I wanted to know what some of you do once your deer is cut up. I have someone who says to soak it in ice water over nite and another who likes to put it in water and vinegar. So whats the best way to age it or get the wild taste out of it.
Aging your deer meat
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The best way to keep the gamey taste out is to properly field dress it and take care of the meat while quartering..the gamey flavor is from the meat not being handled properly.Other than that I have never soaked a deer in anything and fed alot of people who have never eaten venison and loved it.
Smell the meat as you go it should have no bad odor and once the meat is greyish its done with!field dress deer immediatly after finding and dont butcher the field dressing get it out neat and rinse..Keep cool...when you are ready you should have healthy red meat with no smell which= no soak!!
As usual just my uneducated bowhunters guess!
Smell the meat as you go it should have no bad odor and once the meat is greyish its done with!field dress deer immediatly after finding and dont butcher the field dressing get it out neat and rinse..Keep cool...when you are ready you should have healthy red meat with no smell which= no soak!!
As usual just my uneducated bowhunters guess!
Choptank hit it on the nead. thre is no game taste to deer. Bad taste is caused by poor care of the deer after the kill not poor processing. I leave "NO" fat or sinue in any of my meat. Ground is mixed with a generous portion of pork but. I just bought a new grinder from Cabelas and can't wait to use it.
The trick to getting good venison is to trim off all fat when butchering. the first thing I do after hanging and cooling is to trim off every bit of fat from the carcass ( a lot harder with does than bucks). After cutting the meat off, there will still be more fat to trim off the pieces. I then grind up pure beef fat (suet) and mix 10% with the venison burger.
Deer fat is hard and coats your mouth when you eat it. It also is where any gamey flavor comes from. In any meat, most of the flavor comes from the fat, not the muscle. When you add beef fat, the venison basically tastes like regular hamburger.
Deer fat is hard and coats your mouth when you eat it. It also is where any gamey flavor comes from. In any meat, most of the flavor comes from the fat, not the muscle. When you add beef fat, the venison basically tastes like regular hamburger.
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choptank is right on - proper butchering will remove any gamey taste. That smell in taste is from glands that you'll find in fat lines between the muscles. Some butchers may grind those things up, which will really taint the product. I don't cut my venison with anything at all - trick is to mix some onions and peppers in for burgers to keep it moist (and to never cook past medium!).
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The guy i take mine to hangs the deer 10 days in a walk in box before butchering it the way you want it.
Best deer meat i've ever ate.
Runs it threw a tenderiser and double raps it all for $40
Best deer meat i've ever ate.
Runs it threw a tenderiser and double raps it all for $40
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There was a very good article in Outdoor life that adressed this very issue. FDollowing are the highlights from memeory andf I have used them for years with NO ISSUES.
1. Begin with a quick kill to minimize the amount of adrenaline in the meat.
2. Field dress ASAP and cool meat ASAPer. Get the hide off if it is warm.
3. IF you intend to hang the meat to cure, then I have used the following rule based on the article. 55 degrees can hang 1 day MAX. Every five degrees below that you can go one additional day until you hit 35-40 degrees at which point you can go a week to 10 days.
4. A good suggestion was that if you want to age the meat do when you are thawing it out in the rerigerator. Cool it and butcher immediatley and then let it age in the refrig. for a few days.
CUT ALL THE FAT AND SILVER SKIN OFF OF ALL MEAT BEFOREYOU FREEZE NOT AFTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. Begin with a quick kill to minimize the amount of adrenaline in the meat.
2. Field dress ASAP and cool meat ASAPer. Get the hide off if it is warm.
3. IF you intend to hang the meat to cure, then I have used the following rule based on the article. 55 degrees can hang 1 day MAX. Every five degrees below that you can go one additional day until you hit 35-40 degrees at which point you can go a week to 10 days.
4. A good suggestion was that if you want to age the meat do when you are thawing it out in the rerigerator. Cool it and butcher immediatley and then let it age in the refrig. for a few days.
CUT ALL THE FAT AND SILVER SKIN OFF OF ALL MEAT BEFOREYOU FREEZE NOT AFTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Dressing, hanging, and cooking deer has to have as much folk lore and myths as hunting the beasts.........but I guess that is part of the fun. This is probably why small game hunting is not as popular......nobody asks these questions about squirrels!!
