Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

It has become an annual ritual in my household, I shoot a doe early in the season, butcher it up and put it in the freezer. After a month or so thewife takes out some of the burger or roast and cooks it up and the kitchen smells like venison and the kids won't eat it. Wonder what we did wrong and the meat goes untouched until the start of the next season when it is time to clean out the freezer. I feel bad throwing it out so I give it one more chance and now 9 months later it's perfect. Can't smell a thing when it's cooked and the kids love it. We eat every last package.Took some to work and the 3 people that tried it thoughtI had mistakenly grabbed beef. So my question is does the time in the freezer help tame the flavor?

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

My venison is great from the start. Do you do your own butchering? I do my own and take extra care to remove all the fat,blue membrane and sinew before freezing. Most butcher just can't take the time to butcher in this manner and keep the cost reasonable. They tend to band saw up a deer , wrap it up then freeze it. The gamey and bad taste is concentrated in the fat, bone dust and marrow adds more bad flavours. It could be your first package might have had a lot of fat on it and the rest little or none. I can't see that freezing would alter the taste.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I butchered this deer on my own. Took real good care to cut out the silver/blue stuff etc. We were really disappointed with our first tastes of the burger and roasts since I put a lot of effort into it. As gamey as the first meals were, the meals 9 months later were superb. The first roast my wife made in a slow cooker and I no more than walked in the door from work and announced "venison tonite huh". The roast she just made I had finished nearly all of it before she asked how I liked the "beef"...which I thought was fine and she then told me it was venison. I really wish I could figure out what happened. The burger I ground was pure venison, no pork or anything added, no one could even taste a hint of gaminess.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

venison burgers are not very good, you have to grind it with some beef or beef fat. Or use it for spaghetti or chili or manwiches. But when you brown the meat make sure to drain off all the stock and rinse with water and drain again, deer stock isnt very good, nothing like beef stock.
I also find that deer frozen for a while tastes better. I make my sausage at the beginning of deer season using all last years deer meat and comes out best doing it that way.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I use all my ground meat for tacos, chiles and the like. My brotheralso mix some pork w/ ground meat and his burgers aren't bad. We also use that vacum sealer, it keeps meat longer and no freezer burn.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I do dot know what kind of weather you have down there but up here we can let them hang for a few days which helps quite a bit. Also when making burger put in some ends from bacon when you grind it up instead of beef suite.. At least try a little with the bacon and see what you think..

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

Maybe a piece that should have been thrown away somehow ended up in the grind pile and you just happen to grab that pkg.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I don't know the answer to that question. I do know that my experience with freshly harvested venison is that it's gamey and none of us like the smell or taste (though the smell makes it hard to give it a fair shake). I pulled out some venison backstrap the other day from last season and it was excellent and like beef in flavor. I did all of my own butchering, none went bad. I was very attentive to detail in the process.

I was wondering if it changed by spending close to a year in the deep freezer.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I've killed deer in the morning and had backstraps for supper the same day and also had ones that were vacum packed and frozen for 3 months and honestly I never noticed any difference in the taste. It's always good.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

While butchering I always have a skillet on the stove and taste/ eat as I cut.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

How do you hang your deer up heads down or heads ups?I hang my deer head down and hose the heck out of it with water and get it cooled down asap! It makes a huge difference!!! A buddy of mine gave me a doe he shot a couple of years ago that was a perfect double lunger. He hung the deer heads up and never rinsed her down at all and she tasted and smelled exactly what you are describing! Just trying to figure this out for you,let me know-Jason

