I'm serious about my venison!!

K

kingudaroad

New member
I'm the only meat hunter at my camp. I'm the only one who will shoot a doe or a cull buck. A lot of people really don't like to eat venison. I think most people don't know how to handle it from field to freezer.

I think one of the keys to great venison is getting out all of the stuff that is not meat. I remove every spec of fat, sinew, glands,silverskin, membrane, slimy red bubbly stuff. I think that is why some people don't like the taste or say it is gamy. Because frankly, That stuff I just mentioned tastes bad. Take the time to remove it and you will be surprised how good it is.

Here is a ham from a doe that I shot last week. I spent about an hour on it.

Sorry about the size, I have to get better at this photo stuff.

attachment.php


attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • misc 2012.jpg
    misc 2012.jpg
    120 KB · Views: 448
  • misc 2014.jpg
    misc 2014.jpg
    163 KB · Views: 444
Last edited:
Those cuts of meat are HUGE!:eek:

Yup, getting the meat clean and cooled is priority #1. Trimming everything that's not muscle is #2. Cutting across the grain and pounding the heck out of it with a meat mallet is #3. Cooking it quick to preserve moisture is #4. Making perfect cream gravy to slather over the chicken fried venison is #5.

Does make up the vast majority of my freezer space. This year I've got my eye's on a cull buck with 5 on one side and 1 on the other.
 
You are a man after my own heart.
I am a meat hunter all the way.
Like you say, take care to process that venison, and it is delicious.
It also has never been treated with growth hormone, food dye, or antibiotics.
I have an electric grinder, I have 10 pounds of high quality fat in the freezer, and 3 packs of sausage seasoning.
I am ready to go to work, I believe I will get at least one deer this year.

Yes I had a hard time reading your post due to huge photos.
You could ask on the forum for someone who could shrink them for you. Email them the photos, they shrink them, and email them back.
I did this on another forum.
 
Beautiful cuts kingudaroad. Proper care is surely the key. Deer has all but replaced our beef, especially grinds. Electric grinder I had last year finally burnt up. Anyone have suggestions on good, durable stainless grinder?
 
Get a hand grinder, replace the crank with a pulley, and then buy an industrial type motor from Lee or Baldor, get the appropriate belt and make your own, more power, quieter, and last for ever.
 
Thanks guntotin, thats a good idea. That will surely beat the 2-3 hundred $ ones i`ve been looking at. Want a good one that will last. Thanks Again!
 
We're with you on the meat hunting. While we spend more time targeting the wild hogs ( Finest eating in the woods! ) we do make a point of focusing on the deer when the scraping gets hot.

What you say about proper processing is so true. We own a seafood business and one of the things you learn fast in the seafood business is that how you handle the product makes all the difference in the world as to how well it is on the plate.

We process our own game as you do. Have a OLD grinder too.

What I think puts so many folks off is the thing you mention, the TIME it takes to do it right. Now I will not say I enjoy processing the meat near as much as wandering the woods but folks need to remember that it's part of the hunt. And you should get some satsfaction out of doing it properly, and from the fact that a fine animal is given the respect it deserves by finishing the job.

One last thing, and this is one of the downsides to the hogs, JERKEY!!! Love the stuff but will not make it out of anything except FRESH vinison. I don't trust the grocery store meat and I don't think it's safe to do wild hog that way. So every year we will put some effort into the deer just for that purpose.
 
I agree with all above, proper care of the meat is part of the hunt and haveing respect for the animal (and yourself) to avoid any waste.
I bone out the hams, shoulders and neck and very front and rear portions of spine. I leave the chops and ribs bone-in for grilling.
I take the cleaned small pieces of meat (to small for cutlets or roasts) that I don't package for stew to a buddy that prides hisself for his sausage makeing and he is surely is good at it. we split on half and I pay for the seasoning he uses in my share.
bon apettit!
 
