Annie, Thank you for your help. These pieces were freshly butchered, 2 large "hams" deboned and pretty well trimmed (I cut off some silver skin), and loosely wrapped in butcher paper. I think my friend takes his deer to a friend who butchers them for part of the meat. If I ever have a choice of what I get, I love the idea of cooking a whole haunch a la churrascaria.

I am not a farmer but I feel as you do about the deer. I no longer can have hostas or tricyrtis in my front garden, which is about a half-acre shaded area. Until seven years or so ago was lush with hostas and other shade plants. Our woodland "garden", another half acre where we have planted native plants is nearly bare.

Our entire wooded subdivision is full of deer--and deer ticks (two neighbors have become seriously ill, hospitalized, for tick borne fevers). Deer are beautiful, delicious, and a scourge. I was astounded to learn that there are far more deer in the US today than there have ever been, and the number is increasing rapidly.
I would not poison them, but I will happily eat them!!

I wish I was more familiar with the BGE I bought a couple of months ago. I would love to cook one of these "hams" on it as you describe. Didn't realize the deer would be tender enough to cook that way. Maybe next time--if I am lucky to have a next time delivery!

Meanwhile, I don't WANT the venison to taste like beef!
The first steaks are marinating in a vacuum bag with salt, pepper, garlic, wine, and rosemary as I type. I'll report tomorrow on the results.

And I really appreciate any additional ideas, suggestions, and so on.

Anyone have a favorite recipe for home-made venison jerky seasoning?

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Thu, Oct 24, 13 at 15:52

I do not like the gamey taste of venison. A friend taught me to soak it in a bowl of cold water & vinegar. Pour the liquid out and add fresh daily for at least 3 days, then soak in salt water for 24 hours.

Cook as usual. Yummy! No gamey taste!

Betty

We eat a lot of venison here-- as others have mentioned much depends on the age & food source of the animal-- and how it was field dressed. We don't " age" the meat other than the original "hanging'-- and length of that depends on cold weather.

Venison is very lean-- unless Doc's making jerky or quick grilling strips of tenderloin we always add some "fat" such as bacon mentioned above-- we grind pork in with the venison for "hamburger "--same with making it into sausage. We cut a lot in thin strips -- half for jerky/half to use in chili & stew -- and then I always a bit of sweet Italian sausage when making those.

A friend of ours makes hot dogs , a pepperoni type sausage and Italian sausage out of his venison if it's an older deer he's shot.

At Deer Camp each year the guys always roast a full leg from the first young deer anyone gets-- stud it with lots of cloves of garlic & springs of rosemary, also "stud " in small pieces of salt pork & baste continuously with a hearty dry red wine.

Diane

I'm just curious, Bellsmom, if you had just purchased 15 pounds of beef from the butcher, would you treat it the same way? Since the temperature tonight will be in the 30's, I left them in the car, but tomorrow I will have to deal with them.

Yeah, venison tastes "gamy" when people "age" it outside in uncontrolled temperatures. Basically the meat is starting to rot.

I butcher two or three a year, and not one of them has ever tasted gamy. Different than beef? Yes. Different cooking techniques required? Yes.

Craftryn, could you tell me how you do the jerky? What spices, how thick the pieces, that sort of thing. I have some recipe books for dehydrating foods that include jerky recipes, but it is always useful to hear first hand from someone who does it.

Maina, Interesting question. Yes, I would leave beef in the car overnight IF 1) the temperature would be between 30 and 40, 2) I didn't have room in the refrigerator for all of it, 3) I hadn't decided how to cut it before vacuum bagging and freezing it, and 4)the meat was well-wrapped.
Could you please tell me how you would cook the meat from a haunch? I think I have pretty near the entire meaty part of a rear leg. Into what size pieces would you cut it for packaging and freezing?

Pkramer, a larding needle is on the way! Thanks for the suggestion.

This evening I put the two marinated steaks into a hot cast iron skillet with butter, seared them until they registered 125+, and DH said his was the best venison he had ever eaten. It was tender and very, very good.

To satisfy my curiosity, I also seared a small piece of muscle (2" diameter x 3" long) that had not been marinated or jaccarded. It was far tougher and less tasty.

Careful trimming, I now know, takes a LOT of time. And is worth it? Wish I knew more. Just what is silver skin? Is it the really thin, nearly transparent skin across some muscle sections? Or is it the opaque whitish skin? Next time I go to the meat store that I most trust, I will ask for a demo.

