Venison Question
 

It always seems the venison which is butchered professionally is less gamey. It has no connection with the sex or age of the deer either. I think they dry hang it b/f its buchered while I soak mine in water/salt for a day or two. Any explanations from the hivemind-braintrust.

RE: Venison Question
 

For my self it’s all about preparation. I take the time and care to remove any blood, extra fat, silver skin (blue skin) and other parts that might add to the gamy taste. I de-bone all the meat. When I’m finished I have good chunks of meat ready for cooking and use the food saver to preserve the meat in the freezer. I’ll never bring my game to any butcher anymore. I just do a better job with lots of pride and no cost...;)

RE: Venison Question
 

Me too. I have not had one done in the meat plant for many years. My wife is to cheap is one reason but we enjoy doing it ourselves.

RE: Venison Question
 

I'm with ya James. My reason is that I'm to cheap.

RE: Venison Question
 

I always do mine too because I think I do a better job. What is with soaking in salt Robert?? I just hang mine in a cold room or outside for 3-5 days and make sure to trim all the meat real well. Never had one that is gamey.

RE: Venison Question
 

I usually soak the meat in a little oil and seasoning for an hour or so, roll it in flour and fry it in bacon grease..........best chicken fried steak you'll ever eat. Ive turn animal rights nuts into meat eaters with that.........
Oh, and Ive never really noticed the difference between butchered meat and when i do it myself

RE: Venison Question
 

I think hanging the meat for a few days does help a bit with getting rid of the gamy flavor, but like you all have said preperations is the key!! Just have to take the time to trim up that silver skin and fat and package it properly.

RE: Venison Question
 

All good answers,the only thing that the salt water will do is draw out the blood and flavor which will leave you with a piece of, uh, well, game.

Just do what everyone else says. But first make sure your not cutting into the stomach or bladder when gutting, then cool asap. I rinse the cavity with cold water, hang with the stomach held open with a dowel or stainlesssteel rod. Hang at about 35-40 degrees for about 3-4 days (but not neccessary). Cut and get rid of all silverskin,fat and ligaments. and you should have great tasting meat. For long periods of storage I vacum pack, what I'm going to eat within a few months gets wrapped in freezer paper then put into a plastic bag. Also a freezer with a temp of about 0 or less is best. Besides you don't want your ice cream soft.:Dgood luck.

RE: Venison Question
 

I usually let mine sit for a couple of days, then I quarter it and put it in the fridge for no more than 4 days. This drains most of the blood out that would have come out during hanging. Also which do you like best hanging head up or head down?

RE: Venison Question
 

Head down so the blood drains from the hindquarters

RE: Venison Question
 

I'm not cheap, but learned over time it's just easier to do it myself and no one does a better job than the hunter whenit comes to butchering. Never understood that gamey taste thing. I let mine hang a day or two if weather permits. Keep my butchering area clean and get the meat wrapped, labeled and into the freezer right away. When cooking, I marinate it for at least 8-24 hours and never, ever overcook it.

RE: Venison Question
 

Would getting too much water on the meat, or soakin it, be a factor? I was always taught that the deer should be allowed to hang for a while and that it should only be wiped down with adamp cloth instead of hosed down or soaked.

If I am dealing with potentially gamey tasting steaks, I tenderize them good and let them soak in an Italian dressing marinade for a day.

RE: Venison Question
 

Hmmm, gamey taste.

Is it gamey taste or does it taste like deer meat?

Depends on what you are calling a "gamey" taste. You can remove all the fat from the deer and get rid of some of the "gamey" taste, but if you want to get rid of most of the "gamey" taste then try removing most of the blood. You can let it set in the frig for a few days and drain off the blood as it collects. Unlike farm animals that are bled immediately after being killed -the heart beats for up to 5 minutes after the animal is killed which is when you would usually slice across both jugular veins allowing the heart to pump the blood out of the body, wild animals are usually shot, allowed to sit for about 20 minutes,so the muscle has time tosoak up the blood which causes the stronger taste in the meat.

Depending on how a customer feels about the deer taste is how I prepare it. This is why I am a custom shop. I do what my customers want and not how I may feel oneway or another. I will say most people usually turn most of their deer into sausage of some type because they or their families do not like the "deer" taste. I think half the time they do not know how to properly prepare the deer meat and if they did they probably would change how much sausage compared to deer steaks they wanted.

I had one guy that wanted me to make sausage out of the whole deer including the loins. I asked why he didn't want the loins and he told me they were as tough as shoe leather. I immediately knew he had over cooked them. I told him how tocook them and had him take a few butterfly steaks home to try it. He called me later and told me the steaks were the best he had tasted and asked if I could just cut the rest of the loins up as butterfly steaks, which I did.

This may not be your problem, but it is something to consider.

Just my two cents worth,

RE: Venison Question
 

The first most important thing is... where did you shoot them. A neck shot for a gun kill or a clean double lung shot for a bow kill will lead to the second most important thing... a clean field dressing. If you get a quick killing shot and a clean field dressing, you have about eliminated the "gamey" taste. If you do accidentally blow stuff up ( stomach, liver or intestines etc. ) Field dress as clean as possible and rinse thouroghly. The third thing to do is to cool the carcass quickly. I believe that most of the gamey taste is caused by bad shot placement and / or sloppy field dressing. It can also be caused by excessive tallow left in the meat and by sawing through the bones, draging marrow into the meat.

