Need help to prepare venison.

Misty - posted on 12/31/2009

Thank you all so much.

Thereca - posted on 12/30/2009

My ex husbands family were avid hunters, we fixed everything aqs you would any equivalent meat roast like roast etc, the key I found to not having it tste gmey was to make sure to soak it over night in millk then discard the milk wash the meat and cook it this will take the gamieness away.

Shana - posted on 12/30/2009

Hi Misty - I am from Iowa and my husband and I both hunt. We shot 19 deer this season, so I have been cooking a lot of deer meat! Everyone has given great ways to cook venison! Another way to get rid of the gamey taste is to add some bay leaves to the meat while you are cooking it. Hope that helps!! :)

Evelyn - posted on 12/30/2009

My brother is a hunter and I have prepared venision a couple of times. I am a ground meat fan; you can use venison in any recipe you where you use ground meat such as meat loaf, spagetti sauce or chili. I use ground meat to make "pasties". prepare a double pie crust. Make a pie filling by browning one pound ground meat with chopped onion and season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and garlic powder. Drain excess fat and add grated carrot and rutabaga. Press the filling into the prepared crust and top with additional pastrie. Bake to golden brown. Serve hot or cold. Individual pies can be made and baked on a baking sheet.

An easy stew can be made by dredging chunks of meat in flour seasoned with salt and pepper or your favorite seasoning blend. Brown the chunks in oil; add a chopped onion then cover with flat beer. Add additional seasoning if desired such as garlic. Simmer until tender. If needed thicken gravy and serve.

Venison is also good when stewed with red wine. Venison needs to be seasoned with strong flavors.

Debbie - posted on 12/30/2009

treat it just like beef although steaks you mighht want to marinate overnight before you grill them I've been told that if you soak your meat in milk for a couple of hours before cooking it will get rid of the game taste but I have never done it and a deer chili is really good

Jada - posted on 12/29/2009

just want to add that because of it's leanness, it is important to not overcook it. it really dries it out more so than ground beef. other than that, it was my favorite meat growing up. all of the above ideas are great. onions are a great add. makes awesome chili and stuff like they said too. i have a dip recipe with Velveeta cheese and a little Worcestershire sauce and chili with no beans. good stuff.

Alice - posted on 12/29/2009

The main problem is the dryness of the meat....not a lot of fat! If you are having it processed elsewhere, they can add fat to it. If you are the one processing it (grinding etc....) then I've just learned to live with it. You can tenderize steaks and roast with a tenderizing tool....a tool you press into the meat and it makes a bunch of holes in it. Marinating any cut in a little milk (2-3TBS) and some zesty italian dressing (1cup or so). Brown your meat in the skillet with a little olive oil. I always add onion or celery to the venison because it helps the meat stay moist. ALWays cut against the grain when you are cutting steaks or fajita strips.

Rachelle - posted on 12/29/2009

Hi I live in Michigan and deer meat what we live on! We use it just like you would any kind of beef. If you don't like the more wild taste i would suggest grinding most of it into burger. You have to add either beef fat or beef itself to make it work about 70% venison, 30% beef is a good ratio. Once its in chili or goulash or whatever you can't really tell its not beef.

