Venison - Always Tough Meat?The first place to handle problems with tough meat and an off-flavor is in the field. The best deer for the table is a young doe rather than a big buck, because tenderness decreases as age increases. Taking a good shot in the field is important. The gaminess of deer meat is directly related to how much the animal runs after being hit. Panicked deer flood their bodies with adrenaline when they’re in danger. Their heart races and blood pours into their muscles. The extra blood helps rev up the muscles for flight but produces lactic and pyruvic acids in return. These acids, extra blood and adrenaline are the major reasons why venison may taste wild or gamy. Field dressing your deer as soon as possible will remove most of the blood from the carcass. |
Removing Fat Game meats are apt to be drier and less tender than meats of domestic animals, but richer in flavor. It is generally agreed that strong flavors are more pronounced in the fat of game species, so the trimming of fat from a carcass of individual cut can be important. The fat from large game animals such as deer, moose, or elk is highly saturated so it should always be served piping hot or very cold to avoid the clinging of fat to the mouth and the greasy taste. Since game meats have little fat covering, you may need to add cream, lard, butter or other cooking oils to maintain the juiciness of the meat. Venison is a dry meat, so add a basting sauce, or place bacon strips over the roast as a self-baste method. |
Don't Overcook Do NOT overcook. Deer meat has a tendency to become less tender very quickly if overcooked or cooked at too high a temperature. How long to cook venison depends on the animal's age. Oven temperature for roasts is about 350 degrees F and cook to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F. Use a meat
thermometer, if possible, to judge the doneness of game roast. It's best to roast game to a minimum internal temperature of 160ºF to destroy parasites that might be present. Plan to serve venison medium to well-done, never rare or over-done. |
Cook Like Low Grade Beef Cook the same as low grade beef. The tender cuts like loin chops can be broiled or roasted. Steaks and chops retain more juice if the cuts are thick (1-1 1/4"). Round deer steaks are best when cooked by moist heat - stewing, braising, Swiss steak style or pot roasting. Use the less tender cuts for stew and grinding meat. |
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DEER COOKING CHARTS AND RECOMMENDED METHODS OF COOKING
If you want to cook Venison - Then you need to check this page out!!  |
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Marinade Tips and Recipes |
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| Use mild vegetable acid to tenderize. Vinegar, tomato sauce, and some French dressing sauces are good for tenderizing. Cover the meat with the marinating sauces. Only marinade in the refrigerator for a maximum of 24 hours. After marinating longer than 24 hours, the meats tends to get mushy. Other marinades that work well with venison are: |
2 cups vinegar, 2 cups water, 1/2 cup sugar
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Reduce the sugar in sauce recipes. Venison's natural flavor is sweeter than other meat, therefore, sauces developed for beef may be too sweet.
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French dressing
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Tomato sauce or undiluted tomato soup
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Tomato juice
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Milk
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Fruit juice (such as lemon, pineapple, or a mixture of many juices)
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1/4 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup cooking oil, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/4 tsp garlic salt
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2 cups water, 2 cups vinegar, 1-2 tbsp sugar, 4 bay leaves, 1 tsp salt, 12 whole cloves, 1 tsp allspice, 3 medium sized onions, sliced
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Garlic salt, salt, and pepper to taste and equal parts of: Worcestershire sauce and two of your favorite steak sauces. This gives a blend of flavors and also is excellent for basting game roasts or thick steaks during cooking.
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2 tbsp vinegar, 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger, 1 clove garlic, minced, 2 tbsp brown sugar, 1/2 cup soy sauce, 3/4 cup vegetable oil
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| Commercial Marinades: |
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Adding Fat and Freezing Tips
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Pork fat or beef fat improves the palatability. Pork fat may be preferred to improve flavor, but beef fat will increase freezer storage time. Mix 15% pork or beef fat with ground game and 35% pork fat with fresh game sausage.
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Freezing meat before sausage is made insures that it will be free from live parasites which are sometimes found in game meat.
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Limit fresh game to 8 months frozen storage and seasoned or cured game to 4 months frozen storage.
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We have 12 books and videos on field dressing, skinning, processing, tanning, and cooking deer on our Book Store Pages Deer 1 and Deer 2!
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Are you planning on making your own deer sausage this year?
Then check out the following pages to learn more!
How To Make Deer Sausage
Deer Sausage Seasonings
Deer Sausage Casings
Forschner Boning Knives for Deboning Your Deer
Deer Cutting Diagrams
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Are you concerned about CWD (Chronic Wasting Disease) this year?
Find out the important facts about CWD on this page! We now have a PDF file from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture
that has a diagram of a deer's lymph nodes, spleen, tonsils, and spinal cord.
Just click on the link below, include your name and address, and I will e-mail this file FREE!
Send me the CWD Deer Diagram FREE! |
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Last Updated:
Monday, February 11, 2019 09:59 PM |
