Venison

Greetings to All: One day, this past week, one of my nephews came home and said, "We now have venison in the freezer. Do you know anything about cooking venison?" I know nothing about cooking venison.

I have eaten it twice, the first time it was tough, stringy, and I did not like the taste. The second time I ate it was as a burrito filling, which was tasty and I'm thinking it was because of the spices.

How should venison be cooked; does it need to be marinated to lessen the "gamey" taste; can it be a substitute for beef in stews or chilies?

Please, all and any help will be greatly appreciate.

I have grown up in a hunting household and still from time to time go hunting and land myself a nice whitetail.

Venison can be off putting to some people for two reasons I have found generally.

A. The meat is gamey.

B. The meat is lean.

Gamey Meat can be solved by doing a brine soak the day prior in my experience. A nice marinade and you are in business! The fat in deer meat carries a lot of that gamey taste so do your best to trim out what you can also helps.

I state that the meat is lean being a problem because people think they can cook it up like a marbled steak and have no issues but you really need some source of fat to counteract. A lot of people who grind venison in my neck of the woods add pork fat with good success. I really like ground venison and tend to consume a lot of it this way. You can dress it up numerous ways.

I'd recommend if you haven't yet to try and make venison jerky. There are plenty of recipes and techniques online but it makes quite a healthy, storage friendly, and delicious snack that to me never gets old.

Like you, the first time I cooked Venison I knew nothing about that kind of meat or how to cook it.

I have now been cooking venison for many years.

I cook Venison like I cook beef.

I use the same recipes as I use for beef.

One Christmas I had a Vension Roast done at a BBQ house.

No one at my Christmas Party knew they were eating venison.  What they did was rave about how good it tasted and how they could not believe that it was venison when they found out.

I have heard all kinds of theories about how venison tastes "gamey" and what to do to make the meat not taste "gamey".

I have never done any of that because that "gamey" flavor comes from a deer that was not butchered in the right way.

Good Morning, I wish to say "Thank You", to all for your help and suggestions concerning cooking venison. I am going to cook it using the same recipes as for beef.

Again, thank you.

Venison comprises probably 80% of my annual red meat intake.  As others have said previously, proper care of the meat from field to table absolutely matters.  Yes, the leanness is a big learning curve for someone that's only ever cooked beef to compare it to.  Here are some of my no-fail methods that I've learned over the years by cut & cooking method:

Inner tenderloin - There are 2 of these in a deer, and are so tender, that even raw, you can tear it with your bare hands.  These are best sliced into medallions, and cooked in a cast iron skillet with real butter.

Backstrap - There are two of these on a deer also, and are the 2nd most coveted cut.  This is the deer equivalent of filet mignon, and can be treated the same way, wrapped in bacon or butterflied, browned in a cast iron skillet, then finished on a grill.  There is a long layer of sinew or "silverskin" on the topside that needs to be removed with a filet knife.  Once that's done, you can cut it into 2 or 3 large chunks & treat them as pot roasts, but really, they are best wrapped in bacon as I mentioned above.  This keeps the lean meat from drying out, adds good flavor, and protects the filet from burning as the bacon crisps.

Steaks - These are best (more tender) from a younger deer, but larger on a big buck, as you'd expect.  Typically cut as round steaks from top/bottom round cut, they do not have any marbling like beef steaks do.  This results in a tough steak if cooked on a grill, or at too high of heat/too fast.  For this reason, when you hear people speak of "Shoe Leather" they are talking about lean meat cooked too hot & fast.  I generally prefer quality beef steaks when I'm having a steak, but will from time to time enjoy venison steaks.  I've settled on cooking entirely in a cast iron grill pan or skillet as my preferred cook method.  I say this because you can watch the color change going up the side of the steak as it cooks.  This tells you the right time to flip it for the doneness you like.  Also, it prevents the overcooked shoe leather mentioned previously.  I encourage anyone to try this, & you'll see for yourself.

Roasts - These can be made from any of the larger or tougher chunks, or bone-in sections that are easier to deal with this way such as a neck roast.  Like beef, you'll want to flour/brown all sides, then braise.

Osso Bucco - While I don't bother with this, a similar dish to ox tails can be made from the shanks cut cross-wise.

Pulled/shredded venison options - I generally do these in a crock pot with either Italian beef seasonings & served on hoagie rolls or dry crusty bread like a french dip, or once cooked & removed from the pot, shred & add BBQ sauce of your choice for BBQ pulled venison sandwiches.  These are always a hit when I'm having many people over for a meal that serves many.

Stew - This is essentially treated the same as beef stew.  I prefer to have larger rustic chunks of root vegetables, & a really good thick gravy-like broth.  Again, serve with crusty rustic bread for dipping in the juice.

Ribs - While it can be done, I advise against it.  It's just not worth it.  Instead, that meat gets trimmed & put into the grind pile for burger.

And last, but certainly not least, the simple ground hamburger - Some like to add pork back fat to the mix, but I use bacon grease to cook with, so no need for me to do that.  This is another example of where good beef is better for burger patties, but for everything else you use ground meat for, it's good as-is.  Tacos, spaghetti, hamburger helper, meat loaf, meat balls, really anything you want.  The best part is, when you cook it, there's no grease to drain off like there is with beef (if you don't have fat added).

My staple seasonings are garlic powder, salt, black pepper, adobo, & your favorite seasoned salt like Lowry's or Country Bob's.  I have tried many methods, and prefer cast iron skillets, grill pans, and dutch ovens for their ability to sear/brown well, and as I generally use butter or bacon grease as my cooking fat, it works well.  I've even used coconut oil with equal results for those that have it on-hand.

Venison is a great meat, but due to it's lean nature, takes a little different approach to bring out it's best.  Some compare it to lean grass-fed beef, but I can't speak to that.