RE: Venison Question
 

Love deer meat....The wife don't give me extra money fer processing. I always quarter mine up shortly after bagging the animal. Then I keep it on ice, cut it up the way I like it a day or 2 later. I used to use the freezer wrap paper then I gotthe food saver air sucking thingfrom Walley World. It keeps meat the best way I found in the freezer with out ever getting freezer burn. You can get more in the freezer too.Works great on fish...no fishy smell ever outta the freezer.

RE: Venison Question
 

I did forget to mention that most of you hunt for a "Big Mature Buck". This will have a stronger flavor and the meat will be much more tougher than a young doe would. This wouldalso hold true if you butchered a older beef bull, boarhog, ram sheep etc...

I was not implying that you should not properly gut your animal, but I do not think it is as a important point as most may think. As I have said in the past I pickup road killed deer. I usually do not gut these deer since the gut is usually ruptured anyway. I just skin it and remove all of the outside meat and leave thecavity lining in tact. The only meat that I cannot take is the smalltenderloins which are located inside the cavity wall. It is by far more important to get the carcass or meat cooled down quickly. In Iowa this is usually not a problem because of all the cold weather. We usually fill the cavity with snow after gutting it.

Again I am not implying that you should not properly gut a deer, but things happen while gutting and people should not be afraid of usingthe meat. It should be properly cleaned with fresh water as soon as possible. I should mention that in any slaughter facilityoccasionally a rupturegut may happen and the meat is still used and sent to the consumer without any knowledge to the consumer. There are certain things they have to do in cases such as this, but the meat is not just thrown away.

What makes a deer different than any other animal?

RE: Venison Question
 

Here in Virginia we don't get too cold. So we have to come up with other ways to help cure our meat. I have always used water and vinigar to soak my meat in. If I had a walk in refrigerator I would preferr to hang it and let it cure that way though. Never used salt to cure though, Ihave heart disease and am salt intollerant.

RE: Venison Question
 

I butcher my own cause its cleaner and cheaper and I know Im getting what I shot. How many times have you not gotten your deer back from the butcher. Around here there are so many deer hunters and not many butcher shops. So who knows whos deer your getting. Plus at 100 dollars to get it butchered is crazy to pay that.

RE: Venison Question
 

What you say is true.

I started this business because I found out my deer was sent out of state to be made into sausage and mixed with other people's deer. I wanted my deer only. That is what I promote in my business. "What deer you give me is what you will get back!" is my slogon. If you give me a deer that is all shot up then you will get what I can salvage back. Since I make my own sausages and jerkyI can custom mix them anyway my customers want. They are not mass produced like some lockers do. HecK if you would like to stand over my shoulder and watch me cut your deer up I will do that too, but you better bring a cot since it can take as long as30 days to complete some of the recipes I use like Cured & Hickory Smoked Venison.

RE: Venison Question
 

My take on "gamey" taste is what someone mentioned in regard to the taste of a "mature" buck. I did kill a young doe one year and all of its meat tasted very close to liver. Dunno why?

As for venison cooking stories, I recently gave a few pounds of backstrap to a co-worker who said that he loves deer meat. I later learned that they made stew out of it. Ahhhhhhh!

RE: Venison Question
 

Well, I appreciate the replies.

I should probably say that most of the venison I am talking about is summer shot nusiance deer when there is no cold weather nor any buchers ready to process the meat. I have been soaking the meat in clean coolers filled with ice and sometimes salt. I had two winter deer processed at a bucher and I just noticed the meat was better tasting. I know it was dry aged and was wondering if that is what made the difference?? Sadly I cant really dry age the meat in the summer.

RE: Venison Question
 

i've never tasted any venison that was "gamey". here in the deep south, we skin, quarter and butcher right away. i have never soaked or hung up any of my venison. maybe it's something about ya'lls yankee deer? ofcourse here in the deep south our deer are smaller because they virtually have no fat, no need to store fat because our winters are very mild...just a thought but you might wanna check and see if the extra fat has anything to do with the taste?

RE: Venison Question
 

After a friend received50% more meatback from his processor than he should have,I decided to do it myself.

RE: Venison Question
 

I've also never tasted any venison that was "gamey". Maybeit is becauseI wait and never take a "low percentage"a shot. (I've let a few walk over time).I read a whileback venisonis venison, it should not taste like chicken! I thinkthe "gamey" descriptionis often misused.

RE: Venison Question
 

Your friend that recieved 50% more back may have had pork and/or beef added to his order. Many processors do add 30%-75% beef and/or pork because most people do not want to "taste" the venison. It may be due to some family members not liking the taste of venison or it just may be the processor always adds it to make a little extra $$. Here at Smoke n' Antlers we do not added any beef or pork to someones order which includes beef or pork fat. We use bison fatto add moisture to tovenison ground meat or sausage.