How do I keep my ground venison from having a spongy texture? We have tried making it into burgers, into chili and into patties in gravy.  It still has the same spongy, tasteless flavor — almost what I would expect tofu to have, if I ate tofu! Is the problem in the grinding or are we doing something wrong in our cooking?  Update: As far as I know, beef fat was added to the meat. My cousin shot the deer and has his own processing equipment; he is the one who processed it for us. His other meat (sausage, etc.) has never had this consistency so we were wondering what caused it. 
Ground Venison has a very low fat content. This is the main culprit for its texture and lack of flavor. I always add ground pork to mine in roughly equal proportions. This raises the fat content and gives it a better over all flavor.  I also recommend that you skip the processor and butcher the deer yourself if possible. Skin it as soon as possible and then let it hang and set up for approximately 24 hours at around 40 degrees Fahrenheit prior to actual butchering. Processors tend to have many animals to skin/butcher and they tend not to get around to it as quickly as they should. This results in gamier tasting venison. 