The 1 Thing You Learned- Cooking Wild Game

[WRM]

It sounds crazy, but thank me later.

Recipe: How to Cook Wild Turkey Tonnato

Tonnato is a classic, old-world Italian recipe that is traditionally made with veal. But if you've filled filled your turkey tag, here's how to make it with gobbler meat.

www.fieldandstream.com

Gotta use a good tuna tho. I'll get the brand we like and edit.
Genova Yellowfin tuna in olive oil.

Nice bird!!

Legs and thighs, I like to pressure cook then smoke.
And don't forget to pluck that heart and liver and pan cook in butter with salt and pepper. My favorite post hunt breakfast with scrambled eggs.

 

[WasatchRanger]

Went on my first Turkey hunt in 15 years and got one yesterday! Anyone have a favorite recipe for cooking these wild birds?

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Smoke one of the breasts, there are tons of recipes online.
Turkey Schnitzel from Steve Rinella/Meateater
Turkey Leg Carnitas from Hank Shaw.

 

[NEWHunter]

Went on my first Turkey hunt in 15 years and got one yesterday! Anyone have a favorite recipe for cooking these wild birds?

I clean the bird and take the whole thing to a local butcher and have it smoked, halved, and frozen. Each half makes about three pot pies. Everybody loves it.



Make a roux, add chicken stock and half and half to make sauce/gravy. Add your turkey, some peas, par cooked onion and carrots, and slightly under-boiled red potato pieces. Toss all of that together and then throw in a pie crust and bake for about an hour at 350. Keep it covered with foil for the bulk of the time to prevent the crust from burning. If your interested in a more exact recipe let me know.

 

[ytse0jam]

I think most of us make a mistake over and over again. We go on a hunt, but don’t make the effort to think critically about 1 thing we learned and will do different next time.

Think about it, how often do magazines write about a hunt, but fail to single out an action item to change in the future? Just 1 thing, maybe something you learned about elk behavior, your rifle setup, clothing, camping system. We can consume all the information we want, but if we don’t change anything, did it really do us any good?

I’d like to start the series of discussions to get us in the habit of reviewing our hunt, and share highlights about the 1 thing we learned on a particular topic. To start, 1 thing I learned is about cooking wild game. While I was in college, we ate wild game nearly every meal to save money. My freshman year the four of us ate one bull elk, one cow elk, and three deer. The only tragedy about this was that we suffered through hundreds of meals that were just OK, but not outstanding.

Like way too many hunters, we overcooked the heck out of how our meat. Maybe it was just a bunch of guys learning to cook for the first time, or leftover traumatic memories of well-done steaks from our childhood, but we didn’t even realize what we were missing out on. I firmly believe we need to cook wild game at least 1/4 less than you would do for the equivalent piece of beef. We don’t need to start an argument about how done is the best way to prepare meat, just that we need to stop cooking it the same as you would domestic meat. Between the lower fat content and tougher nature, you will get much better flavor and moisture by taking it off the grill sooner and letting it rest before cutting.

The one thing I’ve learned about cooking any wild game with hooves is that we need to adjust our perception of the time it takes to cook it when compared to store bought meat. So what is the 1 thing you have learned about cooking wild game? Maybe it is preparation techniques, interesting recipes, or even cooking equipment suggestions so that we can make the most out of our success in the field!


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I tend to cook wild game a lot more rare than store-bought meat. I recently smoked some venison loins to an internal of 125 and they came out perfect. Sliced like butter, and had that gorgeous pink middle. I found that if I had left overs, the microwave sucks because it re-heats it and cooks it too much. Just toss that baby in a cast iron to sear it up real quick in some butter, garlic, and rosemary. It adds that additional great flavor, and tastes like you just cooked it that day!

 

[scattergun]

I've found that sous vide is a godsend for wild game, especially when seared on screaming-hot seasoned metal like cast iron or carbon steel.

Sous-vide has been my go-to for years on most whole cuts. What's especially nice is that you can start straight from the freezer without any thawing or prep time, and it's basically impossible to end up with overcooked or dried-out results.

 

[Stave]

Canada goose is way underrated. I went on my first goose hunt last winter and everyone said it would be "greasy." Yeah, well, bacon is greasy and no one complains about that!

What I learned:
1. Take the time to pluck the bird. This is way easier when they are still warm.
2. Slice the breast into steaks, season, and grill to medium rare.
3. Put the thighs in the oven and roast them. Tender and juicy
4. Generally, follow Hank Shaw's advice over at honest-food.net

 

[Stave]

Okay, here's one I learned from turtle man himself:

Butcher the turtle but leave the meat on the bone. Put all the meat in a pot of water. Add a few tablespoons of cooking oil. Bring to a boil. The water will start to foam. Pour this off. Rinse the meat. Return to pot. Add vegetables. Cover with water, chicken broth, white cooking wine or some combination. Add your favorite soup seasoning. Simmer until the meat falls off the bone.

