what to do with fresh venison

[unclemikeinct]

Slow roast the front shoulder of fresh tender doe. A day of rest in the fridge after quartering. I like a mild marinade OverNite. I use some black coffee, cider vinegar couple of ozs, Squirt or two of lime juice, Few good splashes of fav hot sauce. Apple Cider n nice white wine. Usual spices Salt Pepper garlic oregano Some rosemary .. Remove & wipe dry in the early next morning. Wrap w plastic film wrap & return to Fridge [only a day or two to rest] . Morning I'm going to cook. Fire up the grill for a quick flame job 2 to 3 mins per side just to color it up. Put in roasting pan with cover With nice Braising liquid similar to the marinade. add Usual spices . Cook for up to 4 hours at only 225 degrees. I add my favorite veggies cook covered for at least 1.5 hours at 275 degrees. Check everything, should be near done. Uncover Raise the temp to 325 finish & serve. UNCLEMIKEINCT

[firebyprolong]

As a guy who has spent the last 20 or so years in the meat industry, both as a cutter and butcher then over to the dark side as inspection. I’ve got to say that I’m solidly on the side of processing venison as soon as rigor is resolved. In small plants beef hung for 10-14 days in controlled coolers after being slaughtered under a haccp plan with strict sanitation control, zero tolerance contamination step and a requirement for a 5 log ecoli intervention applied. Deer aren’t beef and aren’t killed on a sanitized slaughter floor. The lack of general sanitation even on cleanly shot and dressed deer, means that usually it’s not aging, it’s decomposing and fairly rapidly at that. it’s a race after the first two days of hanging in a cooler even in a locker plant. Get it under 35 as soon as possible and keep it that way for a minimum of a day and go for it, get it frozen or thermally processed.
But do what you like, your eating it! I currently have 30lb of venison chili cheese dogs fresh out of the smoker, quickly turning into meat popsicles in the -16 windchill in a tub on my porch and 25 pounds of roasts curing out in corning brine in the fridge. We eat a lot of deer in this house.

[cwtebay]

As a guy who has spent the last 20 or so years in the meat industry, both as a cutter and butcher then over to the dark side as inspection. I’ve got to say that I’m solidly on the side of processing venison as soon as rigor is resolved. In small plants beef hung for 10-14 days in controlled coolers after being slaughtered under a haccp plan with strict sanitation control, zero tolerance contamination step and a requirement for a 5 log ecoli intervention applied. Deer aren’t beef and aren’t killed on a sanitized slaughter floor. The lack of general sanitation even on cleanly shot and dressed deer, means that usually it’s not aging, it’s decomposed and fairly rapidly at that. it’s a race after the first two days of hanging in a cooler even in a locker plant. Get it under 35 as soon as possible and keep it that way for a minimum of a day and go for it, get it frozen or thermally processed.
But do what you like, your eating it! I currently have 30lb of venison chili cheese dogs fresh out of the smoker, quickly turning into meat popsicles in the -16 windchill in a tub on my porch and 25 pounds of roasts curing out in corning brine in the fridge. We eat a lot of deer in this house.

^^^^^this guy said it all.
Thank you.

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[1hole]

.... not much room in the fridge and no place to hang it where wild critters would not get at it. so I cut the half in a 3 pieces ribs and hind quarter and shoulder and put in bag in a cooler with couple bags of ice. tomorrow what should I do?

You have a common problem for the common man and you've done half of what is needed. Now you need to make a brine solution to soak the meat in!

The salt concentration isn't critical. I usually put enough water in the cooler to cover the meat and float the ice; about a half pound of table salt in a 10 gallon cooler is enough. When more ice is needed, just pour out enough bloody water to allow any new ice to float and keep the temp down to about 35 F without diluting the brine too much.

Thing is, raw meat will absorb fresh water like a sponge, causing it to swell, discolor and lose flavor. When the brine is stronger than the meat the liquid flow is out, not in, taking away much of the so-called "wild" flavor and beautifully cleaning the blood-shot meat.

I've found that I can "age" the meat for at least two weeks if I just keep a little bit of ice floating in a cooler full of brine. It's best to use gallon size frozen milk jugs for the ice but keeping store packaged ice in its plastic bags also does pretty well.

