We always soak deer & hogs in ice/water/slush for a good 3 days after quartering & before processing. I like to add a couple shots of vinegar or lemon juice too. All the blood soaks out, but the flavor is always great. Up north you can hang stuff for a week, but we don't have that luxury down here. I've never had bad boar meat soaked this way, no matter how big & bad he was.

I just got out some deer meat from 09 season for jerky and grilling. It was overnight on ice, dry aged and vacuumed packed. When it thawed out it was a bloody mess.....But dang good...Tastes better than cow tenderloin.

It now puts store bought jerky to shame. Jerky on the grill in August. Emptying out the freezer for 2010......

I'm a big fan of the soaking in salt water solution even after hanging my deer. Its the best way I've found to get the blood out. But at the same time what is red meat with out a little blood???

My father has hunted all of my life, as his father was a hunter. As a kid, my mother, sister and myself hated the "gamey taste" of venison. Somewhere along the line in my pre teens my mother learned to soak the meat in salt water (we get the best results with canning salt) to get rid of the blood, and with the blood goes the "game taste". Since then, venison has become my favorite meat, and I've now been hunting for 20 years because of it.

You're still going to get better meat from a doe than a buck, that's a given. After 20 years of hunting I shot my first buck this year because he wasn't with a doe. Ten times out of ten I will pass on the buck for the doe, no matter how big a rack he has, there's just no good way to eat antlers. A doe is always going to be more tender and less "gamey", no matter how you prepare it. I (gladly) traded my buck for a smaller doe to a guy who cans all of his meat.

I've never had a problem with the salt water killing the flavor, but we also marinate. We only age the deer for a few days (depending on how early in the week of deer season we kill the deer, because we butcher the following week). Immediately after we butcher we put all of the meat (even what we intend to grind) into canning salt water (no science to the measurements) and soak overnight. Then we drain and rinse the meat, and place the steaks and chops in a variety of marinades (my favorite for chops is Italian dressing) for another overnight soak. While those are marinating we leave the roasts in the salt water for another night, and grind the burger. Then we vacuum seal everything (choose your quantities according to the size of your family), and freeze. We don't freeze it all at once though, we lay it out flat in the freezer overnight for an even and thorough freeze, then stack it to make room for more.

All of this extra work in the preparation of the meat has saved us two days of soaking and marinating per each meal; thaw and cook. My final trick is, unless its being prepared as a part of a recipe, my meat will not be cooked over anything but charcoal with hickory or mesquite wood chips. On average I grill five days a week in every type of weather (except tornados). Because of this we eat much healthier and save a good four figures a year on meat. My family will easily eat our way through four or five deer per year. We eat a beef steak maybe three to four times per year, but I still buy a lot of chicken and fish for some variety. Ground venison substitutes in every recipe that calls for hamburger (my chili has won awards locally).

I am very proud to cook venison for guests, and always get praises for it. Some of the pickiest eaters who have said they don't like venison have changed their minds when they've tried mine. If you don't now, nor intend to butcher your own deer, I recommend making arrangements with your butcher to have your meat returned unfrozen, or have them soak it for you if possible.

It's easier for us in the North, where it's normally cold enough during deer season to hang or soak deer outside in the barn or garage. Occasionally we've had to pack deer with ice, and add ice to our canning salt water and soak overnight in a large cooler. We've considered buying a walk-in cooler for this purpose, but haven't deemed it a necessary investment at this time. Since the canning salt water defeats the purpose of aging the deer, ice in a cooler should work just as well in the South for soaking.

You have no idea how timely this post was..I shot a deer last Sat. I had a hard time cutting it up at 11:00 PM...} -; ....my wife was then washing the meat cuts in salt water..the meat went from red to brownish color..is this normal..she had it in the sink from 15 - 45 minutes..since it turned brownish I was worried she messed up my meat.

looks like from the replies my meat will be ok..

Steak is actually at its best, and most tender, just before its about to go bad. If my meat is too red after it thaws, I'll let it sit in the fridge for a day until it browns, maybe marinating or soaking.

Raw meat turns brown because of the digestive process which involves the proteins and enzymes being broken down into their component parts. When raw meat starts turning brown it has begun to tenderize itself. It is not infectious and safe for consumption in this stage.

However, the same does not go for ground meat. Steaks have mostly two sides for bacteria to grow on, while ground beef is completely exposed. When ground meat turns brown we're told to toss it.

If it turns green, slimey or starts to stink, cook it a bit longer. Just kidding, toss it of course.

No sir..I was simply meaning.

When you take a piece of good healthy red meat off the deer ..put the piece of meat in salt water..and take it out in 15 minutes that meat does not look the same..it's got a mushy look to it and is no longer red..at least on the outside it looks brownish...I'm really not crazy about the texture..I'll let you all know how it goes on the first backstrap meal [ -;

When I pull out a vacumed bag of venison to thaw, I notice a large amount of blood has seeped out from the meat. As you all know you cannot vacume pack with liquid in bag. So, my thought is to remove more blood (for OP) he could seal it, freeze it, thaw it, remove more blood and eat it. Or..... seal, thaw, remove blood, reseal...... Just a thought. I wont do it. I love the bloody taste. But for him. it may help.