Fruits of my labor

[Iluv2hunt]

Question though, what do you do with all the ground venison? I have always found it very gamey tasting and unless it is spiced to the nines it is not good. I recently received some jerky from a friend in Texas who makes his jerky with ground venison and it was, by far, he best jerky I ever ate.

Burgers, spaghetti, chili, meatloaf, hamburger helper, Sheppard pie,black beans n rice, etc

You are right, venison does have a bit more of a gamey taste than pork. However this year I killed three deer..2 spikes and a 7 point. Usually the young bucks and does are exempt from the gamey taste. A buck that is rutting is usually the worst. My big 10 point registry buck from a few years was unedible. The 7 point I killed this year was chasing a doe when i killed him, but had no gamey smell to the meat other than his black hocks. When I grinded the meat, I had no smell to it whatsoever. My wife thought last nights spaghetti was made with beef. I think the fact I gut animals and get them cleaned and packed in ice very quickly has a lot to do with the quality of the meat

[CanadianBlackBears]

Question though, what do you do with all the ground venison? I have always found it very gamey tasting and unless it is spiced to the nines it is not good. I recently received some jerky from a friend in Texas who makes his jerky with ground venison and it was, by far, he best jerky I ever ate.

Burgers, spaghetti, chili, meatloaf, hamburger helper, Sheppard pie,black beans n rice, etc

I think the fact I gut animals and get them cleaned and packed in ice very quickly has a lot to do with the quality of the meat

I do the same, gut, clean, and package quick is the ticket to good quality meat but I still find the burger too gamey. Maybe it's appetite as we don't hunt over agricultural land or planted food plots. My hunting is in the bush where deer eat o'natural if you know what I mean. Do you think this might have something to do with it? Do you have a special spice you prefer when making burgers or other meals?

[TerribleTed]

Our venison here is sweet or it taste similar ground lamb. It must be those big old Canadian deer. Mostly it probably what they eat and age. I like 2-3 year old does preferably.
Now i like mixing my venison with beef fat for taste to me beef venison is the perfect burger.

No farms no feeders here on public land

beside that what vegetation there verse here? Spice salt and pepper.
Age for two days at least.
Gut clean quarter let rest for 2 days then process.

I do know people who soak there venison like i do my hogs. They say it taste better. Quarter and soak in ice water for days.

[CanadianBlackBears]

Our venison burger is far from sweet...hahahahaha. You may be right in that Canadian Whitetails are bigger and does are definitely better eating than bucks no matter what time of the season it is. I have mixed burger with pork fat but never tried beef fat before, maybe that is the difference.

From the sounds of things we process them the same...Age for two days at least.
Gut clean quarter let rest for 2 days then process.

I have made lots of special dishes with venison burger but if it is not spiced up it is too gamey tasting. Even my buddies find the same thing. I know one thing for sure though, my buddy in Texas has the best recipy for jerky in the world and I am definitely going to try it as he makes it all out of burger.

[Iluv2hunt]

A good friend of mine makes the ground type jerky with a jerky gun. It is fabulous, but I am old school and like sliced jerky better. Matter of fact, I got some marinating now

[CanadianBlackBears]

A good friend of mine makes the ground type jerky with a jerky gun. It is fabulous, but I am old school and like sliced jerky better. Matter of fact, I got some marinating now

Yeah, he using the gun as well.....you wanna send some of that Florida jerky to a Canadian friend

[treefarmer]

We take a little different approach to processing our deer in that we age them in a cooler for at least 10 to 14 days. Aging venison is just like aging a beef carcass. Google the aging of meat and see what it says. Been doing it for over 40 years and we are well pleased with the final venison products that grace our table all through the year. Weather permitting, I'll hang a deer in the ol' oak tree (covered with a fly bag) for several days before it goes in the cooler. With temperatures in the 30's at night and 50's during the day, some years in the panhandle of Florida we feel comfortable doing this. Some years we can only hang one over night to rid the carcass of body heat. Had a guy ask me "when do you know when to put him in the cooler?" My respose was "when you see the buzzards start to circle it's time". Seriously though, aging makes a real difference in the tenderness and taste. Treefarmer

[CanadianBlackBears]

I have never known anyone to hang a deer for 14 days in my life and maybe that is why the burger taste so gamey compared to the great taste of the steaks and roasts. I am going to try this in the fall when I get my deer; hopefully it won't be ruined as we are only allowed to bag 1 deer.

