Venison shoulder

[Junior1942]

I had two small unwrapped venison shoulders in my freezer. Just washed and wrapped in Wal-Mart shopping bags and thrown in the freezer. They quick-froze and became coated with ice. I used a hacksaw and cut one frozen shoulder to fit a small 9" x 9" x 1 1/4" roasting pan. When it fit, I put the big part of the shoulder and the two cut off parts in the pan. Remember: still frozen!

I then put a bunch of my homemade compares-to-Tony's seasoning all over the three frozen pieces. I then covered it in foil and put it in my toaster oven. I baked it at 300* for 3 hours. It started frozen and was done in 3 hours.

Y'all, it is good!!!! I got lots of juice for gravy, so supper tonight is roast venison shoulder + rice & gravy + biscuits. There'll be enough roast venison left over for several sandwiches. This was one of the easiest things I've ever cooked! Well, the hacksawing wasn't really easy. . . .

[357maximum]

Junior

YOU NEED TO BUY A BONESAW...LOOKS LIKE A HACKSAW ON STEROIDS

BTW one venison shoulder up here will feed about a dozen people and have enough left over for sammiches the next day or three....

I do basically the same thing with a mix of lawreys brand lemmon pepper marinade and good ol open pit about 50/50.

[waksupi]

I sincerely believe the fastest way to ruin venison, is to cut the bone in the meat. It drags the marrow through the meat, and deer marrow is not good for taste. Once you get up to bison size animals, you can cut with bone in. I don't even like to cut elk bone. It's easier to bone stuff out correctly when butchering it.

[MT Gianni]

I sincerely believe the fastest way to ruin venison, is to cut the bone in the meat. It drags the marrow through the meat, and deer marrow is not good for taste. Once you get up to bison size animals, you can cut with bone in. I don't even like to cut elk bone. It's easier to bone stuff out correctly when butchering it.

+1 I will bone all I can just to remove any marrow and fat. I get a huge taste difference over leaving it in.

[Junior1942]

Well, this "bone in the meat" venison sho' nuff tasted fine. In fact, it's starting to call to me from inside the fridge here an hour before lunch.

[357maximum]

Our venison is corn/bean fed but the westerners are right it does not work too well with a swamper buck, but if you wipe off the fragments and assorted goodies with a wet towel it works out just fine...with our farm country critters.

I normally de-bone the shoulders for steak and burger, but once in awhile a large shoulder roast just needs to be done. I have cooked a whole deer a few times, it works with our deers diet.

[MT Gianni]

357Max, how about some more info on the whole deer? Was it pit bbq? spit? hide on or off? fat added? injections? fruit sewn inside? Thanks, Gianni.

[dale2242]

It`s the bone dust that leaves the bad taste in venison or any meat for that matter. I think pro butchers use some machine to remove the bone dust. I bone all my game, separate the muscles and cut across the grain. No complaints yet.---dale

[jack19512]

Anyone know how to tenderize deer meat or know what makes it tough. I just recently made a dish with some deer meat and it was so tough we couldn't eat it.

[MT Gianni]

Anyone know how to tenderize deer meat or know what makes it tough. I just recently made a dish with some deer meat and it was so tough we couldn't eat it.

As a general rule Bucks are tougher than Does, and run deer have adrenaline in their blood which affects taste. Cutting across the grain helps as does serving it rare. I shot a Moose that had great tasting burger but you chewed till you were tired then swallowed the steaks and roasts. Italian dressing as a marinade and slow cooking helped. If you want good venison try not to shoot the biggest one you see. Gianni

[357maximum]

357Max, how about some more info on the whole deer? Was it pit bbq? spit? hide on or off? fat added? injections? fruit sewn inside? Thanks, Gianni.

Them were cooked in an old (but unused) fuel oil tank that had been split lengthwise to make to shallow halves. A chimney and a rack made out of heavy gauge expanded metal was added. Good ol briquets were used as heat (with some added wet hickory and apple chunks for flavor)

The deer were cutoff at the knees and the body cavity was filled with sliced apples/zuccini and tators. The whole outside of the carcass was RUBBED with a mix of lemmon pepper seasoning.lemon peppermarinade and BBQ sauce. NO HIDE>>>NO INJECTIONS just very Slow cooked with very little heat and bacon drippings were added as it cooked. I did two full sized does (shot), 1 buck(shot) and one fawn that could not stay out of the wifes buick this way. They all turned out real good except the fawn, which was just OK. The fawn cooked a little faster than it should have and was a bit jerky (ish). The adults deer came out tender and juicy. The grill from haites has since been "accessorized" with an auxillary fire box for smoking and is still going strong. My buddy spoon has even added the exhaust system from a set of headers off his old muscle car to it...."it makes it look cooler"...his words not mine.


I will look for a pic of the beast.

Michael

[357maximum]

Anyone know how to tenderize deer meat or know what makes it tough. I just recently made a dish with some deer meat and it was so tough we couldn't eat it.

Very likely it was overcooked....normally the offending culprit in most cases. I will warn you though...when I eat steak I consider the natural juices as the steak sauce...blood will always make a better steaksauce than A1.

[Mumblypeg]

I read an article once about a study on what makes the best venison, results where: A doe killed instantly under non-stress conditions, cleaned within 3 hours, meat chilled from 5 to 7 days at 45 degrees F. then frozen for 2 weeks before cooking. Has worked for me. As to toughness the instant kill under non-stress conditions, I neck shoot all mine, is most important. I don't eat raw meat, cook it.

[REDTAIL]

Eat the meat & spit out the bones works for me & enjoy