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

Just my 2 cents. I have been shooting, hanging, butchering, and eating my own deer for almost 30 years. Right up front, I'll tell you that I am so used to venison, that beef smells funny to me.
(1) Kill the deer quickly, heart/lung shot. If they run a while with amarginal shot, the flavor doesNOT improve.
(2)Field dress them correctly, ASAP, without breaking the bladder, or leaving stuff inside that shouldn't be left, and get them in a place or posistion thatwill allow maximum cooling.
(3) Allow them to hang in a "controled" cooling enviroment. In my case, in the north, my garage will stay about 30-35 degrees, I let them hang for about a week before I touch them. If you can't do this because of temps, or whatever, go on line to any site, and check out meat processing, they will guide you through your own circumstances.
(4) I double wrap everything in freezer paper, and keep it in a non-defrosting feezer, the meat will stay good about twice as long as it will in a self-defrosting freezer. Hope this is of some help to someone.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I hate to put water in deer together, just not my way. I hang mine upside down as well. The thing I saw when i was younger makes me want to hang it that way. I saw a dog eat the hind quarters almost off a deer my grandfather had once. That dog was shot for that mistake. But it can happen at anytime when you least expect it. If it is to warm out I will put a block of ice in it while hanging though. As well as black pepper any place the meat is expossed or eye openings ect.. This will keep the blow flies away while it hangs. The block of ice normally will last over night which will give it time to cool down in a more natural way.. Deer will always taste better after you get the heat out of them..

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

Venison is like beer. The first time you take a sip it is horrible but the more you drink it the more you get use to it!!

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I agree with jecole360, eating venison is like beer , the more you eat the more you want.:)

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

They say with all meat your supposed to keep in the freezer for at least 30 days to kill all bacteria

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I can't wait, I'm frying and eating while I'm butchering.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

We butcher our own and it always tastes good. We grind our deer burger with nothing added. It is our favorite and we just use salt and pepper on the meat.

Here's what I do for great tasting venison.

1.A quick clean kill is mandatory.
2. Get the deer field dressed right away.
3. Get the heat out pronto. Spread the chest cavity, keep it open as wide as possibleand if it's cold enough letitair cool. If not, put ice in the cavity. Use game bags to keep flies off.
4.Clean the deer throughly. I use a hose to wash mine off.
5.When butchering don't let the meat get to warm.
6. Always wash the blood off while butchering. Some say water starts to deterioratethe meat, some don't. You make the choice. I don't believe it does.

As far as freezing meat killing bacteria, I know it does in pork.


Spudrow from Mo

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

Freezing doesn't kill many bacteria it just stops or slows down their reproduction. The best way is to keep your meat clean and get it cooled ASAP.
Freezing pork at -10 for 30 days results in "Certified pork" this is done to kill a parasite that could be in the meat thus enabling you to use the pork in a recipe that is not cooked such as a dried sausage. If you were tocook the meat the parasite would be killed

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I make burgers for me and my buddies all the time. My processor I use mixes beef fat with the ground meat. A couple of them claim to not like venison, so I don't tell them it is. They never can tell the difference and always enjoy them.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I made some hamburger, about 50% venison and 50% 80% lean ground beef, and it was very good...not gamey at all.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

heck guys,the first deer of the year we shoot,we fry up some of the backstrap and the heart that day, hmm pretty tasty.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I don't know about the whole time in the freezer thing, but you will get venison that tastes very differently depending on the geography where the deer is shot. I shoot midwest corn and soybean fed deer, they taste pretty much like lean beef. Zero gamey flavor...ever. Conversely, I have tasted deer shot in the north woods or in areas where they eat swamp browse and the flavor is very gamey, sometimes you can't be in the kitchen with it.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

Do your self a favor next time use 40 to 50% brisket mixed with it and you will have gourmet deer burger.....wala

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I've read somewhere that freezing for an extended period is like letting the carcass hang. Whether that's true, I don't know. You have some great venison after several months of sitting in the freezer...go with it. :D

I butcher mine as well, and I bone everything. I don't want the marrow or bits of bone to taint the meat. Make sure you're not getting any of the bloodshot pieces in with your buger, as it can make some people wretch. [:'(]

We eat plain deer burgers, no beef or pork mixed in...even the babies love it. As a matter of fact, my 2 year old granddaughter says, as she closes her eyes and sways her head back and forth, "Mmmm...that's good! Deer, nummy!" lol

We eat more deer than beef, so I guess we're a little biased. I have to admit, when we buy real butterit smells gamey to me! lol