From one half of the hind quarter, I trimmed out, jaccarded, and froze 4 pieces that will make two small steaks each. Another package, maybe 1 to 1.5 lbs, I labeled stew meat. Finally, I froze a package, maybe 1 to 1.5 lbs of trimmings. Don't know what I will do with this. Maybe just add it to the dog's food? Or could I grind it for deerburger?

And I still have half of the quarter to go. I will save half to a quarter of it for jerky. Right now, the rest will be trimmed,cut, jaccarded, and frozen for steaks.

Anyway, thank you all.

I've not had "gamey" venison either, but I've had a couple from swamps or pine forests and what they eat definitely affects flavor. It's not surprising, as what cattle eat affects flavor of milk, what chickens eat affects the flavor of eggs, etc. As Diane mentioned, a deer must be properly field dressed to avoid contamination from glands, etc.

As for silverskin, I try to trim it all, or at least as much as possible. Some small pieces can go through the grinder, but larger pieces are tough and they do not break down and I also think it gives a different flavor to the meat. As mentioned, a little can go through the grinder, but I'd trim as much of it as I could. If your venison is very cold it's easier to trim, I bring mine right to the point where it starts freezing for easier handling.

The deer trimmings I'd put it through the grinder and turn it into burger, or grind it and season it for sausage, although your dog may hate me forever for saying that. (grin)

I handle venison just like I handle grass fed beef, which is different than normally available commercial beef, something I don't care to handle or prepare at all. If I had to eat the commercial beef, I'd give up beef, I far prefer venison. So, as I've said before, taste is subjective, not objective.

Normally deer will hang for a couple of days, so the hunters can show off their "harvest" more than anything, I think. Makayla's deer was processed the day after it was shot, as the youth hunt was September 21 and 22 and the temperature in the daytime was a high of 55 and a low of 43, and climbed to 80F only three days later. You have to be sensible and not hang meat when it's 80F, but our regular firearm deer season is November 15-30 and the average temps are 40-something as a high and 27 as a low, colder usually. As optimum refrigerator temperatures are 35F to 38F it can be like a refrigerator in the pole barn then! Dry aging IS basically controlled rotting, but it adds to the flavor and texture of the meat and is a practice common in great steakhouses. Lean meat doesn't age as well as fatty meat does, so dry aging venison for several days like prime beef is not a good idea.

Annie

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. Was busy grinding and packaging the rest of the venison in my refrigerator. My two mutts are happy - they got more tidbits. They adore butchering season.

You did exactly what I would have suggested. Cut them into steaks and sear until rare. I have two rump steaks in corning brine now. Corned venison is delicious.

On the thread about "If it quacks like a duck...", I put a link to honest-food.net - Hank has some excellent venison recipes.

Silverskin is the opaque, white tissue. It doesn't come off easily (the most fiddly part of butchering), and it's tough as shoe leather. The transparent film is the muscle sheath, and holds the meat together. That's fine to leave on.

You could grind the trimmings for burger. Add about 20% pork to it. I use pork butt (or any fatty cut will do like picnic shoulder) and a bit of fresh pork jowl. Pork jowl is a very soft fat that literally melts from the heat of your hands when you are cutting it. We use it instead of a "hard" fat like fatback. Makes the burgers or meatloaf juicy without being "greasy". Without the addition of pork, your burgers will be dry and crumbly.

Also I wanted to apologize if I came across sounding "snarky". I'm just so tired of people abusing good venison and then complaining about how it tastes. I was in the local butcher shop last year and someone brought in a deer for processing. It was green. I mean really green. The guy couldn't understand why they refused to process it for him. "But I hung it in the garage for a week like you're supposed to". Yeah, we had an Indian Summer that week and it was 75 degrees outside. Anyway, sorry about my tone :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: How to Make Jerky

Sorry I just got back to this thread. I see you have gotten lots of good info.

We are not very specific about how we (DH) handles the deer. He does hang it a day or two in the garage. That is more of an issue as he needs to get a day or two off of work. He bring in a small section at a time to work on. He uses a marinade (I don't know whats in it) for the steaks. It does make excellent chili.

I don't know what people mean by "gamey". I will say I don't like rabbit or squirrel. Does that make it gamey?

DH does have a cookbook or two for venison. Not regular cookbooks that have a recipe, rather cookbooks strickly for venison.

