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Preparing Deer meat

Started by woodbowl, October 02, 2005, 06:31:46 PM

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woodbowl

I will confess...........but I will not conclude, not yet anyway.  I keep trying to give deer meat one more chance to be just half the great taste of what I hear others rave it is.  smiley_antlers Maybe We didn't fix it right, maybe we didn't add the right seasonings, maybe we didn't cook it long enough, maybe we didn't get a young and tender enough deer. Maybe all the other chances that I've had to eat deer meat was a coincidental happening and I've not had it fixed the right way YET! Truth is, all the deer meat that I've eaten over the years, (with the exception of a few cuts of back strap or tenderloin, don't know why)  has a whang taste of how guts smell.  smiley_mad_crazy I've been told over and over that I've just not had it fixed like THEY fix it because they grill it or wrap it in bacon, mix it with pork, add their secret ingredient, grind it into hamburger, bleed it real well, soak it for days in ice water,  pour off the blood and add more ice. HELP........rescue me from bad cooks or is it disobedient taste buds?
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

Dan_Shade

I'm with ya, but I got some in the freezer regardless, it's cheap eatin, that's supposedly good better for you.

I make it into balogna, grind it into hamburger for stew and such.  the roasts/steaks, well, that's not my thing :)
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gary

The first thing you want to do is skin the deer as soon as possible. I will let my deer hang for seven days if the weather permits. This makes a big difference in how the meat tastes.  When you process the deer or before cooking remove all the shiney membrane on the outside of the meat that is what gives it that after taste.  The meat should not be cooked well done rare or medium rare will give you the best flavor. I use lawery's seasoned salt and garlic powder as my seasonings.

Minnesota_boy

As soon as possible ai get the hide off that deer.  That hair that covers the animal and keeps it warm in winter will also keep the meat warm for many hours, which causes some of the taste you object to.  The meat itself smells and tastes different than beef and if you've been brought up on beef, you may just not care for the taste of the venison.
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Radar67

I grind all of mine into burger, except the back strap (tenderloin). I use Cavander's Greek seasoning on that, either on the grill or in the oven. I use the ground meat in anything that would normally require hamburger. Tacos are great with deer burger.
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beenthere

Woodbowl
I've had bad tasting deer too. And that has been when it was butchered at a meat shop into steaks and chops like beef cuts - with the bone and fat still on it. After a couple times from a butcher shop, and opening a package of chops to find an oak leaf stuck to the meat, I said that's it, I will cut and wrap my own from now on.

That was in 1963, and I've butchered at least one to 5 deer a year since that time.
I bone the meat and separate all the muscles, removing every trace of fat that lays between the muscle groups. Then I separate the bigger muscles for steaks on the grill (cuts that will give me a 2" thick piece of meat by 2" wide, and I find that thick gives the best 'medium rare' steak).  The cuts that don't make grill meat, will be sliced and diced into 3/4" cubes and packaged for stew meat. Dear wife throws a pound package into the crockpot with a can of mushroom soup and cooks it most of the day. Thick gravy and tastes great. The remainder of meat scraps trimmed close is put aside for summer sausage preparation.
I don't grind any for hamburger, as I have found that there is a lingering 'gamey' taste when I do, that is not in any of the other cuts. I don't like the gamey flavor that comes from the bone and fat. Venison is very lean, without the marbeling like beef.
I never use any seasoning, but that doesn't mean it isn't okay to do it. I prefer venison over beef.
I've converted a lot of venison-haters with this method, and grilled is better than beef, IMO.  Hope this helps a bit.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Kirk_Allen

Hang, Hang it some more, and then Hang it just a little bit longer!   

The longer you can let the meat age the better it will taste.  Average temp should not be above 40 or below 30.  Makes it hard to do depending on where in the country you are located but I know I typically will let my gun season deer hang for 14 days or longer. 

TASTY!  TASTY!  TASTY!

We just finished building two more perminant stands to hang for this season.  Q-Sawn White Oak :o  Got to be the nicest stands in the state 8)

Larry

Due to our old Missouri laws we had to field dress the deer and run it to a check station which might be 20 or 30 miles away.  Might be hours or even the next day before the deer got skinned.  B-I-L in Texas, where they have different laws taught me to skin the deer first, field dress, bone out the meat, and put it on ice in the chest.  Hour elapsed from kill to ice chest.  Huge difference in taste.  Missouri has changed it's laws so we will have a chance to try it this year.  Guess I am saying the same as MB and gary have already said.

Another lesson learned is to not saw through the bones...bone it all out and toss the muscle.

Third thought is only to put the best cuts into steaks and roasts.  Use the rest for jerky, chili, or stew meat.
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Norm

Best advice is to get it skinned and cooled down fast, if you are in a warm climate it's harder than here in the great white north. Now some deer just plain taste strong. I got an eight point buck last year that was really good eating, not much later a yearling doe, the doe was so strong I ended up eating the loins and throwing out the rest. Both were neck shots and never ran more than 50 yards.

Still deer is different flavored and not like any other meat you will buy, some like it and others don't.

