Chipped Venison

[donk79]

A few years ago I discovered something new.  My father had taken a few deer to a processor and ordered some chipped venison.  Chipped beef was fairly common in our household when I was growing up, and chipped-beef gravy on toast was the way I always had it served.  So that is how I have treated the venison in the past as well.  The venison is quite lean (no surprise there), but has a good, if very salty flavor.

 

We are in a new age of freezer scrounging, and I just thawed about a pound of shipped venison.  I am angling towards gravy, but I have found that it is challenging to tame the salt without making an absurd amount of gravy.  So my first thought was that I might soak it to try to remove some salt.  I am concerned that I might remove flavor doing this also.  Can anyone give me their insights or experience with this?  I imagine any experience with chipped beef would translate.

 

Also, are there other things that I should be exploring instead of gravy.  We are fairly well stocked (I inherited my mother's tendency to always keep a full larder) so even if I don't have a particular ingredient, chances are I can substitute.

[FeChef]

why is it salty? Was it cured or brined? Or did these deer eat a lot of salt licks before being processed?

[donk79]

Cured, I believe.  But I really know nothing about the production process.  All I can say is what I observe of the product.  It is definitely dry and salty.  If you are not familiar with chipped beef, it is sliced very thinly.  It is a dried beef product that I suspect originally included salt as preservative.  Though as I note above, we receive ours sealed and frozen.

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by donk79 (log)

[kayb]

If it's cured (jerky-ish), a short soak in water will lessen the salt. The finer it's chipped, the shorter the soak. Then squeeze the water out in a towel, rinse, and squeeze again.

 

I'd look at putting it in hand pies, with potatoes. Or in a quiche. I would suspect you can use it as I plan to use some ground ham -- mixed with flour, eggs and cheese and baked into muffins.

 

[donk79]

Thank you kayb!  That reminds me of a biscuit recipe  that I have which uses country ham and scallions.  I think the venison might work well in as a sub for the ham.

[MokaPot]

Maybe soaked in water plus milk like baccala / bacalao (salted fish)?

[FeChef]

2 hours ago, donk79 said:

Cured, I believe.  But I really know nothing about the production process.  All I can say is what I observe of the product.  It is definitely dry and salty.  If you are not familiar with chipped beef, it is sliced very thinly.  It is a dried beef product that I suspect originally included salt as preservative.  Though as I note above, we receive ours sealed and frozen.

 

 

We call it dried beef in the east coast. Chipped can be referred to very thinly sliced beef for making cheese steaks. Term being the slices are so thin they looked chipped.

 

Like others have said, a quick soak (15 min should do it) Then pat dry in paper towels to get all the excess water out. Then prepare as usual.

Edited April 14, 2020 by FeChef (log)

[donk79]

10 minutes ago, FeChef said:

We call it dried beef in the east coast. Chipped can be referred to very thinly sliced beef for making cheese steaks. Term being the slices are so thin they looked chipped.

 

Like others have said, a quick soak (15 min should do it) Then pat dry in paper towels to get all the excess water out. Then prepare as usual.

 

Interesting.  I'm born, bred, and living in Virginia.  I may have heard the term dried beef, but chipped is definitely what it is called in my community.

[FeChef]

9 minutes ago, donk79 said:

Interesting.  I'm born, bred, and living in Virginia.  I may have heard the term dried beef, but chipped is definitely what it is called in my community.

I wouldn't suggest it now due to the pandemic, but next time you go to a grocery and ask for roast beef, or cooked ham chipped, if they aren't new, they will give you something that is so thin you can pile it high on a sandwich.

I do know what you are referring to, in diners in my area they use what they call chipped beef or dried beef for a breakfast dish called $hit on a $hingle, or SOS. Although if i remember correctly, its mostly served with chipped beef which is just plain beef shaved really thin.

Edited April 14, 2020 by FeChef (log)