I don't get that involved with it as this is one thing DH likes to cook.

Glad to see some venison eaters here on the cooking forum.

Maina, you didn't come across as snarky. I understood you to be a offended by those who mishandle game and blame the meat for the consequences--a major sin in my book also. I am SO happy to know I don't need to trim off the transparent film. The opaque stuff is pain enough!
I like the recipe for marinade in the link you provided. Several of the recipes I have read suggest using barbeque sauce, and I didn't like the idea of what I thought might overwhelm the venison taste.

More jerky questions. Does one slice with the grain or across the grain? I could do either and I can see advantages to both.

Do you experienced "jerkers" freeze your venison for a month or so before making jerky to eliminate possible contaminants, as one of my books suggest? Or can I go right ahead and make some now?

"------- I am SO happy to know I don't need to trim off the transparent film. The opaque stuff is pain enough! ----"

I do that when I am serving company. Sometimes when I am running out of time, for my own dinner, I just eat around them.

dcarch

Yes, I freeze the meat before I make jerky. Probably because I'm tired of butchering and sausage making and need a break. It doesn't make any difference in the final texture. From a safety standpoint, it's better to freeze it.

Slice it across the grain. Slicing with the grain gives you long muscle fibers which get chewy and tough. Ask me how I know...good dog treats, though.

Dcarch, do you mean it IS better to remove the transparent filmy skin?

Thanks to Maina and everyone, the venison is all vacuumed packaged and in the freezer. I have 8 packages of two steaks each already jaccarded, two largish packages of stew meat, one package intended to become deerburger, one large package that will be jerky, and a package of trimmings that will be dog treats. I am tempted to dehydrate the dog treats. Should give her something to gnaw on!!

I am going to leave the package intended to become jerky in the freezer for a couple of weeks before I slice, marinate, and dehydrate it. I'll report on the results when I do.

Again, thanks everyone. This was a fun project.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Fri, Oct 25, 13 at 16:53

Annie, i will take you up on that offer! Good for the Princess to learn the skill early and safely.

DebraK, "gamey" refers to the strong flavor some deer can have. It comes from older males and what they may be eating. Kind of like an old stewing hen on the farm.

Bellsmom, the best gravy comes from a recipe from my Oma's mother. Use the bacon drippings and add some sour cream and a small squirt of lemon juice. Add sauteed mushrooms and spoon over the steak or sliced roast. If not enough drippings, add some good beef stock.

Bellsmom, you did good with your first batch of venison - congratulations! If you need other recipes, just ask. We haven't eaten beef in about 12 years so I have a lot of recipes I've adapted to use different cuts of venison instead.

Now I'm off to the butcher shop and get some fresh pork jowl - making venison summer sausage tomorrow.

Bellsmom-- Doc does his jerky with "kits" he gets at a local Mennonite market tho he has used Pacific Mountain Jerky Marinade & Cure--a local NY State comp.- in the past-- the kits have curing salt & spice seasoning mixes-- he slices across the grain then freezes for a week or so before doing the actual jerky-- the meat strips marinate in the curing/seasoning mix ( in the frig ) for 24-30 hrs , stirring around occasionally then he either smokes it or dehydrates it .

Malna, I didn't think you sounded snarky either, but you did make me think that I needed to expand on that remark about the deer hanging, as not everyone does this regularly. And I'm kind of the same way about grassfed beef, I have a stepdaughter who "hates" it. That's because she'll only eat fatty cuts like ribeye and everything has to be cooked extremely well done. So, it stands to reason she's not going to like a grassfed sirloin very well...

I put my jerky in the dehydrator, but truthfully I'm not a huge fan of jerky so I don't make much. We're more likely to make sausage, and Elery did a jalapeno and cheese version he liked a lot. My nephew Philip likes the seasoning he gets from Penzey's and another one buys the jerky seasoning from Sam's Club.

Annie

We've gotten some deer meat from friends lately, and I made pot roast with the stew meat and chili with the ground meat. Both were good. I made the potroast with a bit of tomato paste (well actually it was barbecue sauce). I think the acid offsets the deer meat taste a bit. Not being much of a meat fan no matter how you slice it, I can't comment much on the taste, I don't like or dislike it myself. Mixed in potroast or chili it was good to me, due to the other bits of stuff in the mix.

