Hunting Season

[Margies3]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

I have never made deer sausage either, and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has! From what I understand from times we have taken deer meat to the processor, they mix it with pork, but I don't know the ratio.

My cousin makes deer sausage every year. I can ask her for her recipe for you if you want. I'll call her tomorrow. She also makes venison jerky if you want that recipe. Let me know

[MawMaw]

Originally Posted by Margies3

My cousin makes deer sausage every year. I can ask her for her recipe for you if you want. I'll call her tomorrow. She also makes venison jerky if you want that recipe. Let me know

I'd sure be interested in both recipes!

[Margies3]

I just talked to Jodi. She said Dean makes all the sausage and jerky, so she will ask him when he gets home from Canada on Monday. But she also mentioned that for the hard "salami type" sausage that he makes, she knows he just buys the kits at someplace like Gander Mountain or Bass Pro Shop and then follows the recipe on there. But to make the kielbasa kind of sausage she will have to ask him for his recipe. I'll get back with you

[KeptByTheWord]

So, for those of you who hunt, and eat the meat... can you share some of your favorite venison recipes?

My husband got a deer, and we have packaged up the meat, mostly as roast, and stew meat, and of course some steaks. The deer was older, and the meat seems kind of tough.

I was wondering what different methods you could use to cook a tough old deer? I soaked the meat in milk for a couple of hours, used a meat tenderizer until the steaks were thin, and then fried the steaks in shortening, yet they were still chewy and tough. Any other things to try?

Thanks!

[Sasha]

Sausage!! Or ground it for hamburger.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

So, for those of you who hunt, and eat the meat... can you share some of your favorite venison recipes?

My husband got a deer, and we have packaged up the meat, mostly as roast, and stew meat, and of course some steaks. The deer was older, and the meat seems kind of tough.

I was wondering what different methods you could use to cook a tough old deer? I soaked the meat in milk for a couple of hours, used a meat tenderizer until the steaks were thin, and then fried the steaks in shortening, yet they were still chewy and tough. Any other things to try?

Thanks!

Hi KBTW!

Somehow I missed this post!!

Did you age the meat? Ideally, the deer should be hung for a few days in 45 degree temperature (or so). This makes it tender and less "gamey" tasting.

[ILG]

Also, it needs to be cut against the grain (meaning that the meat is cut in the opposite direction that it is running).

[shag]

I hunt quite a bit. Deer, Turkey, Ducks, Dove, Rabbit, Squirrel, neighbors way over abundant # cats, and whatever else my boys can persuade me to hunt.

Old tuff deer and most wild ducks are only good as jerky, no matter how much u soak or attempt to tendorize them, IMO.

[ILG]

Originally Posted by shag

I hunt quite a bit. Deer, Turkey, Ducks, Dove, Rabbit, Squirrel, neighbors way over abundant # cats, and whatever else my boys can persuade me to hunt.

Old tuff deer and most wild ducks are only good as jerky, no matter how much u soak or attempt to tendorize them, IMO.

That's true of old geezer deer, but older ones might just need some hanging...

[KeptByTheWord]

Thanks ILG for that tip.... we didn't hang the deer! Maybe that is indeed why she was so tough. We were in a hurry to put her up, because the pulley system we have and where the deer was hanging wasn't amenable to leaving because of dogs/coyotes in our area. It is an open shed, and we have no way of enclosing it, and the shed isn't tall enough to pull the deer high enough so that animals wouldn't get it. I'll talk to my husband about seeing if we can figure something else out.

However, I did find that if I put the deer roast in the crock pot overnight on low, for about 12-hours, it was so tender it just fell apart, and was incredibly yummy!

I added some cream of mushroom soup after cooking it on low for about 6 hours, and some carrots. The result was an amazing gravy-like stew that we poured over mashed potatoes, and let me tell you, the crock pot was just about licked clean, it was that good! No leftovers!