Thanks for the tip treefarmer

[Iluv2hunt]

Walk in coolers are not common in the area I hunt, and I am usually a weekend warrior with working. To me the key is getting them in a cooler as quick as possible and layered in ice. I keep all my animals on ice for about a week-10 days. Keep them packed, cooler tilted and drain plug open. Like I said, its very rare for me to have any gamey taste other than a rutting buck. Also, make sure anything that is blood shot does not get put in the cooler. In my opinion, blood shot meat taints other meat and it really has no purpose. And be careful of the piss sack.
Hence the reason I neck shoot everything

[DONY1]

I used to keep mine on ice for only 2 or 3 days. I started keeping all game on ice for at least a week and have noticed a difference in taste for the better. I will also let all my meat get to room temp before I even think about cooking it.

[deutze]

good points by ILNH, I might add avoiding glands can't hurt, also a deer shot that has no idea it was ever hunted and dies qiuckly never has a chance to dump hormones, like a deer being chased or needs to be shot more than once. beef in good steakhouses is aged way more than 14 days but exact humidity control is essential. we used to hang deer 5-7 days in the garage with the hide on (to help keep it from freezing) and skinning then was very hard. skinned and put in a big walk in would be best, but who has that. 1/4's hung in a second/spare refrig works pretty good.

[CanadianBlackBears]

These are all great tips which I will try in this fall when I get my deer. The temperature in the past few years has been well above average, in the 50 range I would say, which myself and hunting partners thought was way too warm to leave a deer hanging more than a couple days. We would then hang in a walk in for 3-4 days prior to having it being cut up. Never in my wildest days would I have waited 2 weeks to have it cut up. We have never used iced up coolers and to be honest never heard of anyone ever using them. This is why I enjoy forums so much, sometimes I get great advice; however, there are times when it is not so great. Either way, I am going to try this in the fall as so many people can't be wrong.

Thanks again for the tips.
Cheers and safe hunting
Rob

[treefarmer]

The walk-in cooler is the ideal, but most of the viable alteratives have been mentioned. An ice chest, tilted toward the open drain will work as good as any thing, it doesn't freeze the meat but keeps it cold, the water drains away, might be a little bit of bleaching of color as the ice melts but doesn't seem to effect taste. When we use a big ice chest we usually put down a couple of inches of ice then lay the shoulders in 1st, then the back straps and last, the hams are placed in the stack. At one end of the chest a large stainless steel bowl to hold all the trimmings, neck, rib meat, even the tender loins are aged here. Cover everything, except the trim bowl, with all the crushed ice the chest will hold. As it melts down, you only need to add a little ice every couple of days till time to process Bambi. Outside air temperature obviously effects how often you need to add ice. An extra refrigerator in the shop or barn works just like a walk-in except rather than being able to age the carcass whole, it must be quartered so it will fit on the shelves, also a container to hold the trim for the sausage meat can be coverd with alum. foil to keep it from drying out. This is the time and place to share our thoughts and ideas, as CanadianBlackBears said, so we will do a better job next season. It's time for you turkey hunters to share some processing tips with us that only know how to fry a breast meat and feed the rest to the dog. Treefarmer

[TerribleTed]

Well i bake my whole turkey. Then i debone everything left. Feed it thru the meat grinder. Add mayo onion ,celery ,salt and pepper to taste. Now you have turkey spread or salad what every you like to call it. Sandwiches for lunch.


My question how many pluck there birds. I skin the whole bird take less than a minuet to have a complete skinned and gutted bird.


With feathers on. Hang by neck-head
Open skin around neck (break the ends joint part of wings) pull skin down slit bottom open cut bottom of leg at joint.



Remember for us 50 is cold weather. We're hunting deer in the 80 and 90 temp range when Archery starts. Possibly during hurricanes- best to be on the ground at that point. Also the game wardens want to run you off and say your crazy. I am like come on i have a blood trail. I know hurricanes are for for surfing well they use to be when i was younger.

[Iluv2hunt]

I used to pluck birds. Daddy had this bright idea of plucking after scalding. It worked but was time consuming. One of those habits I got away from after he died. I do like Ted, and hang them by neck and skin them. I cut out each 1/2 breast and vacuum seal and freeze for cutting into strips, battering and frying. the rest of the bird I take it and put the entire carcass(including heart/gizzard/liver) in pressure cooker and cooking it till it falls off the bone. I drain all the liquid off and freeze stock in gatorade bottles. better than any chicken stock you will ever buy. I freeze all the meat in bags for later use for chicken and rice, etc


And don't forget to save the wing bones to make your turkey calls