Like turtle man said, adding the oil is an important step. Just don't ask him why

 

[Stave]

Canada goose is way underrated. I went on my first goose hunt last winter and everyone said it would be "greasy." Yeah, well, bacon is greasy and no one complains about that!

What I learned:
1. Take the time to pluck the bird. This is way easier when they are still warm.
2. Slice the breast into steaks, season, and grill to medium rare.
3. Put the thighs in the oven and roast them. Tender and juicy
4. Generally, follow Hank Shaw's advice over at honest-food.net

 

[jedi]

longer you cook it, the more game flavor comes out, especially with waterfowl. ive ruined more birds than i want to admit until i realized you can darn near eat it raw, and the flavor and taste in phenomenal.
+1 for the sous vide as well. Duck in the sous vide will change everyones minds on it being the worst wild game out there. so good

 

[jedi]

also resting the meat for 15-20 mins after taking off the grill is key(covered in foil with a slice of butter over it). allows the moisture to return to the meat, not drying it out

 

[scattergun]

Properly done, duck is like flying bacon, but even better.

 

[HowlingRooster]

I grew up thinking the only way to eat wild game was to through it in a crock pot with a can of creamy soup or cook the tar out of it in the oven. While rice + venison + creamy mushroom is good in the college dorms it's not something you'd make trying to impress someone. The biggest thing I learned was to sear meats quickly then put them in a preheated oven to finish to the desired doneness.

 

[scattergun]

Good technique. Reverse sear is really nice too.

 

[Leibhart1]

Reverse sear all my wild game that I cook on the smoker. And then let it rest for 10 minutes


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[robcollins]

Silver skin is edible (actually good) if you braise it.

Sure has saved a lot of work, and roasts are easy to cook.

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[robcollins]

Believe it was already mentioned, but a simple meat Thermometer is your best friend to perfectly cooked steaks/roasts.
Honorable mention: learning to use any leftover bones/carcass to make stock and broth. Almost nothing goes to waste after that.

Cracking femurs and broiling them is worth the effort for this. I hacksaw (or sawzall) knuckles off first, then split them.

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[Greenbelt]

I often cook wild game for non hunters (my polite way of saying city slicking liberals). I take it very serious because I feel like the dinner table is common grounds and if I can win people from the other side of the tracks over with a meal then it's easier for them to understand my lifestyle.

I have found that pulling the blood with a good brine is definitely a way to reduce some of the gaminess when you are looking to do that.

Last year for thanksgiving we had wild Turkey breast rolled in cream cheese, jalapeño jelly, bacon, and smoked. Also had wild chukar (compliments of the dog), and teriyaki glazed black bear strips, with the usual sides. Everyone was really open to the black bear and couldn't get over how "normal" it tasted. This dinner was served to a room full of people from Los Angeles and they all loved it.

 

[Kolton_Vio]

I often cook wild game for non hunters (my polite way of saying city slicking liberals). I take it very serious because I feel like the dinner table is common grounds and if I can win people from the other side of the tracks over with a meal then it's easier for them to understand my lifestyle.

I have found that pulling the blood with a good brine is definitely a way to reduce some of the gaminess when you are looking to do that.

Last year for thanksgiving we had wild Turkey breast rolled in cream cheese, jalapeño jelly, bacon, and smoked. Also had wild chukar (compliments of the dog), and teriyaki glazed black bear strips, with the usual sides. Everyone was really open to the black bear and couldn't get over how "normal" it tasted. This dinner was served to a room full of people from Los Angeles and they all loved it.

Ever reveal to them that what they ate was in fact wild game? Responses haha? Good on you for being able to find that common ground too.

 

[Kolton_Vio]

Silver skin is edible (actually good) if you braise it.

Sure has saved a lot of work, and roasts are easy to cook.

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Thanks for the insight. I'll have to give it a try.

 

[Greenbelt]

Ever reveal to them that what they ate was in fact wild game? Responses haha? Good on you for being able to find that common ground too.

Yes i definitely always let everyone know beforehand. Lol. They were very apprehensive to the bear at first but one by one everyone ate it and the overwhelming comment was "that doesn't taste like bear" and my comment was always "what does bear taste like?" The turkey was a well thought out recipe because I saw that as the biggest hurdle. Half the people who hunt turkey don't even like the taste of it. So the way I serve that to them rolled in cream cheese and jalapeño jelly is always a big hit.

I don't think people put much thought of food being this common ground to the understanding of our lifestyle but I'll tell you what it really is. I answer all questions about where the meat came from? How it was dispatched etc etc. It's a balancing act though. Cause if you're not a good cook you will lose them I promise. Lol.