I adapted my recipes from the link below

Here is a link that might be useful: HuntingPA Game Recipes

Malna
(sorry I have been misspelling your name!) I just checked your page and saw you were from NJ. DH and I spent two weeks in the pine barrens of NJ a couple years ago. We went there to see the dwarf pines, which enthralled us. I still love to wear my t-shirt that says I ate at Lucille's with the Jersey Devil. I LOVED the people and the place. We were enthralled as we wandered many, many miles of wilderness back roads almost in sight of NYC.

Wonderful memories. No idea where you might live in relation to this, but I wanted to share.

Craftyrn,
Thank you for the procedural steps. I have already frozen the chunk I will use for jerky. I will partially thaw it, slice it (I now know, from you and others, that I will slice it cross grain), and marinate in the fridge before dehydrating it. Still not sure of what marinade to use.

Any one with other suggestions for jerky marinade?
Sandra

Bellsmom,
Nope, I live up north by the Delaware Water Gap. But I've been to the Barrens. The dwarf pines are pretty cool, aren't they?

Some things I've added to tweak the basic marinade flavor:
Cider vinegar
A little bit of molasses
A little hot sauce (Tabasco, Sriracha, or whatever you prefer)
A drop or two of liquid smoke if you like that flavor (I use Cider House as I've bought some that are nasty tasting)

I'm like Annie - I don't eat the stuff. I just make it and give it away. Everybody likes it and comes back for more, so I guess it's good!?

This is AltonBrown's jerky marinade.

Brine:
2/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2/3 cup soy sauce
2 teaspoons ground black pepper
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon honey

-i use a smoked chipotle red pepper flake that i put through the spice grinder and do not use liquid smoke.
Local maple syrup instead of honey.
-I've never made more than one lb since i used my oven that is small and the moose was paper thin. I cut back the worcestershire and soy by quite a bit and marinaded for just an hour. Best to experiment and come up with a mix to your liking. It is a good starting point.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/jerky-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Here is a link that might be useful: Jerky recipe

I'm making sausage this afternoon. I'll link the recipe. I have hog casing, but patties or balls are also a good method if that step of stuffing is not possible.

Interesting to mention tasting the meat ahead. Slicing a bit off and cooking as mentioned above. Our moose every season is from different parts of the island and are discussed at great length by the butcher and the hunter in flavor outcome. I always consider and take their lead in how i prepare it.

"Too many butchers and hunters automatically dismiss venison fat as rank without even testing it first. Sure some is pretty strong-smelling, but I once shot a whitetail doe in an alfalfa field that had fat sweeter than pork fat. So give it a go."

Here is one recipe i will be using and adding some of my dehydrated asian pears to the mix.

Here is a link that might be useful: venison sausage

Malna,
When we were in NJ, we almost went up north. It looked SO tempting. Maybe next time.

ipinkmountain,
Thank you for the link. Lots of information here. I bookmarked it for further reading.

Sleevendog,
I LOVE dehydrated asian pears.

Thank you for your link to Alton Browns jerky marinade recipe. It is the one I will start with, although I will probably slightly adapt it (I like your idea of using smoked pepper, for instance, instead of liquid smoke).

Here's the current plan:
1. Buy a piece of beef I can use as an experiment.
2. Cut a nice chunk that I can use to make long-grain jerky.
3. Jaccard the heck out of it before marinating and slicing it. This should make it tender (or least more tender) and keep it from being brittle.

This way I won't risk my venison on my first jerky experiment.
And I may be able to get the beef into the Excalibur today!

By the way, another venison question for you hunter/cooks:

There were no bones in the hind quarter I was given so I can't experiment.
Can the bones be used to make stock? No one has mentioned venison stock. Is it too strongly flavored? It seems a shame to toss all of those lovely bones to the dogs, no matter how grateful they may be.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Sat, Oct 26, 13 at 11:47

Absolutely, it makes great stock. We get about 1/2 gallon from each deer. Just don't give the cooked bones to the dogs (but I'm sure you knew that).

We reduce ours a lot, keep skimming the fat (makes great bird suet - mix with seed, oatmeal and/or peanut butter), strain very well (an old T-shirt works great), and freeze it.

The only thing we throw away are the hide, the hooves and the head. I'm not into the whole tongue and brain thing.

We keep the tongue because I have a nephew who pickles the tongue and the heart, but I don't use it unless I'm grinding it into sausage.