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

Ya know, I have heard a lot of people say that deer is really gamey, but I have not noticed it in the flavor of the meat. The only off taste I have ever noticed is that "guts" smell and taste from where the guts were ruptured. The doe I shot last december was a liver/stomach shot. The stomach was nicked and the contents leaked out inside the deer a little. The guts smell and flavor was only on the flank meat, but after I washed and scrubbed it in cold water and added some garlic powder to it the taste and odor went away. I havenoticed that deer meat spoils fast and taints easy compared to some of the other animals I have shot. I have gut shot squirrels and carried them in my pack all day in the heat and they tasted fine, but dont EVER do a deer like that. When you shoot a deer you better be proper field dressing and dragging that thing out of the woods in a hurry. I think venison is the best thing ever, but its very lean and hard to get a good filling out of it. I dont know how people used to live offof it.

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

Personally never noticed a difference in flavor from fresh to old venison. I agree you probably got a package that had was tainted slightly and therefor threw the taste off. It happens I had a bad piece get through on some moose grind and ended up pitching about 5lbs as it threw it all off. I am extremely careful when butchering but mistakes happen afterall we're human;)!

I grew up in a family with butchers i was taught aging is stopped once frozen, so when I want to age meat further but the temp or conditions will not allow me to hang the carcass in a temp controlled enviroment, I simply fridge age it. This can be done prior to processing or after. Prior i will place quarters in a fridge for a few days then process, after i take the package out, make an air slit in the packaging and let it sit on a plate for upto a week. Prep for cooking; trim off any excess rot and you'll have extremely tender meat. You can also do a dry rub then cover with paper towel, change paper towel daily & trim off any excess rot. This is no different then the process to age domestic animals.

I wash down the carcass if needed. Most times it's simply to remove hairs from skinning, in this case I use clean rags using cold water and vinegar. Again I grew up in a butcher shop where we had a kill room (dressing), wash room for rinsing the carcass and then off to the cooler to hang or age the meat (beef, pork or venison).

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

I keep a skillet on the fire and am constantly frying, checking taste and texture. I lost 2lbs of grind the begining of the year due to bad tasting neck meat on a buck. When in doubt throw it out. After tasting.;)

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

All this talk of venison has me craving some...

I think there are a lot of factors that go into how a deer tastes:

deers diet...

how clean a kill...

field dressing correctly...

how quickly it was cooled...

if the meat was ever allowed to warm after cooling...

how it was transported...we always quarter and cooler our deer in camp...when driving home and it is 50 degrees and I see countless deer strapped to peoples trucks...I always think to myself...no wonder people think deer tastes gamey...

how it was butchered...

when it was butchered...

how it was wrapped when frozen...personally I do not think anything tops vacu sealing...

I definitely sample when butchering...

RE: Venison-longer in the freezer=less gamey?
 

vension fat sucks we have found if you leave that venison fat on there it makes it smell pretty funny when you fry it up never had it smell bad though so dont know what else to tell you

I hunt both deer and hogs in north Florida. Archery season start end of September, when afternoon highs can easily reach into the low 90s. I always do the following....

1.) Field Dress ASAP
2.) Remove skin and rinse body with lots of water, especially the cavity.
3.) Quarter the body and rinse each piece with water again.
4.) Put meat in large cooler and cover with ice.
5.) Put cooler in a shady spot and open drain spout.
6.) Prop up the opposite end of cooler with something so fluids can easily drain.
7.) Add more ice EVERY day for 3-6 days, keeping all meat covered.
8.) Remove meat from cooler and perform finishing touches, i.e. removing fat, sinew, membranes etc.
9.) Rinse meat again, then vaccum seal. Put in freezer and allow to freeze solid, at least 3 days(depending on temperature in freezer) before defrosting in fridge and cooking.

This process has NEVER failed me. I don't ever get a gamey taste or smell, and I've harvested deer and hogs from various types of habitat and varying diets. No complaints from me, my family, or friends.