The freezer’s loaded. It’s time to process the kill… So that all your hard work results in tasty meals rather then wasted effort. You know what to do.
There are 40 pounds of wild game inside. They will turns into shoe leather if you treat them like supermarket steaks. This happens each November to countless deer hunters. They bag a trophy buck only to waste part of the animal because they grilled its shoulder or fried up the shank for their main course. Here’s how to avoid that mess. You do not need advanced butchery techniques; you just need a road map.
How to Cook Wild Game Meat
Look at chart for locating each cut and then go confidently to kitchen. Deer graze, run around, climb all day long. All that exercise makes the muscles on the shoulder, leg, etc., tough and full of connective tissue. But the muscles down the spine don’t get used much. Those is tender, lean, soft. Know this: Your strategy for cooking is determined by biology.
Look at the tenderloin or backstrap in the guide, these are premium cuts. Treat them with respect, and move quickly. Sear quickly over high heat, then take ’em out before they’re done. Tenderloins cooked well-done is ruined. It is luxurius transformed into shoe leather.
The shoulders, necks, and shanks of animals works hard at their jobs. So do their necks and shanks. Time is required. Cook them on low heat for many hours. What’s your best bet? Braising. This is where you get out your patience, your liquid, your acid. Slow-cooking these tough cuts will breaks down their collagen into gelatin. It’s that process that makes a rich-textured pot roast or stew. Don’t try rushing it. Grill a shoulder roast, if you like and you’ll be fighting, and losing.
The infographic explains which muscle is best for what method so you don’t waste good meat with the wrong technique. A lot of new hunters simply throw this away or grind everything together. Big mistake. Ground venison is so lean. So lean in fact that it’s nearly too lean for burgers if you’re not careful. Rule of thumb is that you want to combine with pork fat, typically anywhere from 15-20 percent which will add back some marbling like you’d find on beef and prevent your patties from turning into dry bricks. Alternatively, you can also do sausage or jerky with all that trim.
Jerky is as easy as finding a dehydrator and having some patience. Summer sausage involves certain temps and curing salts, but basic jerky doesn’t take much more then patience and time. If you know where things go, every last piece of meat has its place.
And then there’s storage. Venison doesn’t store well at all if you get freezer burn on it. And you will. Quickly. Bagging it in those plastic ziplock bags and throwing it in the back of the freezer will have you forgetting what good wild meat tastes like in six months. The vacuum sealing really helps extend the life and can be up to a year or longer.
Another place folks take shortcuts is thawing. Never thaw your deer meat on the counter. The danger zone has too many bacteria growing. Either submerge it in some cold water or throw it in the fridge overnight. It takes longer, yes. But your texture stay intact.
And finally, let your steaks rest. No big deal, but when you cut open that hot backstrap, those delicious juices are gonna fly everywhere on cutting board. Give it time, five minutes will do, and let meat’s fibers soften. It is such a little thing, but it is the difference between what you’ll crave and just something you can tolerate eating. Using every piece properly means using each part of animal with respect. And the road map is already drawn. Follow it.