Eco friendly venison

[tjm]

I have fed a couple dozen deer meat haters venison and they loved it. Processing and prep are as important as the cooking. I won't eat either  deer sausage, jerky or especially burger; all three indicate poorly handled meat.  I won't eat deer processed by most butcher shops either, they  tend to treat game like it was beef. Each game meat is slightly different to dress and none of them as easy to process as an Angus.

[Quillback]

Well the neighborhood bow hunter is out there somewhere, I see his truck parked at the end of the cul-de-sac.  I hope he gets several.  Don't care if they are tasty or not, I want to see them gone.

[MrGiggles]

4 hours ago, tjm said:

I have fed a couple dozen deer meat haters venison and they loved it. Processing and prep are as important as the cooking. I won't eat either  deer sausage, jerky or especially burger; all three indicate poorly handled meat.  I won't eat deer processed by most butcher shops either, they  tend to treat game like it was beef. Each game meat is slightly different to dress and none of them as easy to process as an Angus.

You want to share your process?

I always field dress immediately when possible, get it hung up hide-on for few days (indoors out of the sun) when temps allow. Even still, some just don't turn out well.

[Big Mike]

I have processed dozens of deer myself over the years with good results.  Last year I took a doe to the processer for the first time and had it mostly made into hamburger and this stuff was not fit to eat. Very strong tasting and gamey. Never again!   Here is my process that works for me.

 

1.  shoot a young one.

2.  field dress and let cool asap.

3.  try not to gut shoot one or be very careful when field dressing to not puncture stomach and then rinse out the inside out with cold water.

4.  if weather permits let hang for a couple days..  I will put bags of ice in the chest cavity if warm and throw a bungie cord around it

5.  after a couple days I quarter up and put in a cooler with ice for a few more days draining the water and adding ice as needed

6.  make into whatever cuts or grind you prefer and enjoy.  

 

favorite way to cook:

Take the backstraps and cut into long strips.  put a clove of garlic in the middle and roll it up.  wrap in bacon and skewer with a toothpick making sure to go thru the center of the garlic clove to keep in place.  Season and grill medium rare to medium.  I have never had anybody I have given this to turn it down and they always ask for seconds

 

 

 

 

[aarchdale@coresleep.com]

 

7 hours ago, tjm said:

I have fed a couple dozen deer meat haters venison and they loved it. 

I told a couple dozen deer cookers that i thought i was great but i was lying to make them feel good. Ive had it every way under the sun by many different people that have the "perfect" recipe. Unless its summer sausage or Jerky form, no thanks. Id rather go to the store and get beef

[fishinwrench]

If you truly enjoy venison then you'll like it simply rolled in flour and fried.  Maybe some salt/pepper.

All that extra malarkey that people go through before cooking it is because they want it to taste different than it actually does.  

[tjm]

2 hours ago, aarchdale@coresleep.com said:

Unless its summer sausage or Jerky form, no thanks.

That's stuff I won't eat.

"I told a couple dozen deer cookers that i thought i was great but i was lying to make them feel good.""

I never told them what it was til they had seconds. When I cook you either eat or don't and I don't care. I'm easy.

[Terrierman]

I prefer venison that's been handled like it was intended for human consumption to beef.  Do the tenderloins, backstraps like any good steak, cut about an inch thick then grilled medium rare.  Round steak floured and chicken fried.  The rest of the deer is ground into burger, taking care to eliminate any deer fat and tendons from the grind.  I like pork fat at about 15% over beef tallow.

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, fishinwrench said:

If you truly enjoy venison then you'll like it simply rolled in flour and fried.  Maybe some salt/pepper.

All that extra malarkey that people go through before cooking it is because they want it to taste different than it actually does.  

I do enjoy cooking venison but not frying it like a chicken fried steak. Not all cuts will be good cooked that way. It will just be tough and difficult to cook it well. How about just salt pepper and lost a little oil in a cast iron pan until medium rare. No extra malarkey. Is delicious to me. Again only certain cuts will work with this type of cooking. I will use venison for a lot of recipes not to cover the taste but to enjoy it even more.  Actually much more a versatile meat than most folks give it credit. 

I have always processed my own deer.. I get rid of all the fat and silverskin that I can which will remove the gamey taste. I wrap the meat tightly in plastic wrap then butcher paper. I have pulled out "lost" pieces from the freezer that were more than a year ago and still don't have a gamey flavor.

[tjm]

5 hours ago, MrGiggles said:

You want to share your process?

Not really a process, but guide lines. (works for goat too)

Because deer don't always bleed out, the taste can often be improved with a soak in salt water prior to cooking to remove that blood, fat or tallow can taste off and a cup of apple or wine vinegar in that salt soak can kill or off set that taste. An hour or two in the "marinade"  should get most of the blood out, but over night is fine too.  But, back to processing, never let the hair touch the meat, cut out any torn up or dirty meat from wound area and cavity, bone out,  remove as much fat as possible, remove all the silverskin, take out as many tendons as you can, avoid using a bone saw as bone dust is not tasty. Because the silverskin is  inedible,  nasty tasting and it surrounds every muscle, the final cuts will often be rather small, perhaps bite size, I "fry" these but they make great stew also. The back straps and tender lion are most prized simply because they don't require as much care with fat, silverskin or tendons, they'll also make the biggest pieces

The actual cooking is best done slowly imo. but a flour/salt/black pepper dredge  and a frying pan/skillet is a good start, just don't actually fry it. At the end of cooking, tossing a 1/2 cup of water into the pan and covering  on reduced heat for a few minutes can get a good result.

Domestic animals are usually bled out in the killing/butchering process, it's why you stick a pig for  example.  Or decapitating a chicken. Beef have such large muscles that the silverskin is negligible, so a processing plant never takes it into consideration.