Place all the ingredients, if they’ll fit, in a food processor and chop it up. If it won’t all fit, start with the non-tomato ingredients first, then add tomatoes in small batches until all the tomatoes are mixed in.
To Make The Venison Burger:
Press one pound of ground venison into a flat dish. Remember, mine is 1¼ pounds. Add ¼ cup salsa and ¼ cup bread crumbs to the meat.
Mix it all together and press it back out. At this point, you can break out a little piece of burger and test it to see how well it sticks and handles. If it doesn’t hold together very well, you can try adding a beaten egg. Adding a little salt helps make the fat in the burger stickier, too, but use salt cautiously because it can also dry out the meat. If it seems like it’s holding together pretty well, but it’s still a little flimsy, proceed with the next step.
Use your finger to separate the meat out into the number of patties you’ll need. If your patties seem a little bit fragile, stick them in the fridge for a little while. The patty will hold together very well since it has kept cold.
Once your fire is nice and hot, bring out the cold patties and place them over the hot flames.
If the flames get too big, you can close the lid. Resist the urge to flip the patties too early. Premature flippage will result in patties that are more likely to break apart. Give them about five minutes before flipping. When they’re nicely seared on the bottom, flip them over and cook for another five minutes. A fully cooked burger will have clear juices when they’re pressed, but don’t press on them too much while cooking, or you’ll squeeze out all that delicious juice. Wait until you think they’re done before you press on them.
While the burgers are cooking, butter your buns.
As soon as you’ve taken the burgers off the pit, toast the buns over the open flames. It’s totally worth the effort.
Load up your Venison Salsa Burger with all the fixin’s: mustard, mayo, ketchup, pickles, onion, baby spinach or lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and a fresh slice of avocado.
Pair it with a cold beverage and some chips and salsa.