Venison recipes

[lihpster]

What's your favorite way to prepare venison? When I was growing up we hunted for our meat. I remember my father coming home one day and asking my mother what was for dinner. When she told him Kraft mac and cheese, he grabbed his Mod. 10 and bundled me in the truck and off we went. 5 minute drive, about 3 minutes for me to flush out a fat cottontail, 5 minutes back home and dinner was a bit better. When we shot a deer, and we shot many, it was family meat. But the tenderloins always went to the shooter. I would fry up 2-3 slices of bacon and dice 'em up. Fry the tenderloins in the bacon grease. Bacon goes on the baked potato with butter and salt/pepper. Green beans on the side. Salt/pepper meat to taste. Nirvana. I will have to say that I miss my mother's venison stew. Especially after a long days hunt. Nothing better.

 

[6518John]

We cook any deer meat just like beef. The key is simply not to overcook it. We like it lightly pan seared in butter and some seasonings. We probably have deer meat 2 or three times a week. We mix deer burger 50-50 with ground beef for meatloaf, chili, lasagna, stuffed shells, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, sloppy Joe’s, spaghetti sauce, etc.

 

[Peak53]

I don't mix my venison or elk with anything like pork or beef. Ruins the flavor. If you run into a cut that is just a bit too tough, marinate the hell out of it for 24-48 hours with your favorite stuff. I like ginger along with oil, garlic, and balsamic, and maybe a few other things.

ETA: Echo on the bacon. Can't go wrong with that. But, lengthy marinating is key. Don't be afraid to let it sit in the fridge for a couple of days. It can take 24 hours for the marinade to permeate 1/4 inch.

 

[Nevada Ed]

I prefer Olive oil and some garlic with spices and a little flower and S/P on the meat in a medium high cast iron pan or dutch oven.

Some like red wine or butter milk to make the flavor a little bit milder after a 4-8 hour soak in a jip-lok bag.

The main thing as mentioned is not to over cook it for a tender section of meat.

Shoulders and neck sections can be cooked a lot longer to break down the tissues and I use sweet sherry at the end of the cooking or a good red wine, depending on my frame of mind that day.

Have fun.

 

[llowry61]

I don't get too fancy, marinate with what you like, and sear it off fast and hot keeping the middle pink.

On the grill, marinate wrap in bacon and barbecue sauce to finish it off.

Burger - we add pork fat 15-20% of total grind weight and use just like hamburger.

 

[zeke]

Dry Cajun rubbed, butter in iron skillet, med rare.

 

[jeffsmith]

Skillet
Butter
Don't Overcook

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Old hunting partner of mine introduced me to marinating venison in Italian salad dressing (vinegar, oil, garlic, and spices). Overnight is good, or about 6 hours or so in the refrigerator flooded with the cheapest Italian dressing you can find.

Good for steaks or chops, roasts, just about everything. The vinegar tends to break down meat fiber tissues. The oil adds some fat content. Garlic, peppers, and Italian seasoning spices are all pleasant to the taste buds.

Deer, elk, beef, pork, chicken. On the grill, in the cast iron skillet, in the Dutch oven, in the crock pot. Tender, juicy, and tasty every time.

 

[KalamazooKid]

Section of backstrap, apply your favorite rub and wrap in bacon. One hour on the pellet grill gives you perfection. And very easy!

 

[Rudi]

Depending on where he lived and what he ate was a factor for me. But moist cooking was often best. My young neighbor brought me some Mule Deer from last year. Just made some Tacos with some of the ground. Very good.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Depending on where he lived and what he ate was a factor for me. But moist cooking was often best. My young neighbor brought me some Mule Deer from last year. Just made some Tacos with some of the ground. Very good.

I will second this. Here in Colorado we have mule deer in the high mountains that spend much of the year foraging on sage brush, and the meat retains much of that flavor. We also have deer that subsist in farm fields on alfalfa, corn, sugar beet tops, and other delicacies, and the taste is entirely different.

I have become a bit picky about choosing where to hunt my deer!

 

[6518John]

I don't mix my venison or elk with anything like pork or beef. Ruins the flavor.

I may be a regional thing, but I have never heard of not mixing in 10-20 percent beef/pork fat into deer burger.


The Key to Crafting a Better Venison Burger - Legendary Whitetails - Legendary Whitetail's Blog

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I may be a regional thing, but I have never heard of not mixing in 10-20 percent beef/pork fat into deer burger.


The Key to Crafting a Better Venison Burger - Legendary Whitetails - Legendary Whitetail's Blog

The common wisdom here in Colorado is that venison is so lean that it requires some fat content. Some folks use pork, some use cheap hamburger, grind it all together at the proportions you want.

Personally, I tend to keep as much as I can for stew meat and very little goes into the grinder for burgers. What I choose to grind up is frequently mixed with the local cheap ground beef (73% lean) at about 50/50 by weight, and this results in ground meat that will stay together as burger patties on the grill.

In over 50 years of hunting here in Colorado I have only taken one buck that could be considered to be a little bit fat. All the rest have been very, very lean meat with very little visible fat.

 

[llowry61]

Our deer here in Central Ohio eat a lot of corn, soybeans, clover etc. They are as tasty as Angus cattle.

The southeastern Ohio deer that rely on the mast crop are not quite as tasty, but still good.

 

[jeffsmith]

I used to Hunt in New England during a State Sponsored Wildlife Hunt for Handicapped Hunters
One year one of the Wheelchair hunters took a Doe that was standing in a bit of a low spot
When the Hunt Volunteers came to assist him they found his shot had also killed her Fawn

We all kind of felt Kinda' Bad, but that was the BEST Venison any of us ever ate !!!

 

[STCM(SW)]

"We all kind of felt Kinda' Bad, but that was the BEST Venison any of us ever ate !!! "

Reminds me of a hunt in PA. My wife said "get a young one."
1.5 year old spike and they ate down in the corn field every night.
Better then the one's I got that feed on acorns!

 

[tops]

The common wisdom here in Colorado is that venison is so lean that it requires some fat content. Some folks use pork, some use cheap hamburger, grind it all together at the proportions you want.
.

There is a local processor that will use beef or pork fat. You choose. If he uses beef he labels it deer burger. If he uses pork he labels it deer sausage. Larry

 

[s&wchad]

We eat a fair amount of venison. The loins, T-loins and sirloins are kept whole and cooked medium rare. I like to grill or pan fry the loins/T-loins and roast or smoke the sirloin footballs.

Neck and front shoulder meat is awesome slow cooked and some of my favorite. The neck reminds me of pulled pork when cooked well. I take large chunks of the shoulder meat, dust them with seasoned flour, brown them well and place the pieces over a large bed of sliced onions. I add a bottle of beer, a half pack of Lipton onion soup mix and cook it until it pulls apart with a fork. It’s great over mashed potatoes or noodles.

 

[MP-5]

I like to bread with Italian breadcrumbs and fry my venison ��

 

[Nevada Ed]

Roast, steaks, loin/backstrap and Jerky is most of my stay except for maybe
ten 3" round sticks of Salami, to finish off the deal........no burger.

Just depends on what you like.