Kangaroo burger with bacon, lettuce, burger sauce, blue cheese and onion jam.
This kangaroo burger recipe makes the most of the trimmings from the prime roo fillets and the tougher cuts. It’s a great summer-time alternative to using those tougher cuts in stews and curries. While I’ve used kangaroo meat in this particular recipe, venison is equally suitable too.
Kangaroo is virtually fat free, and fat is really necessary for a tasty burger. When making burgers and sausages I aim for 80 percent lean meat to 20 percent fat. I also normally use beef fat rather than pork fat. I can usually get beef fat free of charge and I think the flavour suits kangaroo and venison well.
If at all possible separate the metal components from your mincer and place them in the freezer for1-2 hours before begging to mince the kangaroo and fat together. And keep both the ingredients and your other equipment as cold as possible. The last thing you want is for the fat to warm up and start rendering.
Kangaroo Burgers
Equipment
- 1 mincer / meat grinder
Ingredients
- 10 kg kangaroo meat (or venison)
- 2.5 kg beef fat
Instructions
- Prepare the roo meat by cutting into two centimetre cubes, removing as much tendon, sinew and muscle sheath as possible.
- Spread the cubed meat across a tray and place this in the freezer. Cube the beef fat and add this to the freezer separately. Remove the meat once the outside feels hard, but before the meat has frozen solid. You want the mincer, meat and fat to be as cold as possible. Keeping the temperature as low as possible will prevent the fat from rendering as you run it through the mincer and reduce the likelihood of clogging the mincer too. If the fat does render you end up with a greasy mess that is not much good for anything.
- Mix the nearly frozen meat and fat together evenly and run through the mincer. I prefer to use the coarse plate for burger mince.
- Form the minced meat into patties with medium pressure, too soft and they fall apart. A burger mould is helpful but not necessary. Do not add salt or seasoning before forming into patties, salt will start denaturing the proteins and you will end up with a sausage patty not a burger patty.
- When it comes to cooking the burgers, season them immediately before placing them on a smokingly hot plate. A generous sprinkle of salt is sufficient seasoning in my view, but steak seasoning or garlic herb mix will impart a little extra flavour. Slap the burgers firmly onto the hot plate to ensure maximum contact and surface caramelisation. Resist the urge to turn them until they are cooked half way through.Serve with whatever burger toppings you like best. Personally I enjoy, lettuce, bacon, blue cheese and caramelised onion chutney.