To get the best quality, tenderest and cleanest meat possible, I butcher and package my own game. I've learned to bone and trim away as much of the fat and "silver" sheath/tendons from the red meat with my trusty razor sharp fish filleting knife as I can.

Plastic ziplock bags work very well for packaging it into meal size bags. Carve out and keep those long succulent back straps - from head to tail - separate for you and your wife because some things are just too good to share!

[OverMax]

Jerky is good. Having a out door smoker makes it even better.
Steak. Never tire of eating. But you have to know how to fry it.
Roasts. are great! Prepping the meat prior to the oven is a very important procedure.
Venison Hamburger. Requires it being blended with other red meat.
If you have cable TV. Watch UTube > search for the "bearded butchers" lots of experience they both have w/venison.

[Flogger]

Got some backstrap marinating now. Fajita's are on the menu tonight!!

I have always aged mine 14+ days when possible. the last few years it has not been possible so a day or 2 is the best I get. We are in the process of building a cooler/butcher shop to get take mother nature out of the equation and to handle the family's beef and pork as well. I have a chili recipe that is astounding so for the past few years I chop up all but the tenders and back strap for chili.

[Nazgul]

We make summer sausage and breakfast sausage. The breakfast sausage is 1/2 venison and 1/2 local hot pork, which is quite hot, I like it others don't. I touch up the seasonings with some brown sugar and spices. I use the small loaf containers and it goes in the smoker for 3 - 4 hrs until temp is reached. Vacuum seal whatever we don't use right away. Slice it and on the skillet for a crisp and it is awesome.

Summer sausage doesn't make it past the grandkids, it is gone in a couple days. Same thing, grind, mix with spices and smoke with apple wood.

Don

[Jeff Michel]

As a guy who has spent the last 20 or so years in the meat industry, both as a cutter and butcher then over to the dark side as inspection. I’ve got to say that I’m solidly on the side of processing venison as soon as rigor is resolved. In small plants beef hung for 10-14 days in controlled coolers after being slaughtered under a haccp plan with strict sanitation control, zero tolerance contamination step and a requirement for a 5 log ecoli intervention applied. Deer aren’t beef and aren’t killed on a sanitized slaughter floor. The lack of general sanitation even on cleanly shot and dressed deer, means that usually it’s not aging, it’s decomposing and fairly rapidly at that. it’s a race after the first two days of hanging in a cooler even in a locker plant. Get it under 35 as soon as possible and keep it that way for a minimum of a day and go for it, get it frozen or thermally processed.
But do what you like, your eating it! I currently have 30lb of venison chili cheese dogs fresh out of the smoker, quickly turning into meat popsicles in the -16 windchill in a tub on my porch and 25 pounds of roasts curing out in corning brine in the fridge. We eat a lot of deer in this house.

State or Federal inspection? Just curious, I retired from FSIS 2 1/2 years ago, same gig.

[Petander]

As a guy who has spent the last 20 or so years in the meat industry, both as a cutter and butcher then over to the dark side as inspection. I’ve got to say that I’m solidly on the side of processing venison as soon as rigor is resolved. In small plants beef hung for 10-14 days in controlled coolers after being slaughtered under a haccp plan with strict sanitation control, zero tolerance contamination step and a requirement for a 5 log ecoli intervention applied. Deer aren’t beef and aren’t killed on a sanitized slaughter floor. The lack of general sanitation even on cleanly shot and dressed deer, means that usually it’s not aging, it’s decomposing and fairly rapidly at that. it’s a race after the first two days of hanging in a cooler even in a locker plant. Get it under 35 as soon as possible and keep it that way for a minimum of a day and go for it, get it frozen or thermally processed.
But do what you like, your eating it! I currently have 30lb of venison chili cheese dogs fresh out of the smoker, quickly turning into meat popsicles in the -16 windchill in a tub on my porch and 25 pounds of roasts curing out in corning brine in the fridge. We eat a lot of deer in this house.

What's your take on vacuuming and aging the meat like that,packed in vacuum right after cutting?

I'm the only one in our club to age moose, never had problems since the 90's. My steaks are just better after a week or two,depending on the weather. Fridge temp is good. Old cows especially need that imo.