I've made stock with venison bones but since I have beef, my freezer space is limited. Because beef slaughter and deer season are pretty much simultaneous here, I keep the beef bones and sacrifice the venison bones. If you have your venison processed commercially, it's common practice to get it back all removed from the bones. I'm not sure when that happened but it comes either sliced, in chunks, in roasts or ground and no bones unless you specifically ask for them.

Annie

We plan to butcher our own deer this season since it isn't really very economical to hunt if we have to pay for the processing. That should be an interesting experience!

Also, for making jerky, freeze the meat for 6 weeks to kill contaminates.

One other thing -- to eliminate the gamey taste, make sure to remove the bones.

RyseRyse:
I would love to butcher a deer. I have drawn animals all my life, and find I am interested in where bones are inside an animal, and how the muscles lie. It makes it easier to imagine an animal in an active position. I grew up helping my father skin and cut up quail, rabbit, and squirrel, but never a deer.
Cutting up the deer haunch (which arrived very well trimmed and boneless except for about a 1" diameter x 1" long bone) was fascinating. I didn't realize that the muscles lie one along another but are separated by transparent sheaths. I know nothing about how muscles attach to bones, and very little about bones are jointed.
Good luck with your project.

Meanwhile, I am marinating 2 lbs of prime top beef round that a great butcher sliced very thin for me. He assured me I did not have to jaccard this even though it was cut long ways and not crosswise. (I have some 1/2 off coupons, so this was very affordable.) I am using Alton Brown's recipe (thank you Sleevendog) with a few changes. At Penzey's yesterday, I talked to a young saleswoman who is my go to authority on so many things. She said she grew up eating game and recommended adding black cardamon instead of liquid smoke to Brown's marinade recipe for its complex smokey flavor. I never used black cardamon before.

The meat will go in the dehydrator early this afternoon. It is so thin, almost transparent in places, that I don't think it will take more than six or seven hours. We'll see. I have a good book if I need stay up late!

Thanks again everyone. You are a fascinating lot.

This post was edited by Bellsmom on Sun, Oct 27, 13 at 14:08

Bellsmom,
Do an image search on venison butchering or whitetail deer anatomy. There are a lot of good line drawings/diagrams showing skeleton and muscle structure. Of course, I could always send you a picture of one without a hide on it. It's not something I would post for the general public's viewing pleasure :-)

Good luck with the jerky. Sounds a bit thin though - watch it carefully! It should bend but not break.

Malna, you sound just like the kind of person I need. I'm "processing" 7 turkeys on Tuesday, and that's new for me. I've done chickens, quail, pheasants, ducks, but never turkeys.

Which were a total PIA to raise and ended up costing me about $45 a bird, so never again. Maybe I can get The Princess to hunt turkey, her $7.50 youth license covers turkey, geese, ducks and other birds, small game, deer, and all fishing seasons!

Annie

Malna
Thanks for the caution about timing on the very thin jerky. It is absolutely delicious and chewy but not tough. It would definitely have been over-dried if I had left it for six hours.

The only change I am going to make for the venison jerky is a bit less flaked red pepper (less red pepper flakes sounds wrong and fewer is dumb). I like this as it is, but some of my friends who do not like spicy food will not, and I want to share it.

I agree that a picture of a skinned deer hanging is not the usual kind of image posted here. And thanks for the image hunt suggestions. I have books on animal anatomy, but that is just not the same as handling the bones and muscles somehow. Better than nothing, but not the same. Funny that after this one small experience, I understand so much better why medieval artists insisted on dissection as part of their art training. I never realized before that the different "cuts" of meat are mostly sections of different muscles. I knew it, but didn't really comprehend it, I guess.

Annie
Half a century and more ago my whole extended family used to gather to help my aunt, who raised turkeys commercially, slaughter hundreds of them for Thanksgiving. I HATED the smell and feel of hot feathers but never too much minded the rest of it. Probably because turkeys aren't my favorite creatures when they are alive, although they aren't bad on the Thanksgiving table.

As I remember, the cutting up part is just like chickens only bigger. But you already know that. Your $45 birds should process pretty quickly and be really delicious. So much better than the supermarket ones.

How old is The Princess? I wonder if Indiana issues such bargain youth licenses. What a great set of experiences for her.

Sandra

Annie, if I lived closer, I'd sure come and help. I need more practice on turkeys (only done two wild ones - the first one was not pretty). Good for the Princess - she can add a lot to the larder for $7.50!