WV_hillbilly

  I too get the hide off as fast as I can  , Usually within 1 - 2 hours and get them chilled down like Kirk said . I also buther all of my deer by boning out the entire deer . The only time a saw touches the carcass is when all edible meat has been removed . I have only had a few deer taste real strong in the last 15 years . Some were stronger than others but still edible .Only had 4 that were discarded out of close to 100 .  I usually put 6 in the freezer plus about 150 lbs of deer sausage every year .

One was a young  doe that I shot from the back end to the front end ( texas heart shot ) you know about 2 " below the tail   . It was a real mess to field dress ,i will never do that again .  The other  3    I  attribute the  taste to bad angle shots also . .

  I have fooled many people with deer meat ,over the years but most of the meat was from  small does or button bucks . Cause I knew most of them would be hard to fool .   
Hillbilly

Corley5

Growing up we had a beef butchered evey fall and at least two and usually more deer were added to freezer with it.  We processed our own venison.  Most was mixed with beef suet and ground into burger for chili, spaghetti, tacos etc.  We never let a deer hang very long because if it froze it was real pain in the butt to deal with.  Several deer froze solid over night hanging in the barn and a frozen carcass is not fun to pull the hide from.  Mom was never happy when the quarters had to be brought into the basement to thaw so we could cut them up. ;) ;D  The last few years Dad has had his deer processed by a neighbor who does a real nice job.  All the meat is boned and trimmed very well.  We've had good deer and bad deer.  Some were real mild and others strong.  I'm not much of venison eater anymore.  Given a choice between a piece of well well marbled beef or a lean chewy piece of venison the beef wins out every time :)  I do raid Dads venison stash in the spring for my yearly meal of morels and venison steak ;D 8) :) 8) 8)  I prefer the steaks fried in real butter in a cast iron skillet with pepper and Lawry's but a beef steak cooked the same way....... ;)
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Woodcarver

Venison from a deer that has been feeding in corn and alfalfa fields will have a much better flavor than one that has been spending all of it's time in a cedar swamp.  Diet definitely affects the taste.
Just an old dog learning new tricks.......Woodcarver

Engineer

Best way I've found to deal w/ venison is to run it over with your truck on a cold and snowy evening in early January, bring it home and gut/skin it immediately, and let it hang for a few days just above freezing.  Grill steaks on a flat top with lots of onions and some Lawry's, serve immediately.     ;D

Don't ask me how I know this.   8)

DanG

My favorite way to cook it is to cube it with a knife.  Just go whackity-whack on it for a while on both sides.  Then soak(marinate) it overnight in milk.  Flour it and fry it like chicken with the seasoning of your choice. ;D
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brdmkr

First, the backstrap and the tenderloin are the best cuts!  Often, I keep those and give the rest away.  It seems it is just too much work to process and too expensive to pay someone to work up for me.  One thing that I have found that helps some is to remove the glands near the bone in the hind quaterers.  Some people will cut the hind quarters into steaks with a saw. leaving the bone in.  These cuts really taste strong to me.  I debone and remove these glands (they are about half the size of a marble and gray in color).  It seems to help some.
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farmerdoug

When I was a kid we butchered a farm raised beef and two hogs every year.  Since I started hunting deer has been our staple meat.  ;) I eat little beef and so much venison that I like venison better but the deer around here eat like the cows so there is little difference in the taste to me.  I process the deer myself and put up 6-8 deer a season in the freezer and jerky.  I have shot as many as 25 deer in one year but that was a job just finding people that wanted it.  I usually shoot 8-10 deer a season.  8) I was talking to a friends son today that bow hunts on our farm and he said that he has killed 8 deer already(he is 14).  I told him that I have lost track of my deer kills as it is almosk a job in the fall now.  He asked what I thought I have shot.  I told him that I quit counting at 200 and figure that I am up in the 400s somewhere now.  :o As you can see venison is the meat at our house. ;D  

Our deer are corn and sweet corn fed.  8) Food makes a difference in the taste of the meat.  Once my mom threw a case of soft onions to the pigs that we were raising to butcher.  We killed one two weeks later and the meat tasted strongly of onion all winter. ::) 

We marinate the steaks and roasts too.

Farmerdoug
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woodbowl

Quote from: gary on October 02, 2005, 06:53:31 PM
The first thing you want to do is skin the deer as soon as possible. I will let my deer hang for seven days if the weather permits.
Quote from: Minnesota_boy on October 02, 2005, 06:56:45 PM
As soon as possible ai get the hide off that deer.
Quote from: Kirk Allen on October 02, 2005, 07:23:41 PM
Hang, Hang it some more, and then Hang it just a little bit longer!