I like my steaks rare which is also untypical here. But I have lived in a steak culture (Brazil), the usual finnish way (overcook the non-aged meat until dry and gray) just makes me wonder.

Many people can't stand any red in meat...

[Fishman]

It appears there are as many ideas of how to process venison as there on how to cook venison. I am constantly amused by people who believe with certainty that their way is the only way. I would agree that it likely is the best way . . . for them . . . that they have tried so far. Many try something once and then never change, pronouncing it the best way for everyone everywhere every time.

In my experience, as a person who lives in a hot dry climate (Texas), who doesn't have a walk-in cooler, wet aging in ice works great. This has already been mentioned at the beginning of this thread. My family and I have shot and processed several dozen deer with bows and guns, and hands down, quartering the deer and submerging in ice for several days results in the best venison for our needs. I have taken the opportunity to test many different approaches, and this works the best in my situation. Drain the water daily as previously stated, and add ice as needed. Obviously cleanliness is important, for example this won't work if you gut shoot a deer and don't clean and remove the affected areas. Due to circumstances we have processed deer immediately after harvest all the way out to 7+ days, and the best is always that which has been aged. We make a lot of steaks from the backstrap and hindquarters. We remove as much silverskin and fat as possible once the quarters are aged and that helps with quality as well.

So my two cents. This works well for me and results in a superior product that my family loves. It may not work worth a flip in Minnesota or North Carolina or wherever, I have no idea.

[OverMax]

Making venison summer sausage has the same mix figures as concrete.
3-2-1. Venison to beef to pork ratio. 10% water by weight. Nothing more besides a good spice recipe w/ mustard seed.

[Charlie Horse]

As a guy who has spent the last 20 or so years in the meat industry, both as a cutter and butcher then over to the dark side as inspection. I’ve got to say that I’m solidly on the side of processing venison as soon as rigor is resolved. In small plants beef hung for 10-14 days in controlled coolers after being slaughtered under a haccp plan with strict sanitation control, zero tolerance contamination step and a requirement for a 5 log ecoli intervention applied. Deer aren’t beef and aren’t killed on a sanitized slaughter floor. The lack of general sanitation even on cleanly shot and dressed deer, means that usually it’s not aging, it’s decomposing and fairly rapidly at that. it’s a race after the first two days of hanging in a cooler even in a locker plant. Get it under 35 as soon as possible and keep it that way for a minimum of a day and go for it, get it frozen or thermally processed.
But do what you like, your eating it! I currently have 30lb of venison chili cheese dogs fresh out of the smoker, quickly turning into meat popsicles in the -16 windchill in a tub on my porch and 25 pounds of roasts curing out in corning brine in the fridge. We eat a lot of deer in this house.

Over the years, whenever possible, we would field dress our deer and hang them head down for a week in the garage with the hide on, and we never lost one to spoilage. Always under 40 degrees. Guess we just didn't know any better. And I've eaten a ton of it rare.
I was told under 40 degrees bacteria slows way down and enzymes age the meat.
Have done the same with rabbits and squirrels except they always got cooked well done of course.
Anymore I skin then cut them up as soon as all the heat goes out. I quit aging them, although that really does help with flavor and texture.

[HWooldridge]

I hunt on our property so I can get one hung and cleaned pretty quickly. I always hang the carcass head down and work from the tail. I recently started cutting the head off first before anything else, which gets quite a bit more blood to drain. Almost no fluid is left in the cold storage bins.

And I process as fast as possible. Everything is usually finished within 24-48 hours - at least for initial cut and grind.

[OverMax]

A little rant. A little tutelage. My comment about.
The hide has allot to do with how big game animals will taste on the plate. Aging just tenderizes the meat (sometimes) doing will not enhance the taste. The following will enhance. ASAP. A well rinsed gut cavity and quick hide removed than refrigeration is the key to tasty venison. Absolutely No gaminess no matter the size or gender if you follow those procedures. Those who hang their deer for 2-3-4 days hide on in the open air or wait many hours in 40-50 degrees weather before taking their deer to a locker plant or butcher shop. Will assuredly be eating such animal alone at the family's dinner table year after year. Making sausage of so to enjoy their yearly woodsy reward. If they had taken care of their game to begin with. They'd never grind or blend with other red meats and use spice's to cover up what was intended to enjoy on the plate as is.

