what to do with fresh venison

[bandanaman]

Diving in late on this thread but my experience has been if the meat has had a few days to hang or be kept cool it is somewhat firmer and easier to process.In my bachelor days I could stuff a bunch in the fridge and pick away at it evenings doing say a quarter each night depending on the size of the deer and save the trim to grind with a hand grinder at the end. My hunting buddy was a meat cutter and had a walk in cooler. He would do a big deer cut and wrapped in 3.5 hours or so. He was really ,really fussy on trimming and cleanliness. Before the cooler days I would also keep the meat in coolers on ice but always made sure the kept dry. Looks like we'll have to do that again as my pal is "in a better place now"......

[ChristopherO]

Attachment 297426

This is what my son and I have done with 180 lb of venison this past season. Much of it was turned into pepperoni and other seasoned burger, wrapped up in the plastic burger bags and marked for future baking/dehydration of logs, sticks and slim jim type of snacks. I still have steaks from prior season, so didn't need any of those this year. Really enjoying the burger for chili and dried seasoned sticks lately.

[calm seas]

Bad shot placement busted a deer's stomach open right at dark years ago, it lay all night. My boss's wife told me to clean - and I do mean CLEAN!! - the body cavity with 10% white vinegar and water solution and rags. Never tasted anything bad from it.

[Travisbishop]

Years ago, I bought a walk in cooler to hang deer in. I normally tag out here in Texas and up in south east Oklahoma. That amounts to 10 or 11 deer. I quarter them, then hang them to age for a month or longer. It really improves the meat quality in a big way.

[NorthMoccasin]

Whoever decided ageing game idea is a fool. Ageing is designed to break down muscle fibres and incorporate fat into the muscle. There is NOT intramuscular fat in any game animal - period ( unless you are hunting in a feedlot?!?!!) Hang / age for 48 hours or less. Cut out the tenderloins now, backstraps tomorrow. Slice them into 3/4" steaks, prepare as you wish (olive oil rubbed in, cast iron pan,.cook high and hot until 140° internally.....rest..... delicious!!!). Rest of the carcass - cut every cubic millimeter from the bone, put it in bags and freeze it until you have time to deal with it rightously.

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Absolutely correct! No aging needed the sooner you process it and freeze it the better. good suggestions on using the loin and tenderloin. Grind the meat bundles that have tendons like the shanks, shoulders and bottom round, mix with beef fat or pork. the top round can be made into super corned venison or roasted/braised in a crock pot. lots of good recipes on line. Enjoy!