Sandra, there is nothing like hands-on experience with anatomy. We're constantly learning and every time, we refine our butchering technique just a little more.

Malna and Sleevendog,
I shared my first beef jerky with three people. One found it much too spicy, one (my DH) said it was excellent and couldn't keep his fingers out of the jar, and one, a neighbor who had a very nice restaurant near us, said, after scarfing down all that was in the package I gave him, "All I want is the recipe."

Ahhh, (relative) recognition!

Thanks to everyone.

I'll let you know when I make the venison jerky. Not sure how I will twitch the recipe.

I am really intrigued by the black cardamon. Need to play more with that. Anyone have any experience with black cardamon?

Sandra

The best spaghetti sauce I ever had was made by a cajun with ground venision.

Sandra, I don't think your DH wants to share anyway. (grin) It sounds like you know exactly what to do with the venison, I'm betting it won't last long. I'll be watching to see how you do.

As for the youth license, it's for kids under 10. The Princess is 9, will be 10 in a couple of days. The State of Michigan website explains it:

"The Mentored Youth Hunting program is designed to introduce youth under the age of 10 to hunting and fishing, offering a "package" license for just $7.50. For one low price, youth hunters under the age of 10 can hunt turkey (spring and fall) on private or public land, deer (two tags, any deer) and small game, trap furbearers and fish for all species.

By eliminating the minimum hunting age in Michigan, the Mentored Youth Hunting program is geared toward parents and other adult mentors who want to teach children under the age of 10 how to hunt and fish. It lets parents determine if and when their child is ready to hunt. "

For the next two years she can get an "apprentice" license and hunt with a parent who has their own license. After that she must take an approved hunter safety course and buy a junior license and hunt with a parent or guardian or "qualified adult" until she is 17. Then she gets a regular license.

Each license gets a bit more expensive and a bit more restrictive. The Mentored Youth program gets a lot of kids involved that wouldn't otherwise hunt. We also have a disabled veteran program, a youth fishing program, things to get people out there who otherwise would not.

Instead, I raised expensive heritage turkeys, next year I'll just buy a turkey license for The Princess! Heck, I'd even go with her, as her "qualified adult", although some people might disagree, LOL.

Malna, I don't think my first couple of turkeys are going to be pretty either. (sigh) We have two smaller hens and 5 bigger toms, I'm thinking start small....

Annie

Sandra, do let us know how you tweaked the recipe. DH loves the stuff, but he can't tolerate spicy food anymore. Since he could eat a whole jar of pickled jalapenos in one sitting, no more spicy food just breaks his heart.

Annie, I was curious to see what kind of youth licenses were available here, thinking they'd be way more expensive than Michigan. I was very surprised that, for kids under 16, they are all free. And so is the Hunter Education class. We do need more hunters. The wildlife is out of control.

Oh, speaking of that, I forgot to tell you the story about the deer we butchered last week. Our neighbor got it with a bow just over the rise behind our house. We heard all kinds of yelling and shooting (what's up with that during bow season??) and found the neighbor trying to scare away the bear that was attempting to drag the deer off. Luckily, he carries a gun with him for that reason. That bear didn't want to give up, though, and just kept circling us as we very rapidly field dressed the deer (might have been a world record :-) and got the heck out of there.

Annie,
It sounds as if you have wild "heritage" turkeys just waiting for you and The Princess. I have never eaten wild turkey, though I've heard plenty of stories about hunting them.
I would love to be able to help you with the turkeys. I bet they will every one be beautiful. I hope you will start a new thread about the experience. I am curious to know how you will package them for the freezer. Hmmm, I bet turkey jerky would taste better than it sounds!

Malna, that is a fabulous bear/deer story. I am not easily frightened, but I think the hair on the back of my neck would be bristling if I were trying to field dress a deer and fend off a hungry bear. Wow!!

Have you used black cardamom? Adding it was mostly responsible for the good results with the beef jerky, I think. I just took a break from typing, broke open a pod, and chewed on a seed. No "fire" to it. A really complex, smoky flavor, but not peppery. Your DH might find this an interesting spice in meat dishes.

I have enjoyed all of the entries in Falkowitz's "Spice Hunting" column. The link to his discussion of black cardamom is below.

Sandra

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Cardamom

"-----the story about the deer we butchered last week. Our neighbor got it with a bow just over the rise behind our house.----"

Have fun with this video.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful: Straight shooter

Dang, I just got my Penzey's order yesterday - have to wait to try black cardamom. I have ground cardamom that I use in baking, but that sounds really interesting. Next order...

