your venison to be more or less juicy or chewy. You may want a pork taste to your venison or none at all.
Speaking with an expert is a great place to start! They will offer a variety of products and expert knowledge to make it your first stop when looking for pork fat.
At the Supermarket
Your local supermarket should have any pork fat product you need to add to your venison. Shelf-stable lard can be found in the cooking oils section of most grocery stores. While fatback and other fatty pork products can be found in the meat section.
If you don’t see any of the mentioned products available in the meat section, ask the worker behind the meat counter about pork fat.
It’s possible they trim the fat off of other cuts and may save them and sell it to you!
Local Pig Farms
You may be lucky enough to live near a small-scale pig farm that may have its own boutique to sell its products.
Here you can find fresh and high-quality products and will most likely find the pork fat product you’re looking for!
Local farm owners love engaging with their community if you are interested in learning more about their products.
Ask about their processes for saving and rendering pork fat and if those products are available for purchase.
Order Online
Like anything else these days, you can find pork fat products online! Lots of grocery stores, farm co-ops, and butchers have online services and would have the desired pork fat product available for pick-up or delivery in your area.
You could find a local farm network that has a delivery service to get fresh cuts and products.
Or large-scale online butchers could have a larger selection and deliver frozen products. Either way, ordering online can be a great option to find exactly what you’re looking for!
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Final Thoughts
When looking to add pork fat to your venison, you have many options.
Ranging from fresh to frozen, speaking to a professional, or grabbing something off the shelf, anything you need to know or buy is in your town or at your fingertips!