I've had buffalo steaks at the Little Bear Inn in Cheyenne (don't know if it's still there anymore) that I thought were outstanding, so it was with some anticipation that I made some buffalo burgers over the weekend for the first time. Unfortunately I found the meat to be very soft with a mouth feel that just wasn't quite right. I'm still left, however, with a couple of pounds of frozen meat that I didn't cook. Any suggestions for how to prepare the burgers next time so that they're just a little bit firmer, or should we just make chili out of it?

How did you make them the first time? Too soft sounds like too much liquid to me. Buffalo meat is a lot leaner than beef so it does have a different texture.

What form is your meat in, ground, whole, patties, etc? If it's something you ground yourself, you may have ground it too fine, try grinding it courser.

I just marinated them for a short period in BBQ sauce and added seasoning salt, then cooked in a skillet. I believe they would been vastly better cooked outside on my Weber grill with some wood chips thrown in, but it's much too cold and snowy here to make that happen right now.

I bought it already ground and made patties out of it. It might have been ground too fine - it felt soft straight from the package.

It could have a higher moisture content too, make the patties and put them on a rack in the fridge for a few hours to dry out a bit.

Curious as to why chicken wings are often referred to as "Buffalo Wings" when they are not buffalo meat?

I always thought you were a troll. Buffalo wings are so named
because they once flew exclusively out of the Anchor Bar in
that less fair city.

Chop some onion (very fine), take a handful of Panko bread crumbs (about a TBs per patty), and blend lightly into meat. Shape generous patties and wrap in bacon, a la filt mignon, Grill over coals or gas, or cook in cast iron or on flatop, with seasonings of choice. I suspect that your buffalo meat is (a) from a young critter, and (b) ground too fine. Very low in fat and without the connective tissue of an older animal, it may profit from a bit of fat and "binder".

Do not use it for Chili. Chili made with ground meat is an affront (worse even than the omission of cumin) to the memory of Chili Queens, an immortal band of women who offered their Chili and themselves on the streets of San Antonio to generations of US soldiery off to furrin wars.

In 1836, when Old Ben Milam challenged the Texian soldiery, "Who will with me go to San Antonio, boys?", it was not booty or the spoils of war, he was after, but Chili and Chili Queens, to dabble in the spicy and the spicier, whilst listening to the gentle "Cu-Cu-Curu" of "La Paloma" from Mariachis in the background. Sadly, as he stood to lead the charge, he was felled by a musket ball to the brain, Death before Chili!

That was an excellent post! Almost made me nostalgic for those Texas history classes I suffered through so many years ago.

And to think, before this post, I would have thought that the the term "Chili Queens" referred to a band of fanatical admirers of the recently deposed head coach of the Minnesota Vikings .......

Don't marinate them. That is probably why too moist. Adding the onions or chopped chilies works well. Grill them (I do with covered grill in Chicago in snow all the time) and then put the BBQ sauce on them.

Food Network has recipe combining them with ground chuck which I have tried and is good

ngredients
1 1/2 pounds ground buffalo
1/2 pound ground chuck
1 medium onion, finely chopped, about 1 cup
3 tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 hamburger buns, for serving
Directions
Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high.

Put the buffalo, chuck, onion, tomato paste, and liquid smoke in a large bowl and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix everything together with your hands until it is well combined.

Take about 1 cup (8 ounces) of the meat mixture and form it into patties with your hands or in a hamburger press. When you have them all made, grill them, turning frequently, until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes total. (Alternately, cook them in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until cooked through, about 8 to 10 minutes.) Serve on hamburger rolls with the toppings of your choice.

Just to close this out, we took the suggestions in this thread and used the leftover meat in burgers tonight, and the results were fabulous!! We combined the buffalo meat with ground chuck, added the onion and bread crumbs in plus some additional seasoning and a little bit of liquid smoke, then let the patties dry for awhile. We cooked them outside on the grill with wood and charcoal. They were so good even my wife liked them!

Thanks all!!

1/3 buffalo
1/3 chuck
1/3 pork shoulder

the proportion makes excellent meatballs. of course you gotta add seasoning.

Here's a suggestion: do not under any circumstances order the "bison meatloaf" on an Amtrak long distance train. Please also don't ask why I did

I am totally going to remember this completely random piece of advice!