How can I like the taste of venison

[DayBreaker]

Read The Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages by Stanley Marianski. It's a truly educational book that will give you legitimate information you can trust. I read it, tried the advice, and suddenly people were telling me I need to start a butcher shop. The best part? The recipes in there are extremely simple, with ingredients you can get at the grocery store.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

It’s hard to change the flavor. I pretty much turn all my deer into summer sausage or jerky. Seems like smoke is the only thing that gets rid of the gamey taste for me.


It is not beef and will never be beef. I even took some jerky slices I had marinated for like two days but didn’t have enough left to justify a half day smoke and fried them up for fajitas. It was ok but still not as good as beef steak.

Man we've been almost exclusively turning our backstrap and bottom rounds into fajitas and the whole family loves them. I'd rather eat venison fajitas than beef or chicken, taste and texture are on point. I don't even marinate them, just a little worchestishire sauce splash and a heavy dose of Bolner's Fiesta Fajita seasoning and let'er rip to rare bloody center.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Wild game should be well aged in a open drain icechest, at least 3 day , adding fresh ice every day, it makes a huge difference when a animal is skinned and chilled out asap, then aged to drain blood and break down the muscle tissue

soaking in butter milk over night or day of cooking helps too

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Wild game should be well aged in a open drain icechest, at least 3 day , adding fresh ice every day, it makes a huge difference when a animal is skinned and chilled out asap, then aged to drain blood and break down the muscle tissue

soaking in butter milk over night or day of cooking helps too

I start processing around 7 days and finish around 10 days usually. You won't catch me soaking perfectly good venison in anything though, maybe an antelope lol.

 

[SonnyDay]

Wild game should be well aged in a open drain icechest, at least 3 day , adding fresh ice every day, it makes a huge difference when a animal is skinned and chilled out asap, then aged to drain blood and break down the muscle tissue

soaking in butter milk over night or day of cooking helps too

Big fan of ice-aging as well.

When I was butchering my elk from this past season, you could definitely smell the "elkiness" in the kitchen and my wife was pretty sure she wasn't going to like the meat.

After 10 days of ice-aging there's no smell to the raw meat whatsoever... and everyone in the family craves it.

 

[Indewoods]

Order the “Buck, Buck, Moose” book from Hank Shaw, or just read his website, honest-food.net . He does an incredible job explaining everything from field to table and how it affects the quality of your experience.

 

[Jt89]

Its definitely been said before but age that meat, or as I would put it - you gotta get all the blood and fluid drained out of the meat or as much as possible. This is the number one reason *any* game animal meat has a distinguishable taste and getting it dry aged as much as possible mitigates this.

With a red deer I basically only keep the backsteaks for actual steak meat and the rest goes to mince (or ground meat, as you fellas call it) and then sausages and salamis. I get my sausages made 20lb at a time, and I use the ground meat for burgers or meatballs or whatever. We would rarely need to buy any red meat year round, it's all harvested red deer or goat meat for us.

The legitimate best burger patty recipe you will ever make is this:

(for 4x burger patties)
1lb of minced meat
1 egg
about 3 oz of butter, grated
1/4 cup of your favourite smokey barbecue sauce
maybe a cup of bread crumbs or so

mix all that up adding the breadcrumb last to help it bind. Divide into quarters, ball them up and work them out into the right size and thickness you need. Grill to your hearts content, watch they don't lift and shrink because even with the added fat it's still lean meat.

 

[Mowata]

I am from S. Louisiana (Cajun Country) we usually can make anything taste good. Make sure when processing your deer you get it done as fast as possible especially in warm weather and clean it very well, throw away any contaminated meat. I had some meat made into sausage at my local meat market, he told me how clean my deer meat was, said he has gotten deer that was so bad it was full of hair and some had maggots in the ice chest.

 

[Boarmaster]

I didnt read all the posts. If you enjoy hunting then don't stop. It is possible you just dont like it and maybe never will. Have your deer turned into snack sticks. You might like them and even if you don't they are easy to give away to friends or family. I have suggested this to several hunters over the years who themselves and their families did like venison. All of them enjoyed the snack sticks.
I would also suggest mixing something like pork into your grind at a higher ratio than normal. You wont get the benefits of eating 100% venison but you will use it up.

 

[wowzers]

Start here.