And yes, the expression "hair standing up on the back of your neck" is not folklore. It happens. Especially when faced with the potential of being one step down on the food chain :-)

Trying a new cut of venison tonight for dinner. Venison "country ribs" - a cut across the front shoulder. They're rubbed with spices and brown sugar in the fridge and will be smoke-roasted, then basted with home-canned barbeque sauce. Hope this experiment works.

Our venison summer sausage is finally done. We smoked all day on Sunday, hung to dry for a day, now bagged and tagged in the freezer. We don't care for the collagen casings so we used 42mm natural hog casings. Good stuff. Good thing since we ended up with 23 pounds of it :-)

OOOH, the sausages look wonderful. And the "country ribs" certainly sound wonderful. Thank you for sharing.

Yum, malna, those look amazing. As for the bear, I'm assuming it was a black bear? If so, you don't have to outrun it, you only have to outrun the person with you. (grin) Here they are bulking up for hibernation, so we're seeing them more than usual. I once saw a black animal at the back of the hayfield and thinking it was that blasted black Angus fence jumper, started right out to put it back in the pasture. About halfway there, I realized it wasn't my steer, who was standing in the barnyard. I did an abrupt about-face, as even I don't try to herd black bears, LOL.

Venison country ribs? That's an interesting preparation, I'll have to talk to my nephew Philip, he's the steady hunter in the family. In his "section" there are so many deer that each hunter is allowed to take 5 does per day during season, so he fills freezers and makes the farmers happy. AT $18 a permit it can get a bit pricey for him, but he's always happy to trade me venison for beef or pork.

Sandra, the turkeys went better than I expected. One person on you-tube said it took 3 1/2 hours for the first one and 1 1/2 for the second one. That person must have never cleaned a chicken because Elery and I did all 7 in 4 hours, and that included clean-up, plus "herding" the one escapee back into the pen...

Another learning experience for me, Elery says they should be gold plated, for what they cost to raise. I've definitely got to get some turkey hunters going in the family.

Annie

Annie, lol on the gold-plated turkeys. My dh says that about our chicken eggs. He loves to build things and one of our coops is cute enough that we've had people ask if they can move in. Ha, ha. He figures that each egg from that coop is costing us a buck for at least the first couple of years.

The country ribs were delicious. We both agreed we need to do more of those. I think we only cut 6 this go round to try them out.

Glad the great turkey processing went well. You know, we should live closer - I have a flock right now the Princess could practice on. They love the hickory nuts and acorns in the backyard.

Haha, i designed a chicken coop that is a mini version of our home. (not made yet...way too costly).
Looks like our yard of turkeys...now dinner size and many of them. Need a trap that lures, plucks, drains, and delivers.

Yay, another successful experiment with fresh venison (I think frozen would work fine as well).

We weren't quite satisfied with the corned venison we've made in the past (good, but could be better). We've decided to plan meals or processes, then butcher for the menu. In the past, we've ended up with roasts that are too big for the two of us, or not enough good stew meat for bourguignon, etc., so some perfectly good meat languishes in the freezer until we figure out what to do with it.

So we cut a rump roast a little smaller and a little differently to try this year's corned venison. We changed the brine recipe a bit, too. Plus we had one of the last fresh cabbages in the garden and some homemade mustard to go with it.

It was excellent.

Malna
No fair to tease like this. Will you share your corning recipe?

Corning is super easy. I had two roasts to try, so I used Hank Shaw's recipe on his website as a place to start. After pondering the flavor we wanted, we came up with this seasoned brine:

3 quarts water
1-1/2 cups kosher salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 ounce Instacure No. 1 (sodium nitrite) aka pink salt or Prague Powder
1/2 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon toasted coriander seeds
4 fresh bay leaves
1 tablespoon yellow mustard seed
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/3 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 whole allspice

We used the flat cut roast in the other picture (1.38#) and another hind leg roast that had been frozen (as a test) that was 1.75#.

We brined for 7 days, turning each day and making sure the roasts were fully submerged. Simmered the first roast in a broth with vegetables (potatoes, carrots, cabbage, a pint of home-canned tomatoes, and onion) to an internal temperature of 185 degrees F (only cooked it for about 2 hours - I thought the 3-5 hours in Hank's recipe was way too long, but it would depend on the size of the roast).

