Venison

[snowangel]

cool, susan

we are going away for the weekend so i pulled a small venison roast from the freezer to provide dinner tonight and leftovers for me tomorrow's dinner for me.

i'm going to sear it then roast lightly in the oven then serve with some

<sorry i was just admiring a male cardinal who was haning out in the evergreen outside my window>

noodles, broccoli and red cabbage and a mushroom sauce.

<oohhhhh the fox is back in our neighbor's yard>

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Yum! At what temp do you roast it? To what temp? I've got a couple of small roasts, but no experience roasing venison.

[suzilightning]

i did a quick sear on the outside after rubbing the roast with some enova oil then salt and pepper - maybe 2-3 minutes per side, 10 minutes or so then into a 375 oven for 17 minutes. it came out crusty on the outside and in the center it was a lovely picky rare.

[snowangel]

i did a quick sear on the outside after rubbing the roast with some enova oil then salt and pepper - maybe 2-3 minutes per side, 10 minutes or so then into a 375 oven for 17 minutes.  it came out crusty on the outside and in the center it was a lovely picky rare.

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I followed your advice.

[glennbech]

Last week when dining out at an asian place here In Oslo, the people sitting in the table besides us ordered Rack of lamb. It looked fantastic "stacked" on the plate. So, last time I went to the supermarket, I ended up with a venison rack, and I though I could cook that "Asian" style as well. I'm thinking a thick sauce, sweet, hot...

Any ideas for an "Asian style" Venison Rack? The meat is from new zeland, probably not game, and frozen. I guess the game taste isn't too striking.

Other recipies not "Asian style" also very welcome! :-)

[srhcb]

Susan,

Did Paul get a deer this season?

SB

[Grub]

Last week when dining out at an asian place here In Oslo, the people sitting in the table besides us ordered Rack of lamb. It looked fantastic "stacked" on the plate. So, last time I went to the supermarket, I ended up with a venison rack, and I though I could cook that "Asian" style as well. I'm thinking a thick sauce, sweet, hot...

Any ideas for an "Asian  style" Venison Rack? The meat is from new zeland, probably not game, and frozen. I guess the game taste isn't too striking.

Other recipies not "Asian style" also very welcome! :-)

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My apologies for being a dweeb and a nerd, but are you talking about Oslo, Norway, and if so, how'dya end up with New Zealand venison?

[Chris Hughes]

Last week when dining out at an asian place here In Oslo, the people sitting in the table besides us ordered Rack of lamb. It looked fantastic "stacked" on the plate. So, last time I went to the supermarket, I ended up with a venison rack, and I though I could cook that "Asian" style as well. I'm thinking a thick sauce, sweet, hot...

Any ideas for an "Asian  style" Venison Rack? The meat is from new zeland, probably not game, and frozen. I guess the game taste isn't too striking.

Other recipies not "Asian style" also very welcome! :-)

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My apologies for being a dweeb and a nerd, but are you talking about Oslo, Norway, and if so, how'dya end up with New Zealand venison?

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Hello fellow venison lovers... first post here on eGullet and since I know a bit about the venison industry I thought I'd jump in right here.

New Zealand supplies most of the world's commercial venison. Most of Europe's and about 80% of the US's comes from NZ. It's from the red deer (very similar to elk) that is raised on deer farms throughout NZ. So, it would probably be more surprising to find native venison in Oslo than it would be to find NZ venison.

[snowangel]

Welcome, Chris!

I can see that I've been remiss on reporting on my venison consumption. I have one 2 pound chuck left from the 2 deer my FIL gave me last year. The freezer is now clean, and I'm anticipating two more.

But, we've discovered that it's very successful in chili, Thai curries and soups, daubes, stroganoff and just plain.

[Chris Hughes]

That all sounds good - especially the curry. IMO too many people believe that venison tastes like Worchester sauce or only comes fried or in sausage. Deer and antelope are native to almost all parts of the world so it stands to reason that there are many delicious "ethnic" recipes for venison. Borscht, goulash, and of course curry are a few that come to mind. Does anyone else have any favorite ethnic/global preparations?

