19 Ground Venison Recipes | What to Make with Your Deer Meat (2024)

FAQs

What is the best to mix with ground venison? ›

Beef fat works well with ground venison, and makes the flavor closer to ground beef. Pork fat is lower in saturated fat, has less flavor and will allow the venison flavor to shine.

The distinct game flavor of either birds or animals will be milder after soaking the meat overnight in the refrigerator in either a salt or vinegar solution.

Color: Fresh venison is a dark, brownish-red in hue, while venison that has gone bad typically has a greenish tint. Texture: Good venison is firm and tough, and it should feel smooth and slick to the touch. If the venison looks loose or has started to break apart, the spoiling process has begun.

Depending on what you're planning to cook, you may want to add fat to your ground venison. This added fat can be bacon, pork shoulder, pork belly, beef tallow, etc. It's purely personal preference. I always add about 15-20 percent fat if I'm making hamburger or kebabs, which makes the meat juicier and more flavorful.

Let it sit in the refrigerator for at least four hours, and no more than 12, before proceeding to cook it as you normally would. The calcium in milk contains enzymes that will tenderize the meat, and the main protein in milk will neutralize the gamey flavor.

Venison: Red wines with earthy or smoky flavors big enough for the meat's taste and richness (Mourvèdre, Syrah, Pinot Noir) and strong beer (Porter, Belgian Strong Ale, Double Stout). (Elk pairs similarly.)

The selling of legally harvested game meat is not allowed in most states today for conservation reasons that date back to the 19^th century after sportsmen and women recognized the disastrous effects of market hunting on the once abundant game found throughout much of the United States.

Three factors contribute to spoiled meat: heat, dirt, and moisture. Heat is the number-one concern. Bacteria grows rapidly in a carcass, especially if it's allowed to stay warm. Meat begins to spoil above 40° Fahrenheit.

Washing deer meat

Rinsing deer meat or venison before cooking is not recommended by food safety agencies. Like other meats, washing venison can spread contamination in a kitchen.

What seasoning takes away gamey taste? ›

Choose an acidic marinade.

The buttermilk soak can serve as a marinade, but if you prefer to do a more traditional marinade, choose one that contains an acidic ingredient like vinegar, fruit juice, or wine. These acidic bases will counteract the gamey taste of the meat.

"Freshly butchered venison — especially when it is in rigor mortis — will be super tough," Cihelka said. When rigor mortis sets in, the animal stiffens. Hanging the animal prevents the muscles along the spine from shortening. This is why backstraps and tenderloin are tender.

First, don't use your dirty field-dressing knife to butcher the animal—clean it or use a different knife altogether. Second, trim your meat aggressively. Deer fat tastes terrible and silverskin is tough and unappetizing, so remove them before you package up the meat.

you could have something frozen for three or four years, it'll still be safe to eat. as long as your freezers remained on. and that meat has remained below 40 degrees. You can even unfreeze it and refreeze it again.

Hunters are encouraged not to consume meat from animals that test positive for CWD, or any animals that appear sick. It should be noted that the CWD test is a disease monitoring tool and is not a food safety test.

If you wait too long to recover the deer, the blood will spoil and ruin the meat. The old bowhunters' rule is to wait eight to 12 hours before following a gut-shot deer. If you wait that long when it's 50 degrees or above, your intentions may be good, but there's a good chance you will lose that meat.

If you don't love the flavor of venison, or even if you do and you want to enhance it, you're going to want to add a bit of seasoning and acid to your burgers to let the meat shine. I add a bit of balsamic vinegar and Worcestershire sauce to combat the richness but bring out the meaty flavor.

when i make venison burgers i use lawrys season salt,black pepper,garlic powder,and worshestshire sauce. Sometimes we use Adobo seasoning. It's a mix of onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, ground cumin, powdered oregano. Pretty tasty !

Grind the Venison Twice

Starting with the coarse grinding plate, followed by a second grind with the finer die helps break down tougher cuts of meat and slices through stringy sinew.

Given that deer are leaner than cows, venison is generally healthier to eat than beef. An average cut of venison, in fact, has around half the calories and a sixth the saturated fats of a similarly sized cut of beef. It also has more proteins, vitamins and minerals than beef.

Should I add pork to ground venison? ›

I use it more for the springy texture that it can provide to venison, which can be crumbly. And I use it in higher quantities, about 30-40 percent pork butt to 60-70 percent venison. A mixture of pork butt and venison is tasty in meatball, kebab, breakfast sausage and meat pie recipes.

The best ground beef to buy for burgers is 80/20 ground chuck – 80% lean meat and 20% fat. Ground chuck is ground from the shoulder and has that ideal lean-to-fat ratio of 80/20 (i.e. not too lean) for a super flavorful, juicy burger.

Wondering what to mix with ground venison? Beef and pork are your best bets. Ground venison, or deer meat, is gamey-tasting and has very little fat. Because venison is so lean, you can improve its taste and texture by mixing it with pork sausage or beef for some added fat.

Eggs and bread crumbs generally do very well to bind lean ground meats. (I actually use wheat germ instead of bread crumbs.) From that point, it is really a matter of preference as to how you want it prepared. If you're making burgers, it's generally a good idea to mix in a bit of pork for the fat.