[10x]

A little rant. A little tutelage. My comment about.
The hide has allot to do with how big game animals will taste on the plate. Aging just tenderizes the meat (sometimes) doing will not enhance the taste. The following will enhance. ASAP. A well rinsed gut cavity and quick hide removed than refrigeration is the key to tasty venison. Absolutely No gaminess no matter the size or gender if you follow those procedures. Those who hang their deer for 2-3-4 days hide on in the open air or wait many hours in 40-50 degrees weather before taking their deer to a locker plant or butcher shop. Will assuredly be eating such animal alone at the family's dinner table year after year. Making sausage of so to enjoy their yearly woodsy reward. If they had taken care of their game to begin with. They'd never grind or blend with other red meats and use spice's to cover up what was intended to enjoy on the plate as is.

After over 60 years of hunting deer and home processing venison I have discovered what works best for me.
A quick and humane kill with a heart/lung shot.
Field dressing and cooling the animal as quickly as possible. This includes skinning
Quartering the deer so it cools faster blood drains quicker
Hanging for one or two days at 33F to 38F to allow the blood to drain from the meat - when the blood stops dripping, it is ready to cut and wrap.

I have discovered that the tenderloins and backstraps are just as tender within 5 hours of the animals death as they are after hanging for 14 days.
I have also discovered that sometimes when a deer is wounded and lives for over a half hour or longer before it dies can give the meat a funky taste, Sometimes if the deer bleeds out it will not have any significant different taste.
I have also discovered that beef and venison that has not been bled sufficently and is ground up will give a different and unpleasant taste (in my opinion) to the cooked ground meat. In sausage the spices mask this.
Some folks have grown to like and expect this taste.

There is no substitue for a well placed shot on a healthy deer that ensures a fast and humane death and cooling the carcass quickly while allowing the blood to drain.

Finally , there are ways of cooking wild game that give the best results. Shanks of venison make incredible Ossobuco, cooked for up to 4 hours or more, while the backstraps and tenderloins should be very carefully not overcooked to keep them tender and moist. There are recipes for cooking each cut of venison that will give incredible texture and flavour and cooking time, as well as internal temperature when it is served will result in very tasty meals

[10x]

I hunt on our property so I can get one hung and cleaned pretty quickly. I always hang the carcass head down and work from the tail. I recently started cutting the head off first before anything else, which gets quite a bit more blood to drain. Almost no fluid is left in the cold storage bins.

And I process as fast as possible. Everything is usually finished within 24-48 hours - at least for initial cut and grind.

pretty much nailed it...

[Charlie Horse]

A well rinsed gut cavity...

In the past I hung my deer for a week with the hide on. I always avoided rinsing the body cavity. That is a perfect way of spreading stuff you don't want spread.
Instead, I would wipe out the cavity with a slightly dampened cloth, only if it needed it, only where it needed it.

[MT Gianni]

So much is climate related. When I hunt I expect temps to have highs in the 40's for 2-3 hours a day, above freezing for 8 hours and 35 or below for the balance. Most of that will be freezing. I don't see a taste difference between immediate skinning and just before cutting. I do see a huge meat loss in skinning it twice. I hang meat in the garage bay that is just for that and a storage area. Nothing idles inside and the door is up before the engine starts and stops.
If any waste is in the body cavity do a complete rinse and make sure it's complete.

[Norske]

We lived in a western ND small town for 30 years. It had a privately owned butcher shop that wanted deer delivered with the hide on and the interior rinsed, but not scrubbed clean, to seal the carcass. They offered the best sumer sausage we ever ate. It contained 70% trimmed venison, 30% trimmed beef, and spices (no pork or fat). Trust me, Germans make much better sausage than those of us of Norwegian descent. No, they don't share the recipe.

[pls1911]

Proper aging makes a HUGE improvement in venison flavor and texture.
I prefer aging a whole carcass 5-7 days at 38 degrees when I have access to a walk-in cooler,
but have had success with primal cuts hung in a spare refrigerator.