I dont think much of it matters..........but some of it should.
I dont think hanging a deer does much for the meat in my experience, November is usually pretty warm during the day.....flies, bacteria, meat dries out....can't be good!!
I would rather age it / marinate during the controlled thaw of the refrigerater.
As for taste......as already said.......IT IS ALL ABOUT THE FAT.
We dont referer to them as juicy steaks for nothing. But our domesticated friends are different.
DONT EAT/COOK DEER FAT!!
DONT EAT/COOK DUCK FAT!! nasty!!
My Grandfather cooked the best damn deer steaks I ever ate......I never got to get the actual recipe.
But I think he dredged the steaks in seasoned flour and then pan fried them in bacon grease......everything tastes good in bacon grease. But my heart prefers another recipe.
Mark
I dont think much of it matters..........but some of it should.
I dont think hanging a deer does much for the meat in my experience, November is usually pretty warm during the day.....flies, bacteria, meat dries out....can't be good!!
I would rather age it / marinate during the controlled thaw of the refrigerater.
As for taste......as already said.......IT IS ALL ABOUT THE FAT.
We dont referer to them as juicy steaks for nothing. But our domesticated friends are different.
DONT EAT/COOK DEER FAT!!
DONT EAT/COOK DUCK FAT!! nasty!!
My Grandfather cooked the best damn deer steaks I ever ate......I never got to get the actual recipe.
But I think he dredged the steaks in seasoned flour and then pan fried them in bacon grease......everything tastes good in bacon grease. But my heart prefers another recipe.
Mark
[Q]MarkTakacs originally wrote:
Dressing, hanging, and cooking deer has to have as much folk lore and myths as hunting the beasts.........but I guess that is part of the fun. This is probably why small game hunting is not as popular......nobody asks these questions about squirrels!!
I dont think much of it matters..........but some of it should.
I dont think hanging a deer does much for the meat in my experience, November is usually pretty warm during the day.....flies, bacteria, meat dries out....can't be good!!
I would rather age it / marinate during the controlled thaw of the refrigerater.
As for taste......as already said.......IT IS ALL ABOUT THE FAT.
We dont referer to them as juicy steaks for nothing. But our domesticated friends are different.
DONT EAT/COOK DEER FAT!!
DONT EAT/COOK DUCK FAT!! nasty!!
My Grandfather cooked the best damn deer steaks I ever ate......I never got to get the actual recipe.
But I think he dredged the steaks in seasoned flour and then pan fried them in bacon grease......everything tastes good in bacon grease. But my heart prefers another recipe.
Mark
[/Q]
Great advice. Wrap em in bacon! Honestly though. Deer tastes like deer. Fortunately, I like the taste of venison. If the taste of venison is what you want to get rid of then the best advice I have for you is to shoot fawns. Other than that.. the advice already mentioned ( fat, proper care, temp...etc...)
Dressing, hanging, and cooking deer has to have as much folk lore and myths as hunting the beasts.........but I guess that is part of the fun. This is probably why small game hunting is not as popular......nobody asks these questions about squirrels!!
I dont think much of it matters..........but some of it should.
I dont think hanging a deer does much for the meat in my experience, November is usually pretty warm during the day.....flies, bacteria, meat dries out....can't be good!!
I would rather age it / marinate during the controlled thaw of the refrigerater.
As for taste......as already said.......IT IS ALL ABOUT THE FAT.
We dont referer to them as juicy steaks for nothing. But our domesticated friends are different.
DONT EAT/COOK DEER FAT!!
DONT EAT/COOK DUCK FAT!! nasty!!
My Grandfather cooked the best damn deer steaks I ever ate......I never got to get the actual recipe.
But I think he dredged the steaks in seasoned flour and then pan fried them in bacon grease......everything tastes good in bacon grease. But my heart prefers another recipe.
Mark
[/Q]
Great advice. Wrap em in bacon! Honestly though. Deer tastes like deer. Fortunately, I like the taste of venison. If the taste of venison is what you want to get rid of then the best advice I have for you is to shoot fawns. Other than that.. the advice already mentioned ( fat, proper care, temp...etc...)