[davecap]

My brother-in-law was nice enough to take me to his hunting camp this weekend and I got a nice stag. I would like to make some deer jerky with some of the meat and was wondering if anyone has a recipe for deer jerky.

thanks

[lemniscate]

I made a Vietnamese sausage from my husband's deer (blended with ground pork to add fat and a softer texture). The deer in Arizona are small, 75 lbs, and eat a dry diet mostly. The sausage came out very well and the most popular use I've found for it is potstickers. I just use premade wonton skins. I cook them as traditional potstickers, and lately have been adding them to a wonton soup.

The shrimp paste, galangal, lime leaves, ginger, cilantro, etc .... really seemed to cover any gaminess that might have been in the meat. I cannot discern any off flavors.

Edited December 5, 2006 by lemniscate (log)

[Kouign Aman]

The shrimp paste, galangal, lime leaves, ginger, cilantro, etc ....  really seemed to cover any gaminess that might have been in the meat.  I cannot discern any off flavors.

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I'm curious. Is the gaminess truely inherent to the meat of wild-living animals, or is it a by-product of the extra hanging/aging used to make the meat tender?

[snowangel]

I'm curious. Is the gaminess truely inherent to the meat of wild-living animals, or is it a by-product of the extra hanging/aging used to make the meat tender?

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I think there are a few factors that come into play. How old is the deer? A young deer is generally less gamey. What were the weather conditions like the winter before? The past couple of winters have been "easier" here, so the deer have more to eat, which leads to a less gamey taste. Was it properly and promptly field dressed? If not, it will probably taste gamier.

The two deer that my MIL got for me last year were young and properly field dressed, so I can't really say they taste gamey. Slightly different from beef, though.

[srhcb]

I'm curious. Is the gaminess truely inherent to the meat of wild-living animals, or is it a by-product of the extra hanging/aging used to make the meat tender?

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I think there are a few factors that come into play. How old is the deer? A young deer is generally less gamey. What were the weather conditions like the winter before? The past couple of winters have been "easier" here, so the deer have more to eat, which leads to a less gamey taste. Was it properly and promptly field dressed? If not, it will probably taste gamier.

The two deer that my MIL got for me last year were young and properly field dressed, so I can't really say they taste gamey. Slightly different from beef, though.

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I suspect that through a few thousand years of selective breeding and controlling virtually every aspect of domestic livestock's lives in the quest for a standardized and more easily marketed product we have managed to remove what we perceive as the inherent "gamey" taste from their flesh

In addition, the variations in the slaughtering and meat handling process serve to accentuate the unique wild flavor, for better or worse.

This strength of this gamy taste also depends on what the animal has eaten, and becomes more pronounced the older the it becomes. The meat of very old domestic animals has an off flavor similar to gaminess.

In other words, wild game tastes like animals, domesticly raised livestock tastes like meat.

SB (prefers his game mixed with "meat" and made into sausage)

[lemniscate]

The shrimp paste, galangal, lime leaves, ginger, cilantro, etc ....  really seemed to cover any gaminess that might have been in the meat.  I cannot discern any off flavors.

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I'm curious. Is the gaminess truely inherent to the meat of wild-living animals, or is it a by-product of the extra hanging/aging used to make the meat tender?

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I've never had venison that tasted game-y, I prefer to call it venison-y. The farmed venison I had in New Zealand was a flavor unto itself also, definately not like beef or elk. Our native deer here travel alot for a meal. There is no fat, it's all muscle and they eat desert and scrub plants. Back in Michigan, the deer on my Dad's farm were corn and soybean fed. Bet they tasted a bit different from the Arizona deer. I think it mostly diet that flavors the meat, age certainly makes a difference. Ours was a young male and he was dressed out quickly and correctly. I still have the loin to cook, that cut will surely determine the true flavor of the meat. I will be soaking it in buttermilk first.

As far as gaminess, wild rabbit takes the prize for me. Such a strong flavor, nothing like farmed domestic rabbit.

[Chris Hughes]

“Gamey” flavor, or lack of it, comes from some inherent qualities of the animal as well as some that is induced from the harvesting/processing techniques.

Some of the inherent qualities include:

Species – some species produce milder meat, other more gamey

Diet – the varied diet of wild animals adds a subtle complexity to the meat vs. a milder flavor for farm-raised animals eating primarily one type of grass/feed.

Age/Size – older and larger are gamier than younger and smaller

Some of the induced (and preventable) causes of gamey flavor are:

Stress – animals that are stressed prior to or during harvest will have a strong gamey flavor. Stress can come from running an animal, not making a clean kill, or, as snowangel mentioned, lack of food.

