Wife doesn't like elk

[S.Clancy]

Grind it, make a burger, season it, and tell her its beef. See if she can actually tell the difference. Might be an interesting experiment.

I got my mom to eat pigeon doing this, except I made pigeon poppers. She was not thrilled after I told her what it actually was.

 

[Binz17]

I do a lot of bacon wrapped skewers. Meat chunks a little smaller than a golf ball, olive oil, season heavily, wrap in bacon, put on skewer. Charcoal grill to medium rare. Wife and kids always ask for "that bacon wrapped steak" for dinner, they never ask what kind of meat it is.

 

[bpa556]

All red game meats lack fat and should be cooked rare (medium rare at the most). They’ll all taste “gamey” if overcooked. The longer you cook them, the worse they taste.

Field care is important. Rutted-up bucks and bulls all have a certain twang to their meat. The biggest factor in the taste/texture experience of venison is how much it is cooked.

Elk is a particularly good example of this. Anyone who’s cut up many whole elk knows that the meat has a very distinct smell. No other venison smells like that.

Cookes rare, elk is beautifully mild and well mannered. Medium gets pretty far into “gamey” country. Over medium and elk tastes just like the raw meat smells. That’s why we don’t grind elk unless we’re making sausage. It’ll ruin a burger or pot of spaghetti (yes, I demand a lot of red meat in my spaghetti sauce).


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[6mm Remington]

Try this and if it doesn't work, I will be shocked.

Elk Steaks
Cast Iron skillet with butter and virgin olive oil to cook the steaks in when you are ready to cook. Medium high heat.

Mix 4 or 5 eggs in a glass or plastic bowl, not metal. Add some milk to the eggs and stir it up. Put your thawed elk steaks in the mixture covering them with the milk/egg mixture. Cover and put in the fridge for a couple hours. Not essential to do that but it does seem to help. Crush up a tube of Ritz crackers and put them onto a plate and have them ready to go. You can vary the flavor by using different cracker crumbs but Ritz seems to be my favorite.

When you are ready to cook the steaks have your pan hot and ready to go. Take and mix the elk steaks in the egg/milk mixture making sure the steak is completely covered. Take it out quickly and roll it in the cracker crumbs and then put it in the hot frying pan. Do this with the remaining steaks.

Cook until lightly brown and then flip the steaks over. When the cracker crumb and egg mixture is browned lightly it's ready to flip. Do the same on the other side and you are ready to go. Salt and pepper and it should be medium rare in the middle. After fixing elk steak this way a couple of times you will be able to tell how much you have to cook the steaks to get them just perfect. Medium rare with a bit of pink in the middle. Cooking wild game beyond that is no bueno. Give this a try and see what she thinks. It really takes any wild gamey flavor out of the steaks if there is any at all.

 

[5MilesBack]

I haven't found a person yet that can even tell the difference. We've had many people over for dinner in the past and we never mentioned what we were eating. Nobody has been able to identify it as elk or even game meat, until after we tell them.

One lady ate a giant moose burger like it was her last meal. I asked her how she liked it and she said "I think that was the best burger I've ever had". Then I told her it was moose and she just about turned green. I think most of it is mental. Although I did have one old bull that really did have a real gamey flavor and smell. We name all the bulls, and every time I'd cook up that bull, one of my girls would walk into the kitchen and say "Oh, that's definitely Ralph".

 

[5MilesBack]

Over medium and elk tastes just like the raw meat smells. That’s why we don’t grind elk unless we’re making sausage. It’ll ruin a burger or pot of spaghetti (yes, I demand a lot of red meat in my spaghetti sauce).

My spaghetti and pasta's with ground elk, have no different taste or smell than beef does.......except the bull I mentioned above. I've even done taste tests for folks with ground beef in one pot and ground elk in the other. People can guess, but they're just guessing, and most the time they are wrong. Or, they say there is no difference.

 

[Slugz]

I haven't found a person yet that can even tell the difference. We've had many people over for dinner in the past and we never mentioned what we were eating. Nobody has been able to identify it as elk or even game meat, until after we tell them.

One lady ate a giant moose burger like it was her last meal. I asked her how she liked it and she said "I think that was the best burger I've ever had". Then I told her it was moose and she just about turned green. I think most of it is mental. Although I did have one old bull that really did have a real gamey flavor and smell. We name all the bulls, and every time I'd cook up that bull, one of my girls would walk into the kitchen and say "Oh, that's definitely Ralph".

I do this every year with my goose jerky : )
We use the high mountain seasonings and smoke it with cherry/peach/ apple wood and everyone thinks it elk or beef. The look on their face when I say geese is awesome.

 

[bsnedeker]

I haven't found a person yet that can even tell the difference. We've had many people over for dinner in the past and we never mentioned what we were eating. Nobody has been able to identify it as elk or even game meat, until after we tell them.

One lady ate a giant moose burger like it was her last meal. I asked her how she liked it and she said "I think that was the best burger I've ever had". Then I told her it was moose and she just about turned green. I think most of it is mental. Although I did have one old bull that really did have a real gamey flavor and smell. We name all the bulls, and every time I'd cook up that bull, one of my girls would walk into the kitchen and say "Oh, that's definitely Ralph".

My Sister in Law is a headcase and claims she hates game meat. We had her over to our house for a BBQ and she decided to eat a burger instead of the chicken they brought. She loved it! After I informed her it was 100% venison she spent the next hour throwing up in the bathroom.

