ng30345

Although there are always opinions, here's a great way to easily get the gamey taste out of venison.

cataway

i found that a Crockpot and onion soup works very well

Tundra10

I like eating and tasting deer.

Uncle Nicky

Trim all the fat & silverskin off, that's 1/2 the battle.

Tundra10

yeh but it 'll still taste like what it is

I enjoy eating what I've harvested. Sure you can fix it so it don't taste like what it is, but why?

Uncle Nicky

True enough, but it was like a lightbulb going on inside my head when I realized that the "candlewax" taste that venison had when my mother used to cook deer steak was a result of leaving the fat on the meat (my father used to go to a processor).

The taste of deer is OK with me, same with geese or bluefish...but there are other things I'd eat first, given my choice. I take pride in fixing dinner & seeing the whole family (even the Mrs) polish their plates when venison is on the menu, and I've either created or borrowed recipes that make deer meat taste a little more mainstream.

MZS

My strategy has always been to strive for a clean shot and clean field dressing. Then make sure the meat is chilled as soon as possible. If it is warm weather, I quarter the deer and place in the freezer right after skinning and process the next day (no "aging" at all). If cold (under 40) I let it hang for a day or two and then process. Once, a guy shooting damage control deer gave me some that was harvested in hot summer weather and not properly cooled - it had a bad smell to it and I had to discard it. For sure, getting as much fat out also helps, as mentioned. Another factor is deer diet - deer from swampy forested areas with little or no hay, corn, or agricultural crops will have a wilder taste than deer from farming areas.

Since the whole CWD thing I have been deboning the meat and we either make stew, steaks, loin, or I have it mixed at a reputable butcher with quality beef. One would be very hard pressed to distinguish our deer meat from beef except that it is leaner and actually tastes better!

ng30345

Yes, the clean shot is a great idea. Supposedly a clean shot prevents the release of adrenaline which people have always talked about as adding to the gamey taste. I wish I had a way to hang a deer in 40 degree weather. We dont really have a place to do something like that.

jrbsr

Soak it in milk 30 minutes to overnight before cooking.
That is what I do.
I soak deer in 2% milk at least 30 minutes before cooking it.
It works for me.

HuntAway

Might just as well set it in a tub of water. He may be aging it but from what I read he is blanching the meat. I think the taste would be rather bland doing this. Even beef has flavour and is not subjected to that kind of treatment.

You want good venison? Quick kill. Field dress asap. Keep the carcass clean. Skin asap. De-fat/ de-silverskin it. Cool the meat asap 32-34'F. If you want to age the meat, age it at 32-34'F and whatever the percentage of humidty and amount of draft on the meat as required for optimum ageing(google it). After ageing, trim, De-bone wrap and freeze.

Except for the ageing part, I try to do all of the above. I hunt bush deer (no farms in 20 miles) and they are every bit as good as their southern bretheren that eat soya beans and corn. My sister say's they taste wild..... She was used to the way my father used to take care of their deer at the "hunt camp". I gave her husband some meat done the way we process our "Northern" deer and she could not tell the difference. My mother used to soak roasts in salt and water overnight for the same reason.

Taste has very much to do with how they are prepared for the freezer. I will never take any meat to a butcher to process. They hang and freeze what they get and you get what you gave them. Hair, fat, bones and dirt included.

HA