Quote from: Norm_F. on October 02, 2005, 08:09:03 PM
Best advice is to get it skinned and cooled down fast, Now some deer just plain taste strong.
Quote from: beenthere on October 02, 2005, 07:14:41 PM

I've had bad tasting deer too.
I bone the meat and separate all the muscles, removing every trace of fat that lays between the muscle groups.
Quote from: gary on October 02, 2005, 06:53:31 PM
When you process the deer or before cooking remove all the shiney membrane on the outside of the meat that is what gives it that after taste.
OK, I will reconsider eating deer again. The thin membrain that Gary is talking about is everywhere on the meat. When I get a gift of deer meat from my neighbor already in the dish pan you don't say nuthin' about the way it is cut. I am assuming that you want to bone it but keep the muscle groups intact in the tube form to get the membrain off. If it is cut across the grain it would seem to be hard to do. Either way, the little bit that I have done was a tedious pain. After a while I give up and cut it up anyway. Does anyone leave the membrain and have good end results?
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

Kirk_Allen

Get rid of all the membrane you can and remove all the silver skin that is attached to the muscle.

If you still have a gamey tast you can try my cure all for those who HATE deer.

Cube about 2 lbs of deer meat.  ANY deer meat.  Brown in a skillet then at 1 large can of V8.  Place in a crock pot for 6 hours on high.  Then add the following: (Fresh Vegies are best)
1 can of corn
1 can of grean beans
1 can of carrots
1 can of peas
1 package of powerderd stew mix
Add 3-6 cups of water (depends on amount of potatoes)
serveral pototatoes cut into bite size pieces.
Pepper to taste.

Let that simer on low for another 6-8 hours.

Youl will now have THE BEST DEER STEW IN THE WORLD!  TRUST ME! 

beenthere

I usually take that membrane off the piece of meat just before grilling (sometimes when butchering as well). I start removing it with a sharp knife, then flip it over and slide the knife along the cutting board just like fileting skin off a fish. The sharp knife seems to slide right along that layer of membrane.

Now I will agree with Kirk that that stew will be the best for those around the table. I use to take it to deer camp where I was cook for 30 years (now THAT was an experience.  Once I felt sorry for them, when I cooked the canadian bacon in Joy liquid dish soap thinking it was oil. Hmmm? I wondered why it frothed up in the frying pan, but went ahead and fried some eggs in it too. Then my hunting partner sat down to eat first, and he was the type who wolfed his food. He wolfed the canadian bacon, while I finished serving up my bacon and eggs. After swallowing his bacon and starting on the eggs, he said something tasted funny and strange...I had just popped a bite of bacon in... ;D and then it 'dawned' on me that I had asked dear wife to send along some dish soap to do dishes. The oil and dish soap were in the same type of container!  :D Poor hunting partner had that taste all day long, and I didn't live it down either.  :o We had some good laughs about what he did in the woods all day long. :D :D ::)).
Anyone looking for a 'clean' camp cook? ???

south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

woodbowl

Quote from: beenthere on October 02, 2005, 10:35:06 PM
I usually take that membrane off the piece of meat just before grilling (sometimes when butchering as well). I start removing it with a sharp knife, then flip it over and slide the knife along the cutting board just like fileting skin off a fish. The sharp knife seems to slide right along that layer of membrane.



Now............that membrane................there is the slimy, transparent tissue covering the meat, that the hair, trash and everything else wants to stick to. Then there is the white tuff (as I call it) undernieth all that. This eventually connects and turns into tenon. Are we removing all of this? It seems that there would be some meat wasted as it would stay on the membrane.
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

sjh

It is the tought white stuff that is the membrane. We cut our own and allways take that off.
I have a bucher book and it says to debone and defat the deer. That is what makes them gamey. Another thing is how the deer was hung up. Some peaple have a wierd ( in my opinion) idea that you hang them head up. That puts the blood in the hind end.
I like it with garlic or grilled with italian dressing.

beenthere

Quote from: woodbowl on October 02, 2005, 11:10:01 PM
Now............that membrane................there is the slimy, transparent tissue covering the meat, that the hair, trash and everything else wants to stick to. Then there is the white tuff (as I call it) undernieth all that. This eventually connects and turns into tenon. Are we removing all of this? It seems that there would be some meat wasted as it would stay on the membrane.
Quote

Yes, that is the membrane and I remove all of it. It connects the muscle to the tendons. If careful and with a sharp, thin butcher knife, there is very little meat wasted. And the meat is then much more presentable to the guests of the house before going to the grill. It gets better after that  :D
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

woodbowl

Quote from: beenthere on October 03, 2005, 12:10:38 AM


Yes, that is the membrane and I remove all of it. It connects the muscle to the tendons. If careful and with a sharp, thin butcher knife, there is very little meat wasted. And the meat is then much more presentable to the guests of the house before going to the grill. It gets better after that  :D
Well.........I feel better now! I've always ate that thinking it to be a shame to waste good food. I did try to get the slime off but didn't know about the white membrane. I sorta' feel like I've been eatin' the feathers, guts and scales without knowing it.
Full time custom sawing at the customers site since 1995.  WoodMizer LT40 Super Hyd.

gary

Even if  I lose an 1/8 of an inch of meat on every piece getting the membane off. I think it is worth it to get the the best flavor.

Jeff

beenthere, a copy of that belongs in the funny story thread! :D
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