The butcher that hangs the meat to age it prob. turns out a great product. We had a cold box that we hold the deer in at about 35-40f for a good week, then its cut,wrap and freeze. If you go to some of the best steak and chop houses that offer top grade dry aged beef then you'll know what I'm talking about. The longer you allow the enzymes to break down the connective tissue the better the meat, the trick is not to let it spoil. The meat will continue to break down untill you arrest the process by deep freezing and killing the natural enzymes. I dont belive the meat will "age" after being frozen, so the care and handleing prior to processsing is your best chance to get a great product. Its similar to having a cast on your arm and just not using those muscles, they will atrophy and become soft and weak. If you take an animal that may have been running prior to the kill or after the shot (esp. if hound hunting) those muscles are pumped and by immediatly butchering and freezing the meat they will remain in that state untill you thaw it and flop it on the grill, tough and loaded with lactic acids and various other fluids.
So whats the rush? Let that meat hang to a point right before it wants to spoil. Thats when its at its most tender state and given up a good bit of its water and fluids. Deer season wouldnt be the same if I wasnt pokin my head into deer rib cages to give them a good sniff check to see if I can let them go another day. It prob. wont make a difference to ground meat or sausage, but if you enjoy a great venison steak on the charcoal like I do then it certainly does!
So whats the rush? Let that meat hang to a point right before it wants to spoil. Thats when its at its most tender state and given up a good bit of its water and fluids. Deer season wouldnt be the same if I wasnt pokin my head into deer rib cages to give them a good sniff check to see if I can let them go another day. It prob. wont make a difference to ground meat or sausage, but if you enjoy a great venison steak on the charcoal like I do then it certainly does!
Go back and read Done Workin's post again! It's about perfect. I'm not a big beleiver in aging. Maybe it's because I dson't have the facilities to do it.
Only thing I would add is to final trim all the slimey stuff or anything that aint meat right before it goes into the pot or dish being cooked. Then your home free.
Only thing I would add is to final trim all the slimey stuff or anything that aint meat right before it goes into the pot or dish being cooked. Then your home free.
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Finfinder you're right. The best beef is aged AT LEAST a week, the preferred is somewhere around 35-38 degrees and I think 50-60 % humidity. Just don't let it freeze.
Personally speaking if I can hang it in a temperature safe environment for a few days or a week, I will and do. If I can't, then I let it sit in the refrig for a few days on slow thaw and then maybe a few more.
Kill it and cool it quick.
Personally speaking if I can hang it in a temperature safe environment for a few days or a week, I will and do. If I can't, then I let it sit in the refrig for a few days on slow thaw and then maybe a few more.
Kill it and cool it quick.
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My understanding is that proper UV lighting is also needed for hanging extended periods. We have a cooler @ our camp set up for 35-40 deg. where guys hang their deer some up to 7 days.
With the door being opened / closed several times during the day it doesn't seem to regulate temp. like it should & our 1 uv light doesn't really do anything so for our set-up its actually not recommended to hang more than 4-5 days. After a week + I've seen mold start growing on the meat.
Just tried a new trick by injecting the loins w/ teriyaki and freezing in a vacume bag. Grill med. rare & serve w/ a teriyaki dipping sauce ....... WOW !
With the door being opened / closed several times during the day it doesn't seem to regulate temp. like it should & our 1 uv light doesn't really do anything so for our set-up its actually not recommended to hang more than 4-5 days. After a week + I've seen mold start growing on the meat.
Just tried a new trick by injecting the loins w/ teriyaki and freezing in a vacume bag. Grill med. rare & serve w/ a teriyaki dipping sauce ....... WOW !
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310 Posts
RJW,
Be sure not to soak the meat in H20 because if you have any contaminants on a particular piece of the meat it will be spread around. Same thing can happen in a cooler so its best to have the water drain open so any melting ice will not cause the same scenario.
Russ
Be sure not to soak the meat in H20 because if you have any contaminants on a particular piece of the meat it will be spread around. Same thing can happen in a cooler so its best to have the water drain open so any melting ice will not cause the same scenario.
Russ
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