Tough backstrap; can I fix it?

[willfrye027]

One week in the fridge is all you need! Sounds like he cut it up fast while it was in rigor mortise

 

[Ucsdryder]

Shot a cow last year that will wear your jaw out. Eating some backstraps from her tonight but she’s getting the jaccard treatment.

 

[Gumbo]

I had the same experience with my elk backstrap this year, but I think it was my fault. I didn't do much of anything different from what I normally do on a quartered animal...I hacked it out in the field and left it in a game bag on ice for 2 days before I got home to cut it up. I usually freeze them in big chunks untrimmed. I did, however, cut this individual chunk up WITH the grain (lengthwise instead of in cross section). I don't think I will do that again.

 

[Azone]

These sure do come in handy if you dont have time for all the methods all already mentioned. It's not gonna make it like fillet mignon but it will definitely make it better if your in a hurry. I will work a piece over with this pretty good then season it and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours up to a few days and then throw it on the bbq pit.

 

[Short Track]

I had Elk round steaks that were just tough to eat. We don't eat salt, but we tried everything else...
I think the key is hanging, or letting it sit for a week at proper temperature. I even tried that tenderizer above. Didn't work.

Now I'm eating a deer that sat for a full week, skin on, at 34 degrees. Very tender backstraps.

I was concerned about letting a deer sit for a week in the cooler, but it's perfectly fine.

 

[Pro953]

Before you go through all of the above, as you mentioned just try and wet age a pack for 7-10 days. As long as it was processed clean you will be fine.

For steaks I let them sit in the fridge in the vac bag sealed for around a week. Larger chunks closer to 10 days. I think it helps a fair bit.

Worst case it does not help and you can move on to some of the other recommendations above. Not a huge fan of long dry age, so this process work for me!

Good luck.


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[5MilesBack]

From backstrap? 30 minutes in the corner for you young man!

Grind it up. You said it was tough, grinding will fix that. I had an elk with tough backstrap once.......so I ground the rest of it up. It was even tough slow cooked in the Crock Pot.

 

[brimow]

From backstrap? 30 minutes in the corner for you young man!

I have even had tenderloins out of a mule deer doe that were extremely tough. Tried dry aging the second one but didn't really help. Put the rest of her through the grinder with extra fat and even then it was still noticeable. All I could figure is that she was just a tough OLD doe.

 

[Mike Islander]

Before you go through all of the above, as you mentioned just try and wet age a pack for 7-10 days. As long as it was processed clean you will be fine.

For steaks I let them sit in the fridge in the vac bag sealed for around a week. Larger chunks closer to 10 days. I think it helps a fair bit.

Worst case it does not help and you can move on to some of the other recommendations above. Not a huge fan of long dry age, so this process work for me!

Good luck.


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I've got it sitting in the fridge right now. Will cook some on Monday.

 

[Mike Islander]

Got hungry and couldn't wait to age my backstrap any longer. After 4 days in the sealed bag in the fridge it was a good bit more tender. Still, it came from a strong, stud buck, so I don't expect it to be soft and mushy. I cooked 6 pieces with plans to eat three now and three later, but ended up eating it all. Man I love venison! Hopefully next time I can leave it in the fridge even longer.

 

[Ratspit]

I've had a couple animals end up with cold shortening. Toughest backstraps ever. Usually this is caused by cooling the meat too fast in the field. As mentioned above, the muscles have to go through rigor and then relax. Of course if your grinding burger, it won't matter

 

[rclouse79]

When I lived in Arizona I would put some Saran Wrap over my javelina cuts and beat the crap out of it with a meat tenderizer until it was flat. I knew it was good when my four year old son asked me to go shoot another one after he tried it.

 

[MrTim]

I let my meat age for up to a week in the refrigerator after pulling it out of the freezer. Unless your going to braise those cuts slow and low, I’d want to get that silver skin off of there before cooking too.

 

[WCB]

Wife shot a mule deer buck in MT last year. Temps were in the 30s and her and her dad got it cut up and packed out nice and clean. let it cool and threw it in coolers. It stayed around 40degrees for about a week before we got it packaged and put in the freezer. Absolute worst deer I've had. Taste is fairly normal but the back straps and even the roasts are straight up tough.

In the grinder it goes. Backstraps, tenderloins, roasts...everything. Helps we have two whitetails and another muley in the freezer.

Our steaks are never over medium rare (lean towards the rare side) and they are still legit tough. made a roast like anyother we have made cooked almost all day and had to cut it instead of pull it apart with a fork.

 

[manitou1]

Use a generous coat of Adolph's meat tenerizer or the like, put in a baggie and refrigerate for a few days. Makes a big difference. Even better, soak in a mild liquid marinade with generous meat tenderizer. Works well.

 

[Sekora]

That looks like backstrap for sure. I'm glad you figured it out. It would be a shame to have to grind those cuts. I have been processing my own for years and it is a world of difference in the quality of the meat. I am in control of what happens from the time I pull the trigger till the time the meat hits my stomach. Sometimes commercial processors are in too much of a hurry to take the proper care of everyone's meat and you end up with a bad product.

 

[stonewall]

I hung my elk backstraps in 60°-70° weather for 12 days then brined in refrigerator for 12 hours right before bacon wrapping both backstraps and cooking on pellet grill for 2.5 hours at 250°. Most tender wild game I’ve eaten yet.


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You serious Clark? Seems like a warm temp for that many days?

 

[h_soape]

I have had good luck vacuum sealing tough meat with some meat tenderizer and a little marinade with some vinegar in it (balsamic) sit in the freezer for a week then freezer for as long as I can stand.

It doesn’t make sense that it breaks down while frozen but my results say it does.


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[HuntHarder]

If I get a deer that even the backstraps are tough, it gets turned into grind. I see nothing wrong with this, but I do kill more than one animal every 3 years. No shame in grinding up an entire deer if he is tough as leather. I just shot a buck 12-31-19. He was maybe a 3 year old, but was rutted up like no other. My arrow blew right thru him and he acted like I had missed him. He continued to intimidate the 2 other smaller bucks with him that were trying to get his doe. This only lasted 30-45 seconds, but I honestly feel like he had no idea that an arrow just went thru his lungs. His backstraps are tough as hell and they taste like a rutted up mule deer smells. He is gonna be almost entirely made into sausage and grind.

 

[Stalker69]

That is what I would suspect, I seriously doubt its back strap you got back.