Nice work

So where do I send the doe I have hanging to be processed????? (ie, your address!)

Interestingly, My venison is darker red than yours - That looks like pork to me. Must be from different diet our deer ave
 
Last edited:
Until I find a good recipe for antlers, I too am a meat hunter.:)

I use a meat tenderier made by Jacard, this thing is awesome. It will make a sneaker cook up tender :

I 100% agree with you guys on propper care being paramount to good tasting deer meat.

Made buck fajitas last night. I wish that I could make a venisin dish for all those people that say they dont like the taste of wild game. I will straight up convert them. OLAY!:p
 
My number one meat is Elk. One Elk is enough for us so I don't often shoot deer or Antelope or Moose. Wild game becomes good meat or bad meat when it hits the ground. Get it cooled out and keep it clean.
I have old grinder runs off an old salvaged lathe motor after 30 years and tons of meat still going. They are a cheap investment.:)
 
All of the bigger cuts of the hams goes to jerky. My kids can't get enough. The trim will get ground up mostly for smoked sausage, but every now and then for burgers or a big pot of chili. Backstraps for steaks.

The nice thing about Texas is the abundance of deer. I have 5 tags, and I have two sons(10 and 18) who also have 5 tags. I also get to go to a South Texas management hunt at the end of January where I won't even need tags. It wouldn't surprise me if I put 7 or 8 deer in the freezer this season. I got 5 last year and we have no more.

Thanks for the supportive, kind words and the photo tips. I used my phone camera so the color is not very vivid.

Keith
 
We slice ours a lot thinner for cooking, and never have to pound it.

Nice trick I learned a long time ago - if you have small tenderloins and backstraps, but like to make steaks, butterfly them. I make the first cut twice as thick as I want, then cut that in half, but not all the way through. Open it up and it is magically twice as big as it started.
 
J270 said:
I wish that I could make a venisin dish for all those people that say they dont like the taste of wild game. I will straight up convert them.
Click to expand...

I made venison stew for supper last night for myself and my fiance. She's still very new to venison, and is slowly working getting over the whole "cute bambi" thing. She first admitted that she likes the taste of it, but wouldn't "let" herself like venison because of what it is. Over time, I've made it accessible to her, and with the price of meat going up, the value of venison looks quite a bit better to her (essentially free once you "pay off" your hunting supplies).

Anyway, I got off track. She made a comment last night while eating the stew: If I didn't know this was venison, I would have thought it was really TENDER beef, though it was more tender than typical stew beef.

Also, the way I cooked it was by browning it in a pan first, then adding it to the crock pot to cook with everything else. When it first went into the pan, it had the distinct venison smell, but as it cooked down the strength of the smell faded. As it cooked down, she actually said she liked the smell of it cooked.

I'll convert her yet! I may not get her to shoot one or help gut it, but you never know. She's gone with me the past 2 weekends to my parents' property while I hunt.
 
'round here the meat mallet is Pavlov's bell. Everyone hears the pounding and starts to wrap up whatever activity they are doing to be first in line as I pull them out of the fryer.
 
I too am a meat hunter and I like the roast cuts you made out of that ham. Nothing sadder than a deer hunter that gives his deer to a processor to be entirely made into sausage. He could be eating road kill salami for all you can actually taste of the meat. dont get me wrong i like sausage, just not with a delicately flavored meat like venison. As for women liking venison i married a city-girl and there is no changing her, If her meat isnt wrapped in plastic she wont touch it. Doesnt matter that the ground beef is made from the nether regions of a hundred cows, handled by a hepatitis infected illegal alien, she LIKES IT. YECCH:barf::D
 
poor mans eletric grinder

I bought a hand grinder a few years ago cranked it once and said no more! I took off the handle and made bit to fit in my 1/2 electric drill and instant power grinder. Also built a stand for the drill that looks like a pistol holder I have seen some people using at the range. Now that I have all battery powered drills the corded one was just collecting dust.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top