It's all in their heads.

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[Dos Perros]

Who processed this elk?

 

[Steelhead]

Similar situation here, wife not crazy for elk flavor but has more to do with the feel of the meat, how it's cooked, rather than the gameyness, although that plays a part. I tend to undercook when I cook them as thin steaks because overcooking elk meat is a capital offense. Doesn't play well in my house.

Another idea that works for us is doing roasts in a crockpot with all the normal stuff, broth, carrots, potatoes, onions, herbs etc. Make sure to get all the silverskin and as much fat off as possible, but tastes just like killer pot roast to my family. Then make sammiches with the leftovers.

Other than that its the same as others have said, grind a bunch and feed that to her, 20% beef or pork fat...or bacon. Chili is king with my wife, burgers a close second. If its still a "no" add some quality ground beef to it.

My daughter and I eat all the backstrap and steak-cut chunks.

 

[Zdub02]

I'll chime in to reiterate the importance of field care. I've noticed a huge difference in taste and quality of meat if it's taken care of properly in the field and during the butchering process.

 

[Pony Soldier]

I have never had a single piece of gamey elk in 59 years. Once in college I got a 2 year old cow. Tender and tasty. I had a girl over for a dinner of elk ribeyes. She raved over how good that beef was. After all was said and done I told her it was elk and she puked everything up. That was the last time I dated her.

In fact I used that as a screening form for dates. Hanging meat, home butchering and elk steak dinners selected my current wife of 45 years. My son inlaw was raised on beef burger and won't even eat steak let alone elk. I have even been lectured by a few that wild game is the food of poor people. There are some sick people out there.

 

[Fordguy]

Funny how that attitude is so prevalent. When I was in college my girlfriend caught the flu and I made her some chicken soup- except that I didn't have any chicken on hand so I used rabbit. She thought that was the absolute best chicken noodle soup she'd ever had until 6 months later when I told her that it was actually rabbit. In the mean time, she raved about the pot roasts I made never realizing that they were venison.

 

[mattferg84]

I bet its just in her head. Check out the Nevada Foodies website - there is a ton of really good wild game recipes on there.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Elk back strap

Salt, pepper, garlic powder

2 tablespoons of unsalted butter

Cast iron, medium high heat

3 minutes per side

Finish in 350 degree oven to internal temp of 122

Let it rest for about 10-15 minutes, it’ll continue to cook itself to about 128ish degrees

Mix horseradish and sour cream to your liking, drizzle on top

If she doesn’t like that, she doesn’t like steak.


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This is a great cooking method but if she doesn't like the flavor of elk you can try adding in some wood smoke flavor into the meat...

Tenderloin or backstrap set out to room temperature

Salt, Pepper, Garlic power rub, be generous

Baste with butter on both sides

Get smoker up to around 165

Place in smoker for about an hour

Remove from smoker and turn it up to 450 degrees

Re-baste all sides with butter and back into the smoker

7 minutes per side for perfect medium rare

Let rest for about 10 minutes

 

[phil dirt]

Tell her don't panic it's organic! My wife is the same way no steaks or roasts , but if I grind it 50/50 with beef she loves it and then i'll mix that with 30% pork butts and make sausage . 70/30 makes it nice and lean.

 

[stanginthe11s]

meat care in the field and proper cooking are the biggest things that affect flavor of any game. my wife has eaten so many things that she thinks are disgusting, I just don't tell her and she can't tell the difference. I rarely soak any game because if everything is done right then you usually can't tell the difference. don't be afraid to try different things, and if your meat is always gamey it could be the butcher. one of the reasons I started cutting my own game is because most butchers do not care for the meat correctly and do not always give you your animal. If all else fails, take up canning. I have fed even the most picky with canned venison. cut up chunks, add favorite seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic), can and let sit on shelf for a few days then serve however you like. works every time lol.

 

[phil dirt]

My step dad was a butcher for 30 years and helped a friend cut up wild game every fall . If you brought a animal in dirty and covered with hair they cut and wrapped it and out the door it went. He said that no body would pay him what it was worth if he spent a hour to clean it up. They used a band saw and it took about 20 minutes to do a deer , they did clean the saw good between animals. I remember the saw cutting a hind quarter, the blade going through the meat then the bone and cleaning the blade off on the other side and I'd wrap it and put it in a box. Burger was done the same way hair and all. (Gross) Every animal that we shot was processed on the ranch in the shop and was cleaned meticulous , washed ,blood shot meat cut away and boned out you very rarely found a piece of hair. He'd tell us kids . You are what you eat.

 

[Dos Perros]

I gagged and nearly puked the first 5 deer steaks I was fed. Other folks' deer (didn't grow up in a hunting family). When I processed one of my first deer myself I noticed it tasted much better, mild flavor, no gameyness. I believe that game processors are interested in speed, not flavor, and they're including too much fat and silverskin in the packaged meat, and it contributes to the gameyness flavor. If you grew up eating it, it doesn't bother you. But if you didn't, well...

 

[stanginthe11s]

my father use to fry deer steak in a pan with wine, never caring about it being well done. probably the worst thing I've eaten lol, even a bad venison steak now is better than what he made. guess if you set the bar low then everything tastes good lol. unfortunately, every animal usually requires a different way of cooking. not everything can be cooked like beef or chicken, with the exception of smoking of course, you actually can smoke anything lol.