Quick/Proper Processing – thoroughly bleeding an animal and cooling the meat temperature down as quickly as possible will reduce the gamey flavor

Aging – moisture evaporates from the meat as it dry ages. The longer it dry ages the more concentrated/intense the flavor will be.

Minimizing stress and proper processing are the best ways to prevent an overly gamey flavor. The flavor you pick up from the inherent qualities of the animal will be just enough to let you know you’re eating good wild game meat.

[snowangel]

Thought. Because venison most often tastes different than beef, how many people associate the venison taste with "gamey?"

[Pan]

[...]Was it properly and promptly field dressed?  If not, it will probably taste gamier.[...]

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What does "field dressing" consist of?

[srhcb]

Thought.  Because venison most often tastes different than beef, how many people associate the  venison taste with "gamey?"

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Although I don't hunt, or eat game that often, my brother, sister and brother-in-law are avid hunters and cooks. I've had venison ranging from a young crop-fed Mississippi doe to Northern Minnesota swamp buck. The venison from these deer didn't resemble each other any more than either tasted like beef, but they both had a certain component that would be called "gamey", subtle in the former, and very pronounced in the latter.

Maybe a definition of "gamey" would be; as venison is to beef, X is to Y?

SB (Actually, I think maybe the identification has as much to do with smell as taste? )

[srhcb]

[...]Was it properly and promptly field dressed?  If not, it will probably taste gamier.[...]

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What does "field dressing" consist of?

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Bleeding and removing the guts.

It's important to cool the carcass as rapidly as possible, and this is where the problem often begins. Around here during deer season the temperature can range from below zero to nearly 60 degrees.

SB (hasn't personally dressed a deer, but has seen it done)

[Chris Hughes]

Thought.  Because venison most often tastes different than beef, how many people associate the  venison taste with "gamey?"

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Good point. I think that is definitely part of it. Part is probably "different than beef" but part of it is poorly handled venison (overly gamey). “Taste of the woods” vs. “tastes like liver.” Venison should and does have a slight gamey element to it... otherwise, it’s just another nice piece of meat. However, many of the “too gamey” comments I hear are from people who have had poorly handled/cooked venison. There is a world of difference between properly harvested/processed/cooked venison and meat from a deer that was wounded, tracked for hours, thrown on the hood of a truck and driven 200 miles back home. If you harvested a cow that way you’d probably have some pretty sorry steaks – no different with venison.

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

Last night we were reminded once again that living out in a (very) rural community WAY in the middle of nowhere *can* have a few advantages. A neighbor dropped by with about 25 pounds of venison meat, only a few hours off the hoof. It's going to need to age a bit before I can cook it, but I have some more in the freezer, aged and ready to go, and I am now craving it. I thought, since I've found you creative folks here, I'd see if you could give me some new ideas for creative ways to prepare venison.

To date, I've made venison stroganoff, "Indian tacos," lasagna, jerky, barbecue, larded roasts, and stew. Other interesting ideas would be greatly appreciated!

[srhcb]

Google [venison sausage]!

I'm not a big fan of venison, but combined with nice fatty pork you can make all kinds of tasty sausages.

SB (a rare nothern MN non-hunter)

[dockhl]

In my extremely poor undergraduate years, I had no $$$ for meat so when my dad and my brother both got deer one hunting trip (my Mom HATES venison) it sustained me thru the winter.

I ate lots of spaghetti, chops with onion/mushroom/ green pepper, steaks (kinda the same way) and pot roasts with potatoes (I could afford potatoes) .

I still like venison, believe it or not (o! The resiliance of youth...... )

K

[srhcb]

Deer, like most wild game, are good examples of the Brillat-Savarin/Tiny Tim saying to the effect that "you are what you eat".

The venison here in Northern Minnesota, especially if it's from an older buck, have a flavor somewhat reminiscent of the swamps they live and graze in. Hence my preference they be made into sausages containing at least an equal measure of pork and generous qualtities of seasoning and spices.

My Brother, an avid hunter, has taken deer in several states and Canadian provinces. Those from areas where they can regularly dine on agricultural crops do indeed produce a milder, albeit still very lean meat, which lends itself to more standard preparations.

SB (the venison from the small doe my Brother shot in Mississippi a few years back could hold it's own, cut for cut, with just about any beef)