Angela E. - posted on 12/29/2009

Misty, There is a magazine out, Great Days Outdoors. www.gdomag.com. MY husnad was raised on deer meat & fish, I have eaten it all from time to time but had never prepared it all myself. All he did to start with was season his flour & fry, although it is great that way it does get old 3-4 nights a week. So In this magazine their are several good recipes as well. As well as very good articles for you and your husband to read. My 9 yr old likes to read it as well, he wants to hun one min & not teh next, he is a fair weather hunter/fisherman, it drives my husband crazy..LOL.. But he loves deer meat anyway we fix it so he needs to learn to hunt as my husband says he works offshore & you never know what can happen, he may have to hunt for tha family one day. we also take the meat, peel potatoes, chop them and onion, add cream of mushroom, celery or chicken soup and cook it in the oven on 350 until done, this same thing can be done in a crock pot as well. We also take the deer meat and wishbone italian dressing, sliced onion, sliced bell peppers and put in heavy duty foil & cook on grill on low to med heat so it does not dry out. This can also be done in the oven as well but we like it off the grill better. It also works better if you cut the meat into steaks, for seasoning & cooking. For the most part you can really do anything with deer meat. Whne my husband comes in with deer, he skins it and quarters it up, we put it in a cooler cover it in ice & very cold water changing the water & ice 2 times during a 24 hour period. Then we sit down at the table & clean it all up get the fatty (if any) off, and trim all the shiny I guess tendon type stuff ot of the meat the areas that is hard to get out works very well as stew meat & is perfect if cut in bite size pieces for stew, or in the crock pot as I said earlier. We portion all the meat into steak, back strap, stew and grilling meat into portions for our family & into the freezer. The saoking process that we use works great as for the gamey taste. I hope this helps you some. The magazine I mentioned is a wonderful magazine to get recipes & you may be able to get them on line. Also you may not think it but if you have okra pods or pieces it is great as a flavoring when you are preparing a roast of any type. I only liek it fried but my husband threw some in on a deer roast as I was putting it in the oven with the pot, onions, carrots & celery & it gives a great flavor, I will eat the okra that way. Have a wonderful time cooking your deer meat... Oh also watch the cooking on the outdoor network we have learned alot this year alone & my husband has been hunting probably 38 years. Angie Boutwell

Kathy - posted on 12/28/2009

Now you've got me digging through the freezer looking for deer meat! Be sure to rinse the meat off well before you cook it...it takes most of the 'gamey' taste away. Deer meat is actually sweeter than beef and the hamburger we make due to the sweetness makes excellent chili and hamburger soup and tacos..anything you'd use hamburger for.

Kathy in Iowa

Misty - posted on 12/28/2009

Thank you all for the help. It's a start. I've never prepared venison and I really appreciate the ideas that have been shared.

Allyson - posted on 12/28/2009

We usually use most of our deer meat for sausage. But with the meat we eat otherwise we cut up in small pieces first and, as we do with all wild meat, we soak it in vinegar and salt water before anything. We then fry it up with onions and make a mushroom soup sauce and bake it for a little while. Make that with mashed potatoes and corn and it's awesome! Also we have made jerky and summer sausage and both were awesome!

Megan - posted on 12/27/2009

There are recipes all over the internet! I personally love venison! We do a little jerky which people seem to love, then we do usually cut the backstraps into butterfly steaks and they are a hit when you do them like country fried steak with flour/cracker crumbs.. we usually get atleast one roast out of it and then the rest we cube/process into ground meat and use it just like we would beef- save alot of money

Amy - posted on 12/27/2009

Venison is the best!! so high in protein and low in fat. I agree with the posts above. Onions are a very good addition. I also use worchestchire sauce and sometimes A1. lots of seasoning, whatever you would normally use to cook the dish you cook. treat it like beef, only healthier!

Patty Ann - posted on 12/26/2009

To keep it from tasting gamey, add a little onion powder or garlic powder, just a little. Also can tenderize meat and fry like cube steak with flour on it, then make gravy.

Debbie - posted on 12/24/2009

I cook it just as I would cook beef. Ground venison can be used in place of ground beef or turkey. My husband grills the steaks with a little seasoning and it's great!

Kathy - posted on 12/24/2009

Hi Misty...my name is Kathy and I live in Iowa..we live off of deer meat! Deer steak - cook like minute steak and grind up ALOT for hamburger. My husband adds regular hamburger 50/50 to the ground deer because deer is lean and needs the extra fat. Venison roast is good as well...cook like a regular roast in either the oven or crockpot with salt pepper and i always put in a packet of onion soup mix..is DELICIOUS

Kristi - posted on 12/23/2009

Hi Misty - we just got some deer meat from a friend and I have prepared it in a few different ways. I am assuming that your husband has drained the deer and cut the meat out.....? If so, then first, you need to make sure to trim off all the fat and hair, etc....then soak it in salt water in the fridge for 24 hours. This will help drain the blood and make it less gamey (less fat will also help with that as well). Once it has soaked, you can cut them into meal-size portions and bag them up and freeze them. Then prepare in dishes like you would beef...I have made stew, chili, etc and it has turned out great - you can get recipes online. Defrost in the fridge, then brown the meat in a skillet on medium heat, then you can cook in a crockpot, stew pot, etc. The browning process helps eliminate any bacteria....I actually made a chili with it tonight and it was really good with corn bread...let me know if you have any questions! :)