What is gaminess?

[sndmn11]

Gamey is bitter like black licorice

 

[Jtay561]

It’s the “nice” term that wives use to tell you that your overcooked deer or duck that was poorly butchered after way too long is terrible

Meat care and cooking techniques drive flavor. Great care, great flavor. Poor care, poor flavor.

With how far removed most folks are from the growing of their grocery store meat, it’s no wonder that hunters often don’t put the correct amount of care in for wild game. Commercial meat is a very controlled situation from the food the animals eat, the conditions of the butchering facilities, and meat care throughout the distribution process.

Generally speaking this process looks nothing like the deer that somebody drags through the mud, spills guts in, takes for a drive in the pickup bed to a few buddies houses, and then is cut and wrapped on a garage floor. I’ve had gamey meat from processing such as this. When emulating how the pros do it as much as possible, meat quality difference is amazing.