Deer meat...

[FarmerDenise]

SO didn't think he liked venison either. He wouldn't let me cook it more than once a week. But every time I've made it, he really loved it and commented how it didn't even taste wild.

There are a couple of other threads here already on cooking venison. It's where I posted my recipe. Do a search for deer meat or venison to find them.

 

[lwheelr]

Ok, I've had bad wild game. I just can't really stomach a nasty antelope. Sometimes we get a good one (tastes like good deer), but about 2/3 of the antelope raised on sage prairie tastes gamey. No mistaking that it isn't beef, and the flavor is so strong that it is nauseating. Comes right through no matter how much you marinate it or season it.

Once in a while we get deer or elk that tastes that way too, but usually not nearly as bad as antelope. I can handle that - I don't much care for it grilled, or prepared in a way where I'd be focusing on the flavor of the meat itself - prefer it ground and crumbled in something. But we've had some awesome deer and elk meat, even moose and bison.

If you are getting game from the hills or meadows, then it will usually taste good, unless it was not dressed out promptly (then it can taste pretty rank - imagine the smell of a goat, permeating the meat - any game can be that way if not handled right).

If you are getting it from desert areas, there's a good chance it will taste strong. That can mean it has a sharpish flavor, or that it is downright unpleasant - antelope smell pretty bad on the outside, just like a buck goat (antelope are goats), and the meat can smell and taste a good deal like they smell outside, even if it is handled properly!

My mother says I ate deer growing up. I do not remember that at all. I suspect that my dad quit hunting around the time I came along - he just felt that there were more enjoyable ways for him to provide for his family, he purely loved his job as a logger, and was good enough at it that it made financial sense to quit hunting by the time he had a houseful of kids to feed.

So my first real exposure to wild game was before we moved to Wyoming, about 15 years ago. Someone gave us about 40 lbs of deer. I could not tell the difference between that and beef. After we came to the 'Bow though, people gave us antelope just about every year, deer most years, elk now and again, even duck, geese, and fish. Kevin hunts, but didn't grow up hunting, and it has been hard for him to learn - he's got antelope down, but can't manage deer or elk yet, so he brings in antelope most years. We eat it all, though we enjoy some more than we enjoy others, and often my kids have to eat the antelope that I can't stomach (they don't seem to notice it as much).

We sent a friend some antelope jerky one year. He said he liked it, but that it had a smell to it that would drive his wife from the room.

 

[journey11]

My favorite way to cook those bone-in shoulder roasts is in a cast-iron dutch oven with a little water and herbs of your choice, and tsp or so of salt at 325 until it's falling off the bone. Then I take the meat out to use for veggie-venison soup, toss the bones, and use whatever broth there is in the soup too.

The already cut into chunk meat you have is probably from the hams (round). It's pretty versatile. If you're going to make jerky, that's what I like to use. It can be used for soups/stews, baked in a casserole dish with some mushroom soup, onion, etc and eaten like pot-roast, canned, cooked tender (again, I'd use the dutch oven) then tossed into a crockpot with some sauce to make awesome BBQ sandwiches.

The big pieces you mention may be the tenderloin. It's the second best cut (next to the inner backstraps, which you probably didn't recieve). Very tender. I cook them like steak or in stir fry or anything you want because they are tender.

Butchered right and cooked right, venison will not be "gamey". Depending on what you are making, you can use a squirt or so of red wine vinegar if you feel it has any gamey flavor to it. It will also help tenderize.

 

[Blackbird]

I'm used to a gamey flavor as we use it all just like 'normal' hamburger, enough that I guess I like it after eating it so long.

Embrace the game! hehe.

 

[Denim Deb]

I think people THINK it will taste "off". If they don't know they are eating deer meat they would never know it.

I made barbeque for my 7th grade home ec class and didn't tell them it was deer meat until it was all over (didn't tell them it was roadkill though ) and still had 2 girls run to the bathroom to throw up "Bambi" even though they had previously said how good it was. Pansies.

I have fed plenty of people deer and they never knew it. Soon as I told them what it was, then they had issues. Purely psychological.

I think people are so used to the bland commercially processed meat that anything with real flavor or texture is off putting to them. To quote my father "Big 'ol SCHTUPIES"

Many years ago, my mother and I went to visit her step mom up in PA. While there, we took her to visit a friend who had invited us all over for dinner. Dinner was a roast. It was delicious! Didn't taste like any beef I had ever had. I looked up at my hostess and asked, is this venison? She confessed that it was, but didn't want to tell us in case we wouldn't eat it. This was the 2nd time that I ever had deer. And, both times that I had it it was sooo good.

That being said, I've NEVER since then had deer that tasted as good. I don't know if it was the way it was prepared, or if it was the deer itself. But, I didn't like it, and could not stand the way it smelled while it was being cooked. I'm hoping that I'll be able to learn how to cook it so that if we get more meat given to us, hit another deer, or we go out and get it our selves, I'll know how to properly prepare it.

 

[lorihadams]

The other thing about deer meat is that it does matter how it is killed and processed.

For example, if you kill a deer and it does not immediately die (i.e. it runs....a lot) the meat will most likely be tough from the stress and build up of lactic acid in the muscles. That's just science.

If it is gut shot, forget it. May as well make dog food out of it cause if you nick the intestines it will taint the meat.

If you don't like the gamey-ness of wild meat, soak it in a cup of vinegar with enough water to cover it in the refridgerator overnight and it will pull some of the gamey taste out of it.

My mother likes deer meat any way but ground. She just doesn't like the flavor/texture of it. I think it is cause of the experieces she has had from other people adding various fats/spices to it during processing. I add a ridiculously small amount of fat to the meat (either beef or pork fat) and NO spices if I am going to use it ground. I think if you add too much pork fat it can make the meat taste weird unless you are making sausage. I prefer it with no fat added to be honest. If you are going to make hamburger patties out of it then add some fat during the cooking process to help the meat hold together....think meatloaf type stuff.

Sometimes if you are new to wild game the best thing to do is experiment with it and find what you like. I LOVE barbeque made with a shredded up roast that has been cooked in the pressure cooker.....YUMMY.

 

[me&thegals]

My husband serviced a payphone years ago in a Tyson processing plant and immediately came home and proceded to throw out anything with a Tyson label on it. Yep, it was that gross.

We had a friend doing electric work in one of their plants, and he will no longer be buying anything from them either!

 

[journey11]

Good points, Lori. That's the same reason you have to quietly butcher chickens and not chase or scare them prior, so it makes sense.

I think another major reason people get a bad impression of venison is that most people will take theirs to the butcher who is usually quick and sloppy about it and who knows if you even got your own deer back. They don't take the time to remove blood clots, fat, gristle and the tendons/muscle casings (my dad calls this the "silverskin"). I think all that tossed in there makes it taste funky. And anytime I've had meat given to me that had been taken to the butcher, there is always lots of deer hair in it too. We also like to hang ours for up to a week if the weather permits it. That will make it very tender too.

I've gotten to where I prefer ground venison over ground beef for most things. For spaghetti and chili I like that it has a sweeter flavor to it. Hamburgers and meatloaf are great too if you season it right (I put lots of onion and mushrooms in mine). I don't usually add any fat to it either, except maybe a little EVOO to help brown it without sticking to the skillet.

The best part about venison for me is that it is so lean and good for you! It was the first pureed meat I gave my baby and it's one thing I can count on her to eat even now that she is entering that picky 3-yr-old stage. Venison is highly digestable compared to fatty old beef.