Venison Recipes - Recipes for Deer Meat and Elk | Hank Shaw

Venison recipes broken down by cut of meat -- backstrap, roasts, ground meat, etc. These recipes work with deer meat, elk, moose, antelope.

honest-food.net

 

[fatlander]

It starts with proper field care and butchering. The best cooking method in the world won’t help meat that got tainted with rutty piss.


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[ctfxd3]

Echoing what a few others have suggested I've ice-aged and brined pronghorn in the past and had people who were originally repulsed at the thought of game meat say it was some of the most tender meat they had ever tried. The brine was kosher salt, baking soda, and chilled distilled water for 24hrs. For venison, Italian seasoned meatballs, country fried venison with white gravy, and bbq chili are usually my go to for the in laws and people who aren't crazy about game meats.

 

[FLHunter87]

I have started to place venison steaks in a milk bath at least 5-6 hours before eating it and more when occasions allow me. An hour before cooking I take out of the milk bath, pat it some with a paper towel, and then season it with whatever(typically dry seasoning). I think the taste is way better. I can eat mine anyway, but I find the milk bath does make a difference. Give that a try. I also have internal temp no higher than 140-142. It's still pink and not over done. Any game meat needs to be no higher than medium.

I have grinders, mixers, sausage stuffer, etc. It's takes a lot of time perfecting the mixes, seasonings, etc. Luckily near me I have a really good butcher shop and I just give it to then to make whatever. I have perfected ground form venison. My wife will thr bacon and loves it, she'll eat the stuff made by the butcher shop also. Regular steaks it's a no. Hamburger meat i mix around 15% of beef or pork fat, this adds fat you need so its not so lean and does make it taste better. But field care is probably number 1. Needs to cool down as fast as possible and needs to stay cool for at least 5 days minimum. I am in Florida and don't have the luxury to hang deer for days. I have to quarter and pack in cooler with ice. I keep cooler tilted a little and keep drain plug open so the water can always drain. You don't want the meat soaking in blood water. That can ruin the meat and give it extra game flavor. I also have baskets and try to maintain a barrier so water doesn't soak into the meat either. Finding an old refrigerator or something like that is on my list.

 

[DangerRanger]

It’s not cool to grind venison any more but if you struggle with the taste and like ground beef inclusive recipes I would grind

chili and summer sausage/sausage sticks have been hits with even some of the more game sensitive people I know

 

[joshveldhaus]

Summer sausage is always a safe bet, and not too hard to do yourself if you are up for it!

 

[Darryle]

Learn to not overcook it

 

[BrianS]

I always recommend marinating overnight if you don’t like the gamey taste. There is one marinate called Allegro Game Tame that does a really good job of getting rid of that taste. Might be on Amazon. Try different marinades and seasonings. Don’t overcook it. If all else fails and really just don’t like it, get all your meat ground. You won’t be able to tell the difference between ground deer and ground beef. Deer is a little leaner so you could add some fat to it if you prefer. You could also give the meat to friends and family or donate it as well. You don’t have to give up hunting.

 

[Bubbadoyle]

I like venison steaks, but not a venison burger. Stew, chilli, tacos and spaghetti is where I would start.

How have you had the burger done? I’ve heard people say this and then eat several venison burgers I’ve made while saying they can’t believe it’s venison. I add 15%-20% beef fat to my venison burger and it makes excellent burgers. The fat isn’t needed if adding to spaghetti sauce, chilli, etc. I’ve had it ground with bacon as well and while it was good I just always feel bacon overpowers the flavor of many things including burger. I’ve had it with pork fat instead of beef fat and I feel there’s a huge difference in flavor and while I don’t dislike the pork fat mix I find the beef fat mix to be vastly superior in taste. If you haven’t tried beef fat it might be worth a try for you and if you have then you just get to eat more steaks and roasts and stew meat. It’s a no lose situation in my opinion.


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[Wrongside]

Stop overcooking it.

This.

Alternatively… cook it more. A lot more. Slow cooker shoulder roasts, shanks, and neck roasts will change how you butcher and cook. It’s what we feed guests who aren’t game meat eaters but want to try it, and so far, everyone has loved the meals.

Pressure canning is another great way to use venison. Mellows the flavor somewhat, and is super convenient for quick recipes. Chili, stew, ‘beef’ dips, etc.

 

[Swamp Fox]

Is there something I’m missing? Should I stop hunting?

Yes.