Last night, we cooked and tasted the other one that had been frozen. That one was just as delicious, so freezing the meat has no effect on the final product. Which I was very happy about. For another test, we refroze the second roast after cooking to see how that works.

Next up on the experiment list - homemade venison pastrami.

Edited to add: I think one of the reasons we weren't thrilled (it was good, but...) with the previous corned venison we made was we used a pre-mixed pickling spice (from Penzey's, so it was quality stuff). Now I've learned to choose which whole spices and flavors to use. DH says I'm picky - who, me? Nah.

This post was edited by malna on Fri, Nov 1, 13 at 6:31

All of you are making me jealous with your talk about venison! I've only had it twice and both times it was awful, so I'm super intrigued about trying some that's good.

Last year, the owner of the house we were renting from brought back some from a hunting trip and I cut it up and made stew with it in my crock pot. It was very dry and gamey...so dissapointing.

Does anyone have any idea of where I could put my feelers out for free venison? I know a lot of hunters donate their meat to food banks and such, so I would love to advertise or ask for what the hunters don't want to eat or donate. I have no idea of where to start.

I'm begining to think I need to learn how to hunt and go catch my own! Has anyone seen the movie, "The 5 Year Engagement"? The deer dinner scene totally cracked me up.

We have TONS of wild turkeys up here (northern Virginia) and I think they are fascinating. We saw a flock (rafter?) of about 50 of them crossing our country road 2 days ago.

Sigh.

"----I've only had it twice and both times it was awful, so I'm super intrigued about trying some that's good.---"

Perhaps you can try Venison & Morel mushroom Wellington

dcarch

Here there can be no more rare venison. (sigh)

Tuberculosis is prevalent in the deer herd in Michigan and has been found in an adjacent county to me, and the deer are transmitting it to the cattle herds. Along with chronic wasting disease, because the deer herd is so large and more deer are in constant and close proximity, the stuff just spreads. Plus people insist on feeding the deer, which brings more animals together to one food source, and spreads disease even more.

Anyway, to avoid the tuberculosis problem, all venison taken here should be cooked well done which, according to CDC, destroys the bacteria. I suppose I could cook venison Wellington well done....

Annie

Oh, Annie, no rare venison? What a shame. Luckily, annual testing for the last ten years has shown no CWD here.

Gardengrl,
If you're serious about getting venison, you have to do a couple of things.

First, you have to start hanging out in places where the majority of the folks are wearing camo accessorized with blaze orange. Clue #1 is large concentrations of pickup trucks in the parking lot. If people have bloodstains on their clothing, that's a good thing. Here it's the diner (6-8 am), the market that makes great lunches (11am-1pm), the butcher shop that processes deer (anytime), or the corner bar (anytime, but they are usually drowning their sorrows that they didn't get anything). Sport shops are another good place, but unless you're interested in buying something, it's a bit noticeable when you're just hanging out.

Second, you gotta schmooze.

"Hey, you been out hunting? Any luck today?" If yes:
You - "What'd you get?"
Camo person - "Nice buck/doe." They usually elaborate.
You - "How big, do ya think?" Automatically subtract at least 30 pounds from the estimate.
You - "What's your favorite way to cook it? I've had some really bad venison in the past, so I'm always looking for a better way/recipe..."
Camo Person may say "Don't know, have to ask the other half" meaning wife, husband or significant other OR "Oh, here's my favorite way to cook/eat..." Go with it from there.

A basic knowledge of what season it is (bow, muzzleloader, "did you get your doe yet?", shotgun, etc.) adds to your ambiance.

Don't expect to get primo cuts for free right off the bat, but you could say something like "Hey, if you don't use the neck meat, I can make a mean batch of chili with it." or "You know, a front shoulder roast (in beef language, that would be a chuck roast) makes great sauerbraten. If you have an extra one..." You have to convince them you know what to do with it if they give you some, and it won't end up in the freezer for umpteen years or as dog food.

I speak from personal experience on that one. Our son had a friend who got a deer, and gave it to him. Son Unit brought it out and we butchered it, ground some, made sausage, vacuum packed everything, and gave it back to him with instructions how to cook it, a pile of recipes, etc. Two days of hard work for us, mind you. Son Unit did help, but not much. 12 months later, he brought it all back because no one would eat it.

Think we'll ever give him meat again?