Do your part. Aging deer or any other game meat is vital to tender and tasty wild game. There are several ways to age wild game. So many hunters try to process and get their meat in the freezer as soon as possible. This is a big mistake. I remember my dad getting the deer cut up and packaged the same day it was killed. Sometimes within a couple hours of the kill the processing began. So this is what I was taught as a kid about processing deer.
While I still liked the deer we ate it was tough and had a different flavor than the deer that I enjoy today. When you process and freeze wild game too soon you stop the decay process and lock in the rigor mortis which will make your deer meat tough for sure.
Allowing your meat to begin the decay process sounds bad but it is the most important aspect to delicious wild game and helps with tenderizing the meat as well. After leaving home my love of cooking had me researching and figuring out the best ways to prepare wild game meat for cooking.
This included the importance of aging meat for the best taste and tenderness possible. Over the years situations have forced me to learn a few different ways to age deer meat and here they are. Wet aging deer meat sounds a lot like the cooler aging process explained below.
The wet in wet aging deer meat refers to the meat not hanging and drying on the surface which I will explain below in further detail. Wet aging is the process of bagging your game meat and leaving it in a refrigerator to age.
After the game is butchered it is then placed in bags to keep the oxygen levels low. Oxygen promotes bacterial growth. Some people vacuum pack their meat for this aging process, but I never have. Like the video below shows I have only bagged my meat in heavy duty trash bags and placed them in the refrigerator.
Obviously vacuum packing the deer meat would be great if that is what you prefer and you have the vacuum gear to do it. Wrap the meat tight making sure to massage all of the air out the top and your meat will be fine. I refer to the meat here as deer meat, but any game meat can be inserted in its place. Aging wild game in a cooler came about early on. Actually I was aging deer meat in a cooler before I knew about aging deer meat.
Oftentimes I am camping while hunting and found myself icing down deer until the camping trip was over. Aging deer meat in a cooler requires you to skin the deer and unless you have a very large cooler you will at least have to quarter your deer to fit.
Start with several inches of ice in the bottom of the cooler then place your meat on top. Add more ice on top of each layer of meat before placing another layer. Add ice as needed lifting the layers to allow ice to get in between each layer. No need to worry about the meat touching here or there. To keep the deer meat from soaking in water the cooler needs to have a drain or you can periodically pour the water out of the cooler.
Having a cooler with a drain is definitely the best deal when aging deer in a cooler. There are a couple ways to dry age your deer meat or any other game meat you harvest.
The first way to dry age your meat is the easiest and quickest. The only stipulation is the outside temperature. If cooked well-done, they dry out and shrink.
Use a food processor or meat grinder; the blades must be sharp. Fat is easiest to chop if kept very cold. Low-temperature roasting is another option for these same prime cuts. Cover the meat with bacon or a sheet of beef or pork fat available from your butcher , or baste it frequently. Cook it in a slow to degree oven. With low heat, roasts may be cooked rare, medium, or well-done. When roasting with dry heat, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness.
The chart below gives temperatures for various stages of doneness. Remove the meat from the oven with it reads 5 degrees below the ideal temperature; it will continue to heat on the platter. It will slice better if you wait 10 to 15 minutes before carving. Moist heat tenderizes shoulder roasts and other tough cuts, and also works well with the bottom round and eye of round. Brown the roast in hot fat, then add liquid and flavoring and cover the pan tightly.
Cook the meat until tender, on the stove top or in a moderate to degree oven. When pot-roasting, add vegetables during the last hour or so of cooking. Venison comes out moist and tender in a slow cooker or pressure cooker. This also works well with beef or pork. By Papa Craig. Grilled Wild Duck Breast. Grilled Wild Duck Breast Rating: 4. It's like having steak.
Use the breasts, save the rest of the bird for a stew or stock. Hasenpfeffer Rabbit Stew. Hasenpfeffer Rabbit Stew Rating: 4.
Rabbit stew made with bacon, wine, garlic, shallots, other herbs and spices. By Lovesmurfs. Inspiration and Ideas a cast-iron skillet holding a bacon-wrapped roast surrounded by mushroom cream sauce. These 10 Venison Dinners Will Knock Your Socks Off From breaded and fried cutlets and bacon-wrapped backstrap to smothered steaks, these recipes will impress your hunt camp friends!
Slow Roasted Rabbit. Slow Roasted Rabbit Rating: Unrated. Roasted Duck. Roasted Duck Rating: 4. Close Slow Cooker Venison Roast. Rating: 4. Deer Jerky. Peking Duck. Rating: 5 stars. Sweet and Spicy Venison Jerky.
Big Bear Stew Rating: 4. This stew of bear meat is made similarly to a beef stew. It's braised in beef broth with turnips, carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms. By Kyle. Wild Turkey Gumbo. Wild Turkey Gumbo Rating: 5 stars. This is a great recipe for a hearty soup. You can substitute tame turkey for wild turkey and still call it wild turkey gumbo because of the wild rice.
You can add more kick by increasing the spices or less kick by decreasing them. By natural sugar. Mike's Bait Shop's Turtle Stew. Southern turtle stew made with potatoes and onions. Much like a clam chowder. Good, hearty and filling. Turkey may be used in place of chicken. Grilled Venison Backstrap. Grilled Venison Backstrap Rating: 4.
Tender chunks of venison are marinated twice, and wrapped in thick bacon before being grilled until crispy on the outside. A venison version of Filet Mignon. This is a heavenly use of the best part of a deer. For the BBQ sauce, I prefer hickory flavored. As such, it can be slightly confusing to go about preparing these unique animals.
That means using the meat to make similar dishes, including burgers, chili, steak and much more. Add-ins like salt, pepper, vinegar, garlic, onions and soy sauce to bring out the flavor without overpowering the meat itself.
That way, you can expect better prices overall and perhaps even get access to a wider selection of game. The best cut of meat, meanwhile, is almost always the loin.
Avoid rookie mistakes Even though wild game can be cooked like more popular forms of meat, American Hunter explained